Over 20,000 chicken have been culled in West Bengal's Malda district where culling operation was continuing in some new areas while mopping up operation had started in those areas where culling has been completed, a top district official said on Saturday.
District Magistrate Sreedhar Ghosh said that around 20,875 chicken have been culled in 24 villages under Narhatta and Kotwali gram panchayat of English Bazar Block of the district till last night.
New culling operation was being carried out in some villages under Mahispathani gram panchayat area under Old Malda Block of the district today, the DM said.
Mopping up operation was being carried out in the 24 villages under Narhatta and Kotwali gram panchayat of English Bazar Block where culling had been completed, he said.
Asked about media reports of death of a large number of birds and chicken in Alinagar area under Bargachi I gram panchayat of Gajole Block of the district, Ghosh said "I have not received any fresh report of any deaths of large number of birds and chicken."
The DM was hopeful that the culling operation in the district would be over by tonight.
source :
http://www.zeenews.com/
Saturday, December 20, 2008
District Magistrate Sreedhar Ghosh said that around 20,875 chicken have been culled in 24 villages under Narhatta and Kotwali gram panchayat of English Bazar Block of the district till last night. 
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Padmashri Jagan Nath Kaul dead
Padmashri Jagan Nath Kaul, who was instrumental in the setting up of SOS Children's village in India and dedicated his life working for the welfare of the orphan kids and displaced Kashmiri Pandits, died on Tuesday.
Kaul was 84 and is survived by his wife Indira and four children.
Born in Srinagar in 1924, Kaul, popularly known as Papaji, was associated with the SOS Children's village since its inception in 1964. In 1989, Kaul became the president of the SOS village, a position he held till the end.
The SOS village has reached out to many thousands of children and families through 39 villages. The organisation is dedicated to the welfare and development of orphan children and strengthening disadvantaged families.
Kaul was also associated with a lot of philanthropic work for the Kashmiri Pandits who were displaced from the valley.
The construction of a replica of 'Hari Parbat', a famous temple in Kashmir, in Faridabad was his idea.
Among the awards conferred on him are Padmashri, Raja Rammohan Roy Teacher Award and Rajiv Gandhi Manav Seva Award.
source : http://www.hindu.com/
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Indian woman gives birth at age of 70
Rajo Devi, who married 50 years ago, gave birth to a baby girl on November 28, and is now thought to be the world's oldest new mother.
Dr Anurag Bishnoi, a doctor at the Hisar fertility centre in Haryana state, said: "Rajo Devi and (her husband) Bala Ram approached the centre for treatment and the embryo transfer was done on April 19.
"Both the mother and child are in good health."
A 67-year-old Spanish woman who had twins in 2006 was thought to have been the previous oldest mother.
Devi's husband, aged 72, had also wed his wife's sister after 10 years of his first marriage did not result in children. His second wife also failed to become pregnant.
It was not clear whose egg and sperm were used in the successful treatment.
Dr Bishnoi, who helped the couple realise their dream, said both the mother and child were in good health.
"IVF has revolutionised the way we look at infertility," said Mr Bishnoi. "Infertility is no longer a social taboo or a divine curse. It can be treated scientifically."
"Adriana Iliescu, a retired university lecturer in Romania, was the oldest woman to have given birth. She delivered at the age of 66 in 2006. Maria Del, a Spanish woman, gave birth by the IVF treatment at the age of 67. And now, Rajo Devi has become the oldest woman to have given birth and the first woman in her seventies to do so," claimed Dr Bishnoi.
"Another woman of her age is reported to have delivered a child at Muzzafarnagar, but she was previously fertile," he added.
New mother Rajo Devi, "We longed for a child all these years and now we are very happy to have one in the twilight years of our life."
Husband Ram said he wasn't worrying over who would look after the child if they died.
"The upbringing of the child is not a problem. We have a joint family as is common in rural Haryana," he said.
The couple said they were facing social stigma for being childless for the last 55 years.
"We used the usual intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) technique in her case. The ICSI method enables even poor quality sperms being used creating embryos," said Dr Bishnoi.
He said his parents and wife, all doctors, performed the procedure together. "The major concern for us was that in case the woman conceived twins, she may not be able to carry them through the full term of pregnancy. In that case, all over efforts would have failed and the woman's life would have been in danger," Bishnoi said.
To avoid multiple pregnancies, the doctors used blastocyst culture, where a single potential embryo is transferred to the uterus instead of the normal two to three embryos. "This embryo is transferred after five days in this technique, while in normal cases it is done in two-three days," he added.
"Rajo is the eldest of four siblings. She is elder to me by about 16 years. We all prayed she would get a child and even married our other sister to Bala Ram in this hope. Now the whole family is very happy that she has a child," said Chand Ram, Rajo Devi's brother who is a sub inspector in Haryana Police at Panchkula.
source:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Thursday, November 27, 2008
TERROR STRIKES MUMBAI AGAIN, 101 KILLED
Fresh gunshots rang out Thursday morning at the Hotel Taj where security forces battled terrorists holding hostages after a night of horror that left 101 people dead and over 250 injured in India's most audacious terror attack.
As soldiers, police and elite commandos fanned out across the country's commercial capital to rescue hostages and kill terrorists who stormed the city at night and struck at seven sites in the business hub of south Mumbai, one of the terrorists claimed that the attack was to avenge the "persecution" of Muslims in India.
The otherwise bustling city -- home to Bollywood -- was still on edge, more than 12 hours after a large but unknown number of terrorists armed with automatic rifles and grenades sneaked into Mumbai by the sea, a clear indication that they must be foreigners.
Desperate to cope with a situation they had never encountered before, the authorities declared a holiday in Mumbai Thursday. The Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange were ordered closed for the day.
source :
http://www.zeenews.com/
As soldiers, police and elite commandos fanned out across the country's commercial capital to rescue hostages and kill terrorists who stormed the city at night and struck at seven sites in the business hub of south Mumbai, one of the terrorists claimed that the attack was to avenge the "persecution" of Muslims in India.
The otherwise bustling city -- home to Bollywood -- was still on edge, more than 12 hours after a large but unknown number of terrorists armed with automatic rifles and grenades sneaked into Mumbai by the sea, a clear indication that they must be foreigners.
Desperate to cope with a situation they had never encountered before, the authorities declared a holiday in Mumbai Thursday. The Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange were ordered closed for the day.
source :
http://www.zeenews.com/
Friday, November 14, 2008
Tricolour has a date with moon tonight
MUMBAI: If things go as planned, the Indian tricolour will mark its presence on the moon tonight (around 8.30pm IST) after having flown 3,86,000km from the earth. The timing of this proud moment has been specially designed to coincide with Children's Day. ( Watch )
The United States, the former Soviet Union and the European Space Agency comprising 17 countries already have their flags on the moon.
The Indian tricolour is painted on all sides of the 29-kg Moon Impact Probe which is attached to the main orbiting spacecraft, Chandrayaan-1, which was launched on October 22.
The inclusion of the MIP as part of the Chandrayaan mission came at the suggestion of former President A P J Abdul Kalam, a former rocket scientist, during the International Lunar Exploration Working Group conference held at Udaipur in November 2004.
The Indian tricolour has been hoisted on Mount Everest and Antarctica. And now it will be on the moon though it will not be hoisted.
The flight of the MIP on Friday is expected to be a forerunner to the second Indian moon mission, Chandrayaan-2, which will carry a Russian rover and alander slated for lift-off between 2010 and 2012. The crash landing of MIP will help in assessing future soft-landing technologies.
Chandrayaan project director Mylaswamy Annadurai explained to TOI on Friday that at about 8 pm on Friday, a command will be flashed to the MIP from Isro's telemetry, tracking and command network (Istrac) at Bangalore for it to detach from the orbiter. "The MIP will separate and with its three instruments, zoom towards the lunar south pole at a velocity of 1.5km per second," he said.
"At Istrac's mission control room, we will immediately come to know that the MIP has separated from the orbiter. The MIP's flight path will first take it over the Malapert crater for about nine seconds and then crashland near the Shackleton Crater about 25 minutes after its detachment from the orbiter. Malapert Crater is not far from the Shackleton crater," he added.
Annadurai said that after this, the orbiter will fly in the opposite side and thus data will not be immediately available. "The downloading of data from the MIP to the orbiting Chandrayaan and then to the ground station will start once the spacecraft comes over the north pole of the moon. It will take a couple of hours for the data from the MIP to be downloaded and processed," Annadurai said.
He said that once the MIP crashlands on the moon, its own survivability and that of the three instruments will be in question. The probe uses solid propellants. "India's physical presence on the moon with the tricolour will be assured," he said.
Source:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
The United States, the former Soviet Union and the European Space Agency comprising 17 countries already have their flags on the moon.
The Indian tricolour is painted on all sides of the 29-kg Moon Impact Probe which is attached to the main orbiting spacecraft, Chandrayaan-1, which was launched on October 22.
The inclusion of the MIP as part of the Chandrayaan mission came at the suggestion of former President A P J Abdul Kalam, a former rocket scientist, during the International Lunar Exploration Working Group conference held at Udaipur in November 2004.
The Indian tricolour has been hoisted on Mount Everest and Antarctica. And now it will be on the moon though it will not be hoisted.
The flight of the MIP on Friday is expected to be a forerunner to the second Indian moon mission, Chandrayaan-2, which will carry a Russian rover and alander slated for lift-off between 2010 and 2012. The crash landing of MIP will help in assessing future soft-landing technologies.
Chandrayaan project director Mylaswamy Annadurai explained to TOI on Friday that at about 8 pm on Friday, a command will be flashed to the MIP from Isro's telemetry, tracking and command network (Istrac) at Bangalore for it to detach from the orbiter. "The MIP will separate and with its three instruments, zoom towards the lunar south pole at a velocity of 1.5km per second," he said.
"At Istrac's mission control room, we will immediately come to know that the MIP has separated from the orbiter. The MIP's flight path will first take it over the Malapert crater for about nine seconds and then crashland near the Shackleton Crater about 25 minutes after its detachment from the orbiter. Malapert Crater is not far from the Shackleton crater," he added.
Annadurai said that after this, the orbiter will fly in the opposite side and thus data will not be immediately available. "The downloading of data from the MIP to the orbiting Chandrayaan and then to the ground station will start once the spacecraft comes over the north pole of the moon. It will take a couple of hours for the data from the MIP to be downloaded and processed," Annadurai said.
He said that once the MIP crashlands on the moon, its own survivability and that of the three instruments will be in question. The probe uses solid propellants. "India's physical presence on the moon with the tricolour will be assured," he said.
Source:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
Monday, November 10, 2008
Chandrayaan-I enters lunar orbit
The spacecraft was placed in an elliptical orbit - at 7,500 km aposelene (farthest from moon) and 500 km periselene (nearest to moon) through complex manoeuvres, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) director S. Satish told IANS here.“The liquid apogee motor (LAM) onboard was fired for 805 seconds (13.4 minutes) between 5 p.m. and 5.15 p.m. to put the spacecraft into the elliptical orbit around the moon," Satish told IANS. In this orbit, the spacecraft takes 10 hours to complete one revolution around the moon.Over the next two-three days, Chandrayaan will be progressively lowered to an orbit that will be 500 km aposelene and 100 km periselene. “The spacecraft will be gently pushed to its designated slot in the lunar orbit and positioned at a distance 100 km from the surface of the moon,” Satish said. The complex manoeuvres were executed by ISRO’s telemetry, tracking and command network (Istrac) on the outskirts of Bangalore and monitored by its deep space network (DSN) at Byalalu, about 40 km from India’s tech hub.“The health of the spacecraft is good and its vital functions are operating normally,” Satish added.
The terrain mapping camera onboard will continue to take pictures of the moon’s surface even as it revolves around its polar orbit. Chandrayaan carries 11 scientific instruments, including six foreign payloads - two from the US, three from the European Space Agency (ESA) and one from Bulgaria. The remaining five are indigenously designed and developed by various centres of the state-run ISRO. The spacecraft was blasted off Oct 22 onboard the 316-tonne Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11) from the Satish Dhawan space centre at Sriharikota spaceport, about 80 km north of Chennai.
source :
http://news.in.msn.com/
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Veteran Indian filmmaker BR Chopra no more with us
The famous film maker, Baldev Raj Chopra a.k.a BR Chopra, is no more amongst us, after he lost his battle to illness, which was ailing him since long.
The 94 year old doyen breathed his last yesterday, 5th November at 9:15am IST at his residence in Juhu. His funeral was held yesterday at 4.30pm IST at the Juhu Crematorium.
India-forums and BollyCurry is at a loss of words to express its grief to the Chopra family. Hence, all that we can say is that may his soul rest in peace.
Source:
http://india-forums.com/bollywood/article.asp?id=6794
The 94 year old doyen breathed his last yesterday, 5th November at 9:15am IST at his residence in Juhu. His funeral was held yesterday at 4.30pm IST at the Juhu Crematorium.
India-forums and BollyCurry is at a loss of words to express its grief to the Chopra family. Hence, all that we can say is that may his soul rest in peace.
Source:
http://india-forums.com/bollywood/article.asp?id=6794
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Earthquake in Pakistan
A strong earthquake struck before dawn Wednesday in southwestern Pakistan, killing at least 150 people, injuring scores more and leaving an estimated 15,000 homeless, officials said.
source :
http://ap.google.com/article/
The death toll was expected to rise as reports arrived from remote areas of Baluchistan, the impoverished province bordering Afghanistan where the magnitude 6.4 quake struck.
The worst-hit area appeared to be Ziarat, where hundreds of mostly mud and timber houses had been destroyed in five villages, Mayor Dilawar Kakar said. Some homes were buried in a landslide triggered by the quake, he said.
"There is great destruction. Not a single house is intact," Kakar told Express News television.
Maulana Abdul Samad, the minister for forests in Baluchistan, said at least 150 people were confirmed to have died. Kakar said hundreds of people have been injured and some 15,000 were homeless.
"I would like to appeal to the whole world for help. We need food, we need medicine. People need warm clothes, blankets because it is cold here," Kakar said.
In the village of Sohi, a reporter for AP Television News saw the bodies of 17 people killed in one collapsed house and 12 from another. Distraught residents were digging a mass grave in which to bury them.
"We can't dig separate graves for each of them, as the number of deaths is high and still people are searching in the rubble" of many other homes, said Shamsullah Khan, a village elder.
Other survivors sat stunned in the open, with little more than the clothes in which they had been sleeping.
Hospitals in the nearby town of Kawas and the provincial capital Quetta were flooded with the dead and injured.
One patient in Quetta Civil Hospital, Raz Mohammed, said he was awoken by the sound of his children crying before he felt a jolt.
"I rushed toward them but the roof of my own room collapsed and the main iron support hit me," he said. "That thing broke my back and I am in severe pain but thank God my children and relatives are safe."
With some roads blocked by landslides, officials said the army was ferrying hundreds of troops and medical teams on four helicopters to villages in the quake zone and had set up a field hospital in Quetta.
Officials said they were distributing thousands of tents, blankets and food packages and sending in earth-moving equipment to help dig mass graves.
The quake struck two hours before dawn and had a magnitude of 6.4, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. It was a shallow 10 miles below the surface and was centered about 400 miles southwest of the capital, Islamabad.
Pakistan is prone to violent seismic upheavals. Wednesday's quake was the deadliest since a magnitude-7.6 quake devastated Kashmir and northern Pakistan in October 2005, killing about 80,000 people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.
Officials said the area hit on Wednesday was much less densely populated.
Baluchistan is home to a long-running separatist movement, but is not considered a major battleground in the fight against Taliban insurgents that plague other border regions.
source :
http://ap.google.com/article/
Friday, October 10, 2008
Kerala’ longest snake boat in Guinness book
A steel-made snake boat has entered the Guinness Book of World Records here for recently carrying 141 persons and being the longest ever made boat of its kind. The previous record was of 118 people on board.
A first of its kind in Kerala, the steel boat is 143.25 feet long and 5.74 feet wide. It weighs eight tonnes and has been christened as ''Aries Chundan''.
On May 1, the boat carried a crew of 141 rowers, including five helmsmen, in Punnamada Lake in Alapuzha district.
"We called all our boat rovers in Kainagiri and made an attempt with 141 people on it. This time we have been successful to have so many people on board. Last time, our attempt with 118 persons went in vain," said Sohan Roy S.K, Chief Executive Officer for ARIES Group.
The boat was already registered in the Limca Book of World Records as the longest steel made snake board.
The special boat has been designed scientifically, as it is based on the latest scientific methods of Naval architecture. The shape and stability has been designed using the world famous ''Autoship'' software.
The strength has been analyzed by finite element method. An overhanging test was also conducted to analyze the longitudinal strength practically and a sinking tests to prove its un-sinkability.
"For this design we had to spend about six months because the stability, strength were very critical for us. We had done a practical test on it called ‘the over hanging test’ which was successful. Next was the immersing test where the boat was put in water," said Sohan Roy S.K, Chief Executive Officer, ARIES Group.
The boats of Kerala are older than 400 years. They were the traditional battle vessels meant for logistics during war between erstwhile kings.
The boats are categorized and named according to shapes, sizes and purposes. The Chundanvallam is so called because of its pointed prow.
The term snake boat indicates the shape of the stern, which resembles the raised hood of a snake. The front end of this type of boat will be tapering in shape. The rear end will be highly elevated from the water-level.
The annual snake boat race in Alapuzha is a major tourist attraction.
source :
http://www.zeenews.com/
A first of its kind in Kerala, the steel boat is 143.25 feet long and 5.74 feet wide. It weighs eight tonnes and has been christened as ''Aries Chundan''.
On May 1, the boat carried a crew of 141 rowers, including five helmsmen, in Punnamada Lake in Alapuzha district.
"We called all our boat rovers in Kainagiri and made an attempt with 141 people on it. This time we have been successful to have so many people on board. Last time, our attempt with 118 persons went in vain," said Sohan Roy S.K, Chief Executive Officer for ARIES Group.
The boat was already registered in the Limca Book of World Records as the longest steel made snake board.
The special boat has been designed scientifically, as it is based on the latest scientific methods of Naval architecture. The shape and stability has been designed using the world famous ''Autoship'' software.
The strength has been analyzed by finite element method. An overhanging test was also conducted to analyze the longitudinal strength practically and a sinking tests to prove its un-sinkability.
"For this design we had to spend about six months because the stability, strength were very critical for us. We had done a practical test on it called ‘the over hanging test’ which was successful. Next was the immersing test where the boat was put in water," said Sohan Roy S.K, Chief Executive Officer, ARIES Group.
The boats of Kerala are older than 400 years. They were the traditional battle vessels meant for logistics during war between erstwhile kings.
The boats are categorized and named according to shapes, sizes and purposes. The Chundanvallam is so called because of its pointed prow.
The term snake boat indicates the shape of the stern, which resembles the raised hood of a snake. The front end of this type of boat will be tapering in shape. The rear end will be highly elevated from the water-level.
The annual snake boat race in Alapuzha is a major tourist attraction.
source :
http://www.zeenews.com/
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Spicy girls of West Bengal
They are just five and seven years old, but it's not chocolates and chips that Joshna and Shanti are after. Both the sisters in this seaside village love to eat three kilos of green chillies each every day!Shanti and Joshna, the daughters of fisherman Jatin Sadhu, are considered "miracle children" in their village, about 200 km from Kolkata.
"Shanti started having chillies when she was two years old and Joshna had her first chilli at the age of four. They never complain that the chillies are hot, nor do they ever develop a sore mouth. Every day they need 2-3 kg of chillies each," Jatin said.
"They chew on chillies as if they are having toffees and juicy fruits."
There's never a dearth of chillies, as Jatin's brother-in-law Arun Mondal is a chilli farmer.
"Often Arun takes my daughters to his chilli farm. One day he saw Shanti plucking chillies one after another and eating them. He thought the child would soon scream but no such thing happened. After that Shanti got addicted to chillies. Joshna too joined her sister soon," Jatin said.
Neighbours say the sisters are "blessed" and that is why they do not find the chillies hot.
"The Sadhu sisters are blessed. Else how can they do such a miracle every day!" wondered neighbour Laxmi Sadhukhan.
Jatin took the girls to a local doctor for a thorough checkup.
"But the doctor, Swapan Samadder, found them fit," Jatin said.
Samadder said the taste buds of the girls were apparently unable to distinguish anything hot.
"Their taste buds seem not to detect the taste of anything hot. But it's surprising that even their livers and other internal organs are not affected after eating so many chillies every day. It's a very rare case in medical science.
"Nevertheless, I have requested the father to keep his daughters away from chillies because I am sure in the long run it will affect their health," Samadder said.
Jatin said he did try to keep his daughters away from chillies.
"As a result my daughters stopped eating and started vomiting. Only after I gave them chillies did they become normal!"
source :
http://www.zeenews.com/
Might keep Gurez open to tourists longer: JK Gov
Efforts will be made to keep the scenic Gurez valley, known for its Habakhatoon hill, open to tourist traffic for longer duration, Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra said here today.Located on the Line of Control and usually remaining cut off for most part of the year owing to heavy snowfall, Gurez was brought in the tourist map early this year.
The Gurez-Tulail road would be kept open for longer duration to ensure speedy development of this border sub division, Vohra said while interacting with locals and officials.
He said the issue would be raised with the Border Roads Organisation, which maintains the vital highways and roads in the valley.
In view of the tourism potential of the area, he said an amount of Rs three crore has already been sanctioned for infrastructure development.
Vohra indicated a special recruitment drive by the police could be carried out after Eid-ul-Fitr and directed that winter stocking of rations and diesel be completed by October five.
He announced the release of Rs 70 lakh for the procurement and stocking of diesel, as the area is entirely dependent on generators for power. An amount of Rs 50 lakh has already been earmarked for this purpose.
Reviewing the pace of progress on various projects at a meeting with district and senior level officers, the governor sanctioned Rs one crore for the new 'Dak' Bungalow, Rs 65 lakh for construction of the Wanpora bridge and an additional Rs 30 lakh for the hospital complex currently under execution.
source : http://www.zeenews.com/
Monday, September 22, 2008
India joins Asiavision song contest
Asia is to have its own version of the Eurovision song contest in 2009 with India and at least six other countries and territories taking part, a Hong Kong news report said on Monday.China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong have all committed to taking part in the contest which will be telecast across the region, the South China Morning Post said.
Contests to select the entries from each of the participating destinations will be held early next year before a three-hour finale at a venue yet to be decided, the newspaper said.
Asiavision, the company set up to arrange the event, said that unlike Eurovision, which launched the international careers of acts like ABBA, the Asian contest would feature existing pop stars.
"We are aiming at having established artistes," said spokesman Mishal Varma. "It's like the Olympics for music."
Varma said the organizers of Eurovision had been consulted about the idea and partnerships would be formed with broadcasters in each of the participating countries and territories.
The Eurovision song contest has run for 53 years and is as famous internationally for its naff tunes and heroic failures scoring "null points" as its famous graduates like Lulu and Cliff Richard.
source :
http://music.ndtv.com/
Friday, September 19, 2008
4 Indian-origin men on Forbes' richest Americans list
Tech guru Vinod Khosla and three other men of Indian origin are on the 2008 list of the 400 richest Americans prepared by Forbes magazine.
The list, released on Wednesday, is topped by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, followed by legendary investor William Buffet with fortunes of about $57 billion and $50 billion respectively.
Oracle Corp founder Lawrence Ellison, worth $27 billion, is in the third position.
While Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems and a venture captialist, is ranked 355 with a personal wealth of $1.4 billion, the other three Indian Americans on the list are Google investor Kavitark Ram Shriram (rank 281), Syntel founder Bharat Desai and family (321), and Amar Bose (also ranked 321) of Bose sound systems.
All four are self-made billionaires. To get on the Forbes' list, the minimum net worth needed was $1.3 billion this year.
Shriram, 51, with a personal wealth of $1.7 billion, is a Chennai-born entrepreneur who started at Netscape in 1994. Later, he created shopping site Junglee, which he sold to Amazon in 1998.
An early investor and a board member of Google, he still owns 1.3 million shares worth $600 million. Today, the Californian backs some Indian and US startups and sits on the board of Indian job site Naukri.com.
Khosla, 52, also based in California, is an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) product from India with an MBA from Stanford. He co-founded electric design automation company Daisy Systems in 1980.
Two years later he joined others to form Sun Microsystems. He served as its chief executive before turning to finance full-time in 1996. In 2004, he started Khosla Ventures, which funds "science experiments" like solar panels and clean technology.
Florida-based Desai was born in Kenya 55 years ago, but moved to India at age 11. After getting an IIT degree, he moved to the US in 1976 to work at TCS. He founded Syntel with wife Neerja Sethi, taking it public in 1997. Today, the firm outsources client's IT and BPO overseas, mostly to Asia.
Bose, now 78, started repairing radios in high school. He earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Techonology (MIT) and started research on hi-fi sound before starting Bose Corp in 1964.
He built his brand on groundbreaking loudspeaker design. Today, Bose iPod docks, surround-sound home entertainment speaker systems and noise-cancelling headphones dominate the market. Based in Massachusetts, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame last year.
A man of Sri Lankan origin is also on the Forbes list. Raj Rajaratnam (rank 262), with a wealth of $1.8 billion, founded hedge fund Galleon Group in 1997, making big bets on health care and technology companies. Today the firm manages $7.5 billion across six funds.
Economic woes have claimed some members of Forbes' ranking of the 400 wealthiest Americans.
Dropouts this year include former American International Group (AIG) chief executive Maurice Greenberg and former eBay chief Meg Whitman.
With an average net worth of $3.9 billion, the 400 richest Americans collectively have a net worth of $1.57 trillion, exceeding Canada's gross domestic product.
source : http://www.ndtv.com/
The list, released on Wednesday, is topped by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, followed by legendary investor William Buffet with fortunes of about $57 billion and $50 billion respectively.
Oracle Corp founder Lawrence Ellison, worth $27 billion, is in the third position.
While Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems and a venture captialist, is ranked 355 with a personal wealth of $1.4 billion, the other three Indian Americans on the list are Google investor Kavitark Ram Shriram (rank 281), Syntel founder Bharat Desai and family (321), and Amar Bose (also ranked 321) of Bose sound systems.
All four are self-made billionaires. To get on the Forbes' list, the minimum net worth needed was $1.3 billion this year.
Shriram, 51, with a personal wealth of $1.7 billion, is a Chennai-born entrepreneur who started at Netscape in 1994. Later, he created shopping site Junglee, which he sold to Amazon in 1998.
An early investor and a board member of Google, he still owns 1.3 million shares worth $600 million. Today, the Californian backs some Indian and US startups and sits on the board of Indian job site Naukri.com.
Khosla, 52, also based in California, is an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) product from India with an MBA from Stanford. He co-founded electric design automation company Daisy Systems in 1980.
Two years later he joined others to form Sun Microsystems. He served as its chief executive before turning to finance full-time in 1996. In 2004, he started Khosla Ventures, which funds "science experiments" like solar panels and clean technology.
Florida-based Desai was born in Kenya 55 years ago, but moved to India at age 11. After getting an IIT degree, he moved to the US in 1976 to work at TCS. He founded Syntel with wife Neerja Sethi, taking it public in 1997. Today, the firm outsources client's IT and BPO overseas, mostly to Asia.
Bose, now 78, started repairing radios in high school. He earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Techonology (MIT) and started research on hi-fi sound before starting Bose Corp in 1964.
He built his brand on groundbreaking loudspeaker design. Today, Bose iPod docks, surround-sound home entertainment speaker systems and noise-cancelling headphones dominate the market. Based in Massachusetts, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame last year.
A man of Sri Lankan origin is also on the Forbes list. Raj Rajaratnam (rank 262), with a wealth of $1.8 billion, founded hedge fund Galleon Group in 1997, making big bets on health care and technology companies. Today the firm manages $7.5 billion across six funds.
Economic woes have claimed some members of Forbes' ranking of the 400 wealthiest Americans.
Dropouts this year include former American International Group (AIG) chief executive Maurice Greenberg and former eBay chief Meg Whitman.
With an average net worth of $3.9 billion, the 400 richest Americans collectively have a net worth of $1.57 trillion, exceeding Canada's gross domestic product.
source : http://www.ndtv.com/
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Indian unity defies terror
Indian Capital Delhi once again thrilled up when five serial bomb blasts were made by the terrorists at three most important places in the capital. More than two dozen peoples lost their lives in these blasts and more than one hundred & fifty peoples were injured in this tragedy.
Ignoring the terrorist's inhuman activities, the festival season is in full swing now in India, as India is well known for its festivals of the different castes & communities. The Indian Hindu community recently organized its religious festival Ganesh Pooja with full devotion, whereas the Muslims were busy in its pious month of Ramzan. In the next few days there are preparations to celebrate the famous festivals of Dushehra, the DurgaPooja and the Ied-Ul-fiter.
This country presents an example of unity among diversities and the festivals of all the communities are associated with the religious importance. At the same time these festivals present a rare example of communal harmony and equality for all the religions. Perhaps no country in the world can show such a thing. Surprisingly, these examples are seen in India even at the time when the terrorists and communal powers are doing their best efforts day and night, to break the communal harmony Let us see, such events, associated with Indian communal harmony.
In Barara, a town in Haryana, there is its fame for making the highest effigy of Ravana on the Dushehra day during last years. Even this year they are trying to set a record for the Asia's highest effigy of Ravana on the Dushehra festival eve. The president and founder of the Ram leela club Rana tejinder singh chauhan, with the help of his hundreds of companions, has been doing his best to get the highest effigy of Ravana prepared for last four months.
To help him in this project, a Muslim family of Mohammad Usman has come from famous Taj city, Agra. After covering a distance of 500 km. from his hometown, Mohamand Usman and his family members are staying at Barara as special guests for the last four months, with Tejinder Singh Chauhan.
Muhammad Usman has a deep desire from the care of heart to help Tejinder Singh Chauhan in establishing the record in the country and after that now in the world. During the preparation of this huge effigy of Ravana the holy month of Ramzan also passed. Mohammad Usman and his family keep Roza 'fast' in a regular way.
Tajinder Singh Chauhan makes complete arrangement with full devotion for his Roza's. Not only this, when his wife felt a need for the Quraan sharif (A holly Islamic Book) in the beginning of Ramzan, Chauhan himself took the trouble to go to book stall that kept the religious books and get it for the wife of Mohd. Usman. He fulfilled other religious necessities for completing the religious ceremonies. Usman himself accepts the fact that he gets the highest regards and religious freedom while doing his work at the directed structure of Ravana here at Barara.
Perhaps that regard and freedom he may not get among his own community members. That is why he happily accepts the invitation from Chauhan every year and comes to Barara with his skilled workers and his family. In this regard Tejinder Singh states that he feels happy to do his duty to fulfill the religious necessities of Mohammad Usman and his relatives. He feels in this work as doing Indian custom of 'the guests are the gods' Chauhan says that he is attempting to get the world record of making the huge effigy to be entered in the guinnies book of world records. The effigy is being prepared by Mohammad Usman under his directions. If it is so, the Ravana effigy for this year in the town Barara will not only set a record for its height and giant ness but it will also set a rare example of Indian communal harmony.
Similarly the festival of Ganesh pooja, like other years, is presenting an example of communal harmony, this year too. Where the great hero of Indian film industry, Salman khan was seen celebrating Ganesh pooja with full devotion at the same time, in many parts of India, the Ganesh pooja festival was organized by the Muslim community. Not only this, in many Ganesh pooja organizations the Ganesh statue was setup by the Muslims in their houses and these were properly worshipped. In the festival Ganesh pooja Visarjan many persons from the Muslim community took part in it, in large number. Another famous film actor, shahrukh khan too celebrate all the Hindus and the Muslims festival with great zeal in his house, by celebrating all the festivals such as the Holi, the Diwali, the Id, and the baqrid, with his near and dear ones, he shows an examples of a real Indian.
These functions of all religious and communal harmony are celebrated not only by the rich and wealthy or famous persons but the poor and helpless people in India; too have the strong feeling of celebrating these festivals with great zeal. For example, 19 districts of Bihar state in India are badly affected because of severe floods that were caused by the Kosi river dam breakage. The victims without any religious discrimination took part in religious festivals of one another and provided shelters to the victims. The collective functions and prayers were organized at many places to get rid of the disaster. These prayers from both the communities were done under one roof at many places. At the time of flood in the month of Ramzan, the Hindus helped the Muslims and at some places these are news that the Hindus too observed the Roza .
As there is news that the Muslims are involve in most of the events of terrorism in India. For this there are news of bad attempts for polarization of votes by the Hindutvawadi powers in Gujrat and at the same time the examples of communal harmony easily makes one to understand that on this holy land of Ramanand, Kabir, Nanak, Chishti, Khusroo, Baba Farid and bulleshah the attempts to spoil the communal harmony cannot succeed. No terrorist organization can uproot the plants of communal harmony in this country of saints and hermits.
source :
http://www.westender.com.au/
Ignoring the terrorist's inhuman activities, the festival season is in full swing now in India, as India is well known for its festivals of the different castes & communities. The Indian Hindu community recently organized its religious festival Ganesh Pooja with full devotion, whereas the Muslims were busy in its pious month of Ramzan. In the next few days there are preparations to celebrate the famous festivals of Dushehra, the DurgaPooja and the Ied-Ul-fiter.
This country presents an example of unity among diversities and the festivals of all the communities are associated with the religious importance. At the same time these festivals present a rare example of communal harmony and equality for all the religions. Perhaps no country in the world can show such a thing. Surprisingly, these examples are seen in India even at the time when the terrorists and communal powers are doing their best efforts day and night, to break the communal harmony Let us see, such events, associated with Indian communal harmony.
In Barara, a town in Haryana, there is its fame for making the highest effigy of Ravana on the Dushehra day during last years. Even this year they are trying to set a record for the Asia's highest effigy of Ravana on the Dushehra festival eve. The president and founder of the Ram leela club Rana tejinder singh chauhan, with the help of his hundreds of companions, has been doing his best to get the highest effigy of Ravana prepared for last four months.
To help him in this project, a Muslim family of Mohammad Usman has come from famous Taj city, Agra. After covering a distance of 500 km. from his hometown, Mohamand Usman and his family members are staying at Barara as special guests for the last four months, with Tejinder Singh Chauhan.
Muhammad Usman has a deep desire from the care of heart to help Tejinder Singh Chauhan in establishing the record in the country and after that now in the world. During the preparation of this huge effigy of Ravana the holy month of Ramzan also passed. Mohammad Usman and his family keep Roza 'fast' in a regular way.
Tajinder Singh Chauhan makes complete arrangement with full devotion for his Roza's. Not only this, when his wife felt a need for the Quraan sharif (A holly Islamic Book) in the beginning of Ramzan, Chauhan himself took the trouble to go to book stall that kept the religious books and get it for the wife of Mohd. Usman. He fulfilled other religious necessities for completing the religious ceremonies. Usman himself accepts the fact that he gets the highest regards and religious freedom while doing his work at the directed structure of Ravana here at Barara.
Perhaps that regard and freedom he may not get among his own community members. That is why he happily accepts the invitation from Chauhan every year and comes to Barara with his skilled workers and his family. In this regard Tejinder Singh states that he feels happy to do his duty to fulfill the religious necessities of Mohammad Usman and his relatives. He feels in this work as doing Indian custom of 'the guests are the gods' Chauhan says that he is attempting to get the world record of making the huge effigy to be entered in the guinnies book of world records. The effigy is being prepared by Mohammad Usman under his directions. If it is so, the Ravana effigy for this year in the town Barara will not only set a record for its height and giant ness but it will also set a rare example of Indian communal harmony.
Similarly the festival of Ganesh pooja, like other years, is presenting an example of communal harmony, this year too. Where the great hero of Indian film industry, Salman khan was seen celebrating Ganesh pooja with full devotion at the same time, in many parts of India, the Ganesh pooja festival was organized by the Muslim community. Not only this, in many Ganesh pooja organizations the Ganesh statue was setup by the Muslims in their houses and these were properly worshipped. In the festival Ganesh pooja Visarjan many persons from the Muslim community took part in it, in large number. Another famous film actor, shahrukh khan too celebrate all the Hindus and the Muslims festival with great zeal in his house, by celebrating all the festivals such as the Holi, the Diwali, the Id, and the baqrid, with his near and dear ones, he shows an examples of a real Indian.
These functions of all religious and communal harmony are celebrated not only by the rich and wealthy or famous persons but the poor and helpless people in India; too have the strong feeling of celebrating these festivals with great zeal. For example, 19 districts of Bihar state in India are badly affected because of severe floods that were caused by the Kosi river dam breakage. The victims without any religious discrimination took part in religious festivals of one another and provided shelters to the victims. The collective functions and prayers were organized at many places to get rid of the disaster. These prayers from both the communities were done under one roof at many places. At the time of flood in the month of Ramzan, the Hindus helped the Muslims and at some places these are news that the Hindus too observed the Roza .
As there is news that the Muslims are involve in most of the events of terrorism in India. For this there are news of bad attempts for polarization of votes by the Hindutvawadi powers in Gujrat and at the same time the examples of communal harmony easily makes one to understand that on this holy land of Ramanand, Kabir, Nanak, Chishti, Khusroo, Baba Farid and bulleshah the attempts to spoil the communal harmony cannot succeed. No terrorist organization can uproot the plants of communal harmony in this country of saints and hermits.
source :
http://www.westender.com.au/
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Artifacts of bygone age unearthed
A team of archaeologists has unearthed ancient artifacts from the Bronze Age and the Iron Age in Myanmar.
Found in Thazi township in the central Mandalay division by the Archaeological, Natural Museum and Libraries Department under the Ministry of Culture, the artifacts provide an evidence of transition from Bronze culture to Iron culture in Myanmar.
Foreign archaeologists once considered that in the early history, Myanmar was transferred from Stone Age into the Iron Age without flourishing of Bronze culture.
According to state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar, the thesis was proved wrong when many artifacts were excavated in such regions as Nyaungkan, Myin-U Hle, Hnawkan and Kukkokha that provided evidences of bronze culture in the country, and that was supported by the artifacts found in Kanthitgon village.
Archaeological research was carried out in eight different places simultaneously and among the ancient objects found in Kanthitgon village were nine complete bodies along with some incomplete sets of bodies of all ages, child, middle age and old age.
The bodies were buried together with bronze and iron weapons.
The artifacts of the Bronze Age found in the village also included bronze arrow heads, spears, wire bundles, cups, floral works, stone beads, bone beads, different sizes of pots and plates and iron spears.
source :
http://www.zeenews.com/
Found in Thazi township in the central Mandalay division by the Archaeological, Natural Museum and Libraries Department under the Ministry of Culture, the artifacts provide an evidence of transition from Bronze culture to Iron culture in Myanmar.
Foreign archaeologists once considered that in the early history, Myanmar was transferred from Stone Age into the Iron Age without flourishing of Bronze culture.
According to state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar, the thesis was proved wrong when many artifacts were excavated in such regions as Nyaungkan, Myin-U Hle, Hnawkan and Kukkokha that provided evidences of bronze culture in the country, and that was supported by the artifacts found in Kanthitgon village.
Archaeological research was carried out in eight different places simultaneously and among the ancient objects found in Kanthitgon village were nine complete bodies along with some incomplete sets of bodies of all ages, child, middle age and old age.
The bodies were buried together with bronze and iron weapons.
The artifacts of the Bronze Age found in the village also included bronze arrow heads, spears, wire bundles, cups, floral works, stone beads, bone beads, different sizes of pots and plates and iron spears.
source :
http://www.zeenews.com/
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Bihar floods: Manmohan, Sonia undertake aerial survey
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Thursday undertook an aerial survey of the four most affected districts by floods in Bihar where the swollen Kosi river continued to wreak havoc.Singh and Gandhi arrived at the Purnia airbase by a special IAF plane from New Delhi and took off in an IAF chopper to undertake the aerial survey in Supaul, Saharsa, Araria and Madhepura districts, official sources said.
They were accompanied by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, Union Minister of State for Water Resource Jaiprakash Narain Yadav and BJP Lok Sabha members from Purnia and Araria -- Uday Singh and Sukhdeo Paswan -- respectively.
Earlier, Kumar received Singh and Gandhi at the Purnia airbase and briefed them about the flood situation.
Altogether 55 persons have so far lost their lives in the current spell of floods in the state.
Personnel of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Special Auxiliary Police (SAP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), state police and the Army were engaged in the flood-hit areas to provide succour to the victims, the sources said.
Over 25 lakh people in 15 districts have been hit by the impact of one of the worst floods in recent memory with victims from these four districts making up 19.78 lakh.
A total of 396 boats engaged in relief and rescue work in the four districts have so far rescued 65,539 marooned people to safer places, they said, adding the number of people rescued from all the 15 districts was over 1.2 lakh.
Chief Minister Kumar, who called on Prime Minister Singh in New Delhi on Wednesday, had demanded an initial allocation of Rs 1,000 crore from the Centre in view of the unprecedented devastation caused by the turbulent Kosi river, which has charted a new course after breaching its embankment.
Kumar had stressed the need for an aggressive pursuit of diplomatic initiatives with Nepal for the construction of high dams and massive re-aforestation in the upper catchment area of the rivers, which would also imply the strengthening of embankments as part of long-term initiatives.
"More than 20 lakh people and their houses, including a number of townships, 242 panchayats and 671 villages which lie along the new course of the river have been inundated," he said, adding the state would immediately require one lakh metric tonne of rice for relief.
source :
http://www.hindu.com/
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Surat is India's youngest city: Study
Here is one more proof that youth of the nation are drivers of its economic growth. Surat, the city with fastest GDP growth and richest households nationally, is also the city with the maximum youth in the country.Even as the world celebrates International Youth Day on Tuesday, a study by National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) and Roopa Purshothaman of Future Capital Research says that 73.8 per cent of Surat's population is below 35 years.
Effectively, nearly 33 lakh of the 45 lakh people living in Surat are youngsters, pushing up Surat's growth. Ahmedabad, the only other city from Gujarat in the study of 20 cities, has finished 14th.
Experts say migrants have injected the energy of youth into the city.
As Akash Acharya, 33, of Centre for Social Studies in Surat, puts it: "Only people in the working age migrate in large numbers and take advantage of the city's industrial growth."
He adds that the city will continue to be the youngest for some time. "Once migrants grow older, they go back home and more migrants come in. This factor will help the city keep growing."
Interestingly, it is not just industrial labourers migrating here. Among the few young Turks to make Surat their home is Vardan Kabra, 34, an IIM-A graduate who has started a school in the city. "When I came here five years ago, I saw that the city was growing very fast and it had good infrastructure. I chose to stay back."
Kabra adds he chose Surat for its proximity to both Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Like Kabra, IIT-Mumbai graduate Amit Saraf also came to city to start a beauty saloon. "I was drawn to Surat by its economic environment. It's affordable to start a new business here."
source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
Friday, August 8, 2008
Himachal traces Pandavas` footprint
In a bid to bring the rich historical root of Himachal Pradesh out of oblivion and to promote tourism, the state government is conducting a survey to find evidence of places linked with visit of the Pandavas."Survey is underway to find evidence for these historical references of visit of the Pandavas to the state during their 14 years of banishment to forest and on other occasions," said Prem Sharma, Director, Department of Language and Culture.
The objective behind the exercise is to trace the rich historical root of Himachal Pradesh popularly called "Dev bhoomi" (land of lords) and promote tourism by developing these sites, Sharma said.
"Historical texts say that during their banishment the Pandavas had stayed at Hatkoti which falls in the modern day's Shimla district," he said adding that there is a temple of Hidimba, wife of mighty Bhima, at Kullu.
There is also reference of Arjuna travelling to 'Kinner' country which is considered to be the modern day Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, the director said.
To corroborate all these historical references with evidence, researchers of the state Language and Culture department are conducting the detailed survey expected to be completed in a year, Sharma said.
He said memorials would be built at the places where evidences are found about the links with Pandavas.
According to the epic Mahabharta, Pandavas -- a group of five brothers namely Yudhisthir, Arjuna, Bhima, Nakul and Sehdev -- were forced to live in jungle for 14 years.
source : http://www.zeenews.com/
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Heavy showers wash Taj
Continuous rain for the past fortnight in and around Agra has brought cheer as well as despair to the citizens and tourists here.The welcome change, of course, is the rain washed Taj Mahal against a lush green backdrop with the waters of the Yamuna flowing in full spate.
"The dry Yamuna presented such a pathetic and deplorable scene that people often would ask us why Shah Jahan chose this site to build such a monument, but right now the river is full and flowing majestically," said tourist guide Manu.
The showers have also eased the pressure on the water and power supply departments but the Agra Municipal Corporation has come under fire for its failure to keep the city drains clear of debris.
Low-lying areas of the city have remained water-logged for a week. The city's lifeline MG Road was under water at four different points Tuesday after a spell of heavy showers.
The Shiva fair on the Delhi-Agra highway was affected after a sudden downpour Monday night. The pilgrims were stranded for hours.
Heavy showers in Mathura, Vrindavan and Goverdhan also affected movement of pilgrims.
source :
http://www.ndtvtravels.com/
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Foreign tourists head for Sunderbans
The West Bengal government will focus on the Sunderbans this year to promote tourism in the state, Tourism Minister Manab Mukherjee said."Sunderbans would be our focus this year. For the present fiscal, (the) government has allocated Rs.250 million for tourism," he said on the sidelines of the inauguration of 64th Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF).
He indicated that the state has bigger plans for promoting the Sunderbans to attract tourists.
Last fiscal the budget allocation was Rs.100 million.
The sunderbans are part of the world's largest delta. It is a mangrove forest spread over West Bengal and Bangladesh, that reaches inland for 100-130 km.
The travel and tourism fair offers a platform every year to various states and countries to set up stalls to promote their respective tourist sectors.
Apart from 250 participants across India including representations from 22 states, nine foreign countries have also participated this year.
Sanjiv Agarwal, chairman and managing director of Fairfest Media Ltd, said: "Every year nearly 10 million Indians visit foreign countries."
Singapore is the partner country, while Dubai, Nepal and Malaysia are the feature countries. The other countries represented are Indonesia, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Bhutan.
Besides Kolkata, TTF covers cities like Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Surat, Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai and New Delhi.
source :
http://www.ndtvtravels.com/
Monday, August 4, 2008
Stampede near Naina Devi temple claims 146 lives
A stampede on a slender trail leading to the famous hilltop Naina Devi temple in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh on Sunday killed 146 people, mainly women and children, and injured about 230. Naina Devi, a key shrine of the temple tourist circuit of the hill State, is about 165 km from the State capital and is very popular among the people from neighbouring Punjab and the lower plains of Himachal.
According to officials, rumours of a landslip uphill triggered the stampede as terrified people started running down. More than 5000 devotees were on their way to the temple, situated at a height of about 4000 metres, at the time of the incident. Since this was an auspicious time of the year, the rush was more, said a temple official.
The communication network in the area was affected due to bad weather and rescue operations were hampered due to fog around the site.
Most of the injured have been referred to the Ropar hospital in Punjab and PGI Chandigarh.
Television footage showed slippers, torn clothes and bags with flowers and offerings lying along the narrow path winding up the hill.
People thronged hospitals looking for relatives.
A television channel showed a young woman pleading for water in a corner as rescuers brought in more injured people on stretchers.
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal rushed to the spot and supervised rescue operations. He announced an immediate relief of Rs. 1 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs. 50,000 to those seriously injured.
A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the incident. A similar stampede occurred here in 1983, claiming 36 lives.
PTI reports:
As men, women and children stood in a serpentine queue, suddenly all hell broke loose. In 15 minutes, between 9.30 a.m. and 9.45 a.m. rumour of a landslip triggered a huge stampede.
Groups of devotees returning from the temple ran down and crashed into pilgrims trekking up the four km road to reach the temple.
Children and women clutching the hands of their near and dear ones got separated in the rush to escape the feared landslide, realising little that they were hurtling to another form of death.
As devotees tried to outpace one another to find an escape route, they tried to jump over the railings along the road leading to the temple.
Coming under massive human pressure, the railings gave way and people fell down along the slope.
Several women and children, who could not jump the railings and stuck to the regular path, were trampled upon, witnesses said.
source :
http://www.hindu.com/
Friday, August 1, 2008
Partial Solar eclipse in India
A total eclipse of the sun will occur on Friday afternoon and it will be visible as a partial eclipse throughout India.In general, the total eclipse will be visible in the region covering northern and eastern parts of North America, Greenland, northern Europe and Asia except Japan.
Considering the earth as a whole, the eclipse begins at 1:34 IST when the shadow of the moon first touches the earth at local sunrise near a point in the North Atlantic Ocean close to New Found land in Canada.
The eclipse ends at 6:08 IST when the moon’s shadow finally leaves the earth at local sunset near a point in the Bay of Bengal close to Andaman Nicobar Island.
The total phase begins at 2:53 IST at a point near southeastern coast of Victoria Island in northern Canada.
The total phase ends at 4:50 IST at a point near Xi''an in southeast China.
The greatest phase of the eclipse with magnitude 1.040 occurs at 3:51 IST near a point close to Nadym in northern Russia.
The duration of the total phase at this point is two minutes 30 seconds.
Next total eclipse of the sun will occur on July 22, 2009. The path of the totality of the same eclipse will pass through India.
source :
http://www.zeenews.com/
Ancient sculptures found in Tripura
Nestled in the tiny Jolaibari town of Tripura's south district, Pilak, an eight-twelth century archaeological site, stands as an eloquent symbol of the Hindu-Buddhist affinity cultural as much as the glorious cultural past of the state.
Stone engravings and statues of Shiva, Surya, Baishnabi and Mahishashurmardini stand alongside the statues of Lord Buddha in different places like Shyam Sundar Tilla, Deb Bari, Thakurani Tilla, Balir Pathar, Basudeb Bari and others in a three-square-kilometre site.
The dominant form and style of the rock-cut images and the sculptures in Pilak carries the influence of the Palas and Guptas of Bengal, influence of the Arakan in Mynamar (formerly Burma) and local style, Jawahar Achariya, a historian and numismatist, said.
A number of rock-cut images and terracotta plaques lie scattered in various places of the area, which has been under the care of the Archaeological Survey of India, speaking of the state's past cultural glory.
"The moulded terracotta plaques bear resemblance to the moulded plaques recovered from Paharpur and Mainamati in Bangladesh," Achariya, who studied the history of the site, said.
Thaikhai Chowdhury, an official of the information department of Tripura and a Mog tribal said, "There is a reference of Pilak as Pilakko in the stone inscriptions at Mruhang, the ancient capital of the old Arakan kingdom in present Myanmar".
Chowdhury said according to the folklore and oral history, there was a close cultural link between 'pilakko' and Arakan via the Chittagong hill tracts of present Bangladesh.
The Archaeological Survey of India had taken over the site since 1999 and is now protected under the provision of the Government of India's relevant act of 1958.
A senior conservation assistant of the ASI, Narayan Chandra Debnath, said a new stupa had been excavated at Sundari Tilla.
Explaining the importance of the newly-excavated site, Debnath says this is a full size Buddhist stupa built in the 11th century on the pattern of architecture during the reign of "Palas of bengal".
Debnath, who was in charge of the Pilak site since 1999, said the stupa had been excavated under the supervision of ASI superintendent P Kumaran since January, 1999 and completed in March, 2006.
He pointed out that the stone image of meditating Buddha found in the sanctum of the stupa had "very close affinity to the tribal feature on the mouth".
A top official of the state government said that the government had plans to develop the site for Buddhist tourists of South-East Asia and other places and for this a project of Rs 150 crore has been submitted to the Centre.
The Centre will seek financial assistance from the government of Japan, he said.
The state government has already developed the site as a tourist spot by setting up a cafeteria and providing other facilities for visitors.
source :
http://www.zeenews.com/
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Delhi Metro to introduce 131 new trains
Delhi Metro will add 131 more trains, some of them with six coaches, to its fleet to cater to the additional traffic caused due to the increasing number of passengers.
"The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has ordered 131 more trains to cater to the additional traffic," DMRC spokesman Anuj Dayal said.
He said some of the these trains sets would have six coaches on those stretches which are very crowded.
The number of passengers using Delhi Metro services crossed eight lakhs mark on Monday and yesterday for the first time, Dayal said, adding that ridership on Monday was 8.05 lakh and yesterday it was 8.14 lakh.
The new trains are currently being manufactured and will be pressed into service as soon as they are ready, he said.
The earning of the Delhi Metro from passengers revenue was around Rs 90 lakh per day on Monday and yesterday consequently, Dayal said.
The average daily ridership on Delhi Metro has been 7.26 lakh this month.
source :
http://www.zeenews.com/
Monday, July 28, 2008
India goes on alert as further city bombings feared
MAJOR INDIAN cities were on alert yesterday, anticipating further attacks after two successive days of serial bombings that ripped through a communally-sensitive western city and an information technology hub in the south, killing 51 people.
"The entire nation has been asked to step up security at vital installations", a federal home ministry spokesman said following bomb attacks at Ahemdabad in Gujarat state on Saturday evening and in the country's software capital, Bangalore, 24 hours earlier.
Police said 16 bombs exploded within one hour in the evening in Ahemdabad's teeming bazaars, congested neighbourhoods and hospitals tending to the injured in the affluent and Muslim-dominated city, killing 49 people, including women and children and wounding over 160 others.
Containing ammonium nitrate, gelatine sticks and ball-bearings, the bombs were strapped to bicycles and motorcycles, secreted inside lunch boxes and under seats in crowded public buses and detonated with timers at staggered intervals.
Ahemdabad police commissioner OP Mathur said an unexploded bomb had been found in the city and two others in the nearby diamond-cutting centre of Surat, and defused. Around 30 people, he said, had been detained for questioning but declined to elaborate.
The plan behind the meticulously planned bombings. federal home minister Shivraj Patil said. was to trigger communal strife between the majority Hindus and Muslims in the normally turbulent city. He appealed for calm.
The little-known "Indian Mujahideen" or Islamic warriors group claimed responsibility for the Ahmedabad attack in a lengthy e-mail to television news channels minutes before the first bomb exploded at about 6.30pm on Saturday. It declared the bombings were to avenge the month-long pogrom in 2002 in Gujarat in which over 2,500 people, mostly Muslims, were killed by rampaging Hindu mobs.
Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), one of India's most controversial politicians, was accused by human rights activists and MPs of connivance in the riots, for which the US has refused to issue him a visa.
The BJP was also in power in Bangalore, capital of Karnataka province, where eight bombs exploded in under an hour on Friday, killing two people and paralysing the hi-tech city that caters to multinational software companies and western financial institutions.
Earlier, "Indian Mujahideen" claimed responsibility for the serial bombings that killed 63 people in the western tourist city of Jaipur - also ruled by the BJP - in May and in northern Uttar Pradesh state last November in which 10 others died.
In a similar document sent minutes before the Jaipur bombings to TV channels, the "Indian Mujahideen" stated the attack was in retaliation to India supporting the US and Britain on "international issues" and warned that if this alliance continued, more strikes would follow.
Indian and western security officials, however, claimed the "Indian Mujahideen" was a "smokescreen" for Muslim militant groups based in neighbouring Bangladesh and Pakistan with the aim of fomenting sectarian tension in India. They said these groups had long been fighting India's control over the disputed Kashmir province, its recent regional and global economic status and its strategic and defence co-operation with the West, especially the US.
Federal Intelligence Bureau sources said the attacks demonstrated the capability of the foreign insurgent groups to strike "anywhere" and at "anytime" across India by using disaffected Muslims as "carriers". Some 13 per cent of India's population of more than 1.2 billion is Muslim.
In excess of 550 people have died in 11 well-co-ordinated terrorist attacks across India since October 2005. None of them had been solved so far and no arrests made.
The first round of Ahemdabad's bombings took place near busy markets, followed by explosions some 25 minutes later in and around two hospitals where the injured were being rushed.
A doctor, his three-month pregnant wife and another doctor were killed in explosions at two adjoining hospitals within a two-mile radius. "Never before have we seen such ruthless bombings of hospitals. The terrorists' objective was to strike the defenceless and deepen the fear," a senior security official said.
"I came with my two children to cheer up my mother admitted to hospital," said Pankaj Patel, whose son Rohan and daughter Pratha were killed at Ahmedadad hospital. They were laughing when the blast occurred.
Army troops patrolled Ahemdabad, and police and paramilitary personnel were deployed across the city to prevent the outbreak of any sectarian violence.
source : http://www.irishtimes.com/
"The entire nation has been asked to step up security at vital installations", a federal home ministry spokesman said following bomb attacks at Ahemdabad in Gujarat state on Saturday evening and in the country's software capital, Bangalore, 24 hours earlier.
Police said 16 bombs exploded within one hour in the evening in Ahemdabad's teeming bazaars, congested neighbourhoods and hospitals tending to the injured in the affluent and Muslim-dominated city, killing 49 people, including women and children and wounding over 160 others.
Containing ammonium nitrate, gelatine sticks and ball-bearings, the bombs were strapped to bicycles and motorcycles, secreted inside lunch boxes and under seats in crowded public buses and detonated with timers at staggered intervals.
Ahemdabad police commissioner OP Mathur said an unexploded bomb had been found in the city and two others in the nearby diamond-cutting centre of Surat, and defused. Around 30 people, he said, had been detained for questioning but declined to elaborate.
The plan behind the meticulously planned bombings. federal home minister Shivraj Patil said. was to trigger communal strife between the majority Hindus and Muslims in the normally turbulent city. He appealed for calm.
The little-known "Indian Mujahideen" or Islamic warriors group claimed responsibility for the Ahmedabad attack in a lengthy e-mail to television news channels minutes before the first bomb exploded at about 6.30pm on Saturday. It declared the bombings were to avenge the month-long pogrom in 2002 in Gujarat in which over 2,500 people, mostly Muslims, were killed by rampaging Hindu mobs.
Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), one of India's most controversial politicians, was accused by human rights activists and MPs of connivance in the riots, for which the US has refused to issue him a visa.
The BJP was also in power in Bangalore, capital of Karnataka province, where eight bombs exploded in under an hour on Friday, killing two people and paralysing the hi-tech city that caters to multinational software companies and western financial institutions.
Earlier, "Indian Mujahideen" claimed responsibility for the serial bombings that killed 63 people in the western tourist city of Jaipur - also ruled by the BJP - in May and in northern Uttar Pradesh state last November in which 10 others died.
In a similar document sent minutes before the Jaipur bombings to TV channels, the "Indian Mujahideen" stated the attack was in retaliation to India supporting the US and Britain on "international issues" and warned that if this alliance continued, more strikes would follow.
Indian and western security officials, however, claimed the "Indian Mujahideen" was a "smokescreen" for Muslim militant groups based in neighbouring Bangladesh and Pakistan with the aim of fomenting sectarian tension in India. They said these groups had long been fighting India's control over the disputed Kashmir province, its recent regional and global economic status and its strategic and defence co-operation with the West, especially the US.
Federal Intelligence Bureau sources said the attacks demonstrated the capability of the foreign insurgent groups to strike "anywhere" and at "anytime" across India by using disaffected Muslims as "carriers". Some 13 per cent of India's population of more than 1.2 billion is Muslim.
In excess of 550 people have died in 11 well-co-ordinated terrorist attacks across India since October 2005. None of them had been solved so far and no arrests made.
The first round of Ahemdabad's bombings took place near busy markets, followed by explosions some 25 minutes later in and around two hospitals where the injured were being rushed.
A doctor, his three-month pregnant wife and another doctor were killed in explosions at two adjoining hospitals within a two-mile radius. "Never before have we seen such ruthless bombings of hospitals. The terrorists' objective was to strike the defenceless and deepen the fear," a senior security official said.
"I came with my two children to cheer up my mother admitted to hospital," said Pankaj Patel, whose son Rohan and daughter Pratha were killed at Ahmedadad hospital. They were laughing when the blast occurred.
Army troops patrolled Ahemdabad, and police and paramilitary personnel were deployed across the city to prevent the outbreak of any sectarian violence.
source : http://www.irishtimes.com/
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Mumbai is the costliest Indian city
Strengthening rupee and growing aspirational demand has made four Indian cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai — increasingly expensive for expatriates to live in, a latest global survey says.
Moscow has emerged as the most expensive city for the third consecutive year, according to the survey conducted by global consulting firm Mercer. It is followed by Tokyo, London, Oslo and Seoul, the top five cities in the 'Worlwide Cost of Living 2008' survey.
All cities in India rose in the cost of living ranking due to strengthening of the rupee against the US dollar, with Mumbai moving to the 48th place in the March survey this year, compared to the 52nd position in the same period last year, while the national capital New Delhi climbed to the 55th place from 68th a year ago.
Chennai and Bangalore also improved their positions to 117 and 118 ranks, respectively in the survey, which comprised 143 cities globally.
Last year, Chennai had been ranked at the 133rd position, while Bangalore was at the 134th place, the survey revealed.
"Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai are racing up the ladder from a cost of living perspective, having moved up over 12 ranks from Mercer's last survey conducted six months ago," said Gangapriya Chakraverti, Mercer business leader for information product solutions, India.
"A strengthening rupee and growing but unfulfilled demand for expatriate-style housing are factors that have contributed significantly to the changes in the ranking of Indian cities," Chakraverti added.
Mercer's survey covers 143 cities across six continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.
It is a comprehensive cost of living survey and is used to help multinational companies and governments determine cost of living allowances for their expatriate employees.
Although the traditionally expensive cities of Western Europe and Asia still feature in the top 20, cities in Eastern Europe, Brazil and India are creeping up the list, while some locations such as Stockholm and New York now appear less costly by comparison, the survey revealed.
In Asia, Tokyo has emerged as the costliest city (2nd rank) followed by Seoul (5th) and Hong Kong at 6th rank. However, Karachi continues to be the least expensive city in this region holding the 141st place in the global ranking.
"Increase in rankings for cities such as Singapore and Philippines can be attributed to their highly valued quality of living and increasing attractiveness of Philippines as an alternative investment location to China and India," Mercer's Asia-Pacific Head of Information Product Solutions Neo Siew Khim said.
source :
http://www.zeenews.com/
Thursday, July 24, 2008
History made at Sariska
The tiger has landed and it is a male.
Yes, after a gap of four long years the tiger made a comeback to the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Alwar district of Rajasthan on Saturday. The event made conservation history, as this is the first time the wild tiger is being re-introduced into a reserve anywhere in the country. Sariska, a sanctuary brought under Project Tiger in 1978, had lost all its tigers in 2004-05 to suspected poaching.
“It is a historic moment. The country has done it while others have failed,” announced R. N. Mehrotra, Chief Wildlife Warden of Rajasthan. “This kind of wild-to-wild re-location has not taken place anywhere else,” he said.
“The released tiger is in good shape. The operation was successful in every respect but for the small hiccups caused by the vagaries of the weather,” Mr. Mehrotra revealed.
“The effort is the first step towards successful re-establishment of tigers in Sariska,” said Rajesh Gopal, Director of the National Tiger Conservation Authority of India. The plan is to release a total of five tigers in Sariska over two years. The next tiger, a female, is expected to be released in a week while the third, also a tigress, some time in winter.
Saturday’s pick of a male tiger was a chance thing as according to the plan a female was to be introduced first.
It took 35 to 40 minutes for the operation in which the MI-17 Indian Air Force helicopter took off with a tranquillized male tiger in a custom-made cage from the Anantpura helipad inside the Ranthambhore National Park in Sawai Madhopur district to the helipad built near the Nayapani tiger holding area inside Sariska.
Apart from the dazed tiger, two experts from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Mr. Mehrotra, Rajpal Singh, a member of the Rajasthan’s Empowered Committee on Forests and Wildlife, flew in the helicopter, besides the six-member crew. The chopper took off at 11-45 a.m. and landed at around 12-20 p.m.
The tiger had regained consciousness by the time it was wheeled out of the helicopter to the enclosure some 200 metres away for its release. The feline walked into its new home with a kind of elegance only typical of tigers.
“In about four hours we carried out the exercise. From darting the tiger in its habitat in Ranthambhore to releasing it in Sariska everything went off with clockwork precision,” informed P. R. Sinha, Director WII, who supervised the operation along with experts from the National Tiger Conservation Authority, Rajasthan Forest Department, and World Wide Find for Nature (WWF), Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Indian Air Force.
“Sariska was a prestige issue for all involved,” Dr. Sinha said, pointing out that the problems which might have led to the extinction of the tiger population in Sariska had been looked into. “There are more things to be done. We are in the process. One village has been moved out of Sariska to everybody’s satisfaction while four more may follow suit,” he said.
Rajasthan Minister for Forests and Environment Pratap Singh Singhvi and Environment and Forests Secretary Meena Singh were witnesses to the historic occasion though the media was kept out of the scene.
source :
http://www.hindu.com/
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Tatas enter budget hotel segment
After running the premium Taj hotels for decades, the Tatas have entered the budget accommodation sector. Indian Hotels’ subsidiary Roots Corp opened its first ginger property in Delhi in collaboration with Indian Railways by converting the Rail Yatri Niwas near New Delhi station into the Ginger Rail Yatri Niwas.
This hotel was built in 1988 to offer accommodation to train passengers at reasonable prices. On a PPP model, this hotel has been given to Roots Corp for 15 years on a revenue share basis. The company has renovated this place at a cost of Rs 10.5 crore and now is aiming at several other such properties in the NCR.
Roots CEO Prabhat Pani said: “My wishlist is to have five to 10 gingers in the NCR with government support in places like here, Noida, Gurgaon and Ghaziabad.”
He also added that, “If we get good support, we would like some of these properties here to become operational before the Commonwealth games in 2010.” Ginger has 12 properties across the country and this number will swell to 15 in next two months with the opening of hotels in Delhi, Goa and Ludhiana.
Source:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
Monday, July 7, 2008
Srilanka lift Asia Cup 2008
IT WAS the same old story for India in the Asia Cup finals. They once again faltered at the final hurdle. Srilankan spinner Ajantha Mendis casted a web around the Indian batsmen.
The Islanders victory over India was a combination of young and old. Captain Mahela Jayawardene’s judiciousness was another factor. All this combined to rout India.
On a Sunday (July 7), the mighty Srilanka defeated India by a big margin of 100 runs in Karachi. A marvellous bowling spell by Mendis wrecked the Indian order and won the match for Lanka. The splendid innings of Jayasuriya ws exceptional. His 125 included five sixes. Mendis picked six wickets and conceded only 13 runs in his eight overs.
After being set a target of 274 runs to chase for victory, India started on a confident note. The early and unlucky dismissal of Gautam Gambhir at the score of 36 gave a possibility to Srilanka. Soon after the collapse of Gambhir’s wicket, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni sent Suresh Raina.
Pragyan Ojha did well but his spin failed to yield wickets. Had it not been for him, the Lankans might have crossed the 300-run mark. After the match, Dhoni said that his teammates could not read Mendis well and the forth coming series with Lanka would be a tough one. The Lankan captain also stated the same during the presentation ceremony.
Source:
http://www.merinews.com/
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
First Hindu Bhakta Sangamam in Mumbai
The Hindu Bhakta Sangamam, organised by Maharashtra unit of Keraleeya Kshetra Paripalana Kendra Samiti in Mumbai on April 27, was a grand success. The participation of devotees representing various temple committees, Bhajan Sangams, Narayaneeya Samitis, Ayyappa Sewa Sangams and other Hindu religious organisations was overwheling. It was the first of its kind function organised by the Samiti in Mumbai. The day-long programme commenced with Sampoorna Narayaneeyam by representatives of selected Narayaneeya Samitis followed by Samooha Bhajan by Prof. Ramanadhan and his disciples.
The Sangamam was presided over by Sri A.K.G. Nair, chairman of the Reception Committee. The programme began with lighting of the traditional lamp by Swami Vedananda Saraswati of Geetha Mandir Ashramam in Kerala, Sri Kummanam Rajashekharan, secretary of Hindu Aikya Vedi, Dr N. Gopalakrishnan, director, Indian Institute for Scientific Heritage and Sri Ramesh Shinde of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti.
After the welcome address by Sri Mannanur Ravindran, president of the Samiti, the guests were felicitated with shawls and bouquets. The people who were felicitated on the occasion included Sri P. Deivamuthu, editor, Hindu Voice, Sri Somanath Sangle, Sri Upendra Menon, Sri Bhushan Sharma and Sri Shivajii Wadge, chairaman Hindu Janajagruti Samiti and Guruswamis representing different Ayyappa temples in Mumbai.
Sri A.K.G. Nair stressed the need for unity among Hindus and stated that a Bill is likely to be passed for the take over of Hindu temples in Maharashtra. He appealed to the participants to express their resentment against the Bill. He also stated that the awareness about the traditions and values of the country should be created in the younger generation.
Swami Vedananda Saraswati said the Bhakta Sangamam was a good beginning. Criticising the interference of government in temple administration, he said only believers should be the inheritors of the temples. He stated that a Value Enrichment Action Plan should be taken up involving the collegians.
Sri Kummanam Rajashe-kharan stated that the Hindu population in the country has diminished during the past hundred years. He said large-scale conversion is being carried out by other religions offering monetary incentives and added that foreign money is pumping into the country for this purpose. He said the government has no right to take over the temples. He pointed out that the Kerala government during the last Sabarimala pilgrimage season had earned revenue to the tune of Rs. 1,500 crore without providing adequate facilities to the Ayyappa devotees.
Sri Ramesh Shinde said unity of all the Hindus is need of the hour. He also appealed to the younger generation to take interest in learning Hinduism.
Dr N. Gopalakrishnan said out of the 49 civilisations in the world, only the Sanatana Dharma alone has survived despite 960 years of foreign subjugation. Referring to the rich cultural legacy of the country, he said the Hindus are blessed with 2,182 books written by sages of yore supplemented by 10,000 commentaries and over lakh sub-commentaries. Quoting profusely from the scriptures, he elaborated on the ancient wisdom handed down by the rishis and saints of the country.
The Sangamam was basically organised to register protest against the decision of the Maharashtra government to frame a law to take over temples and other religious places of Hindus. At the instance of the Kshetra Paripalana Kendra Samiti, about 4.50 lakh temple trusts and Hindu religious places are now being brought under the banner of Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh. The Bhakta Sangamam was organised to mobilise awareness among Hindu devotees about the need to protect temples in the country and to involve the new generation in temple activities.
A resolution was also passed at the Sangamam for sending it to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. The effort is to desist the government from enacting the law for the take over of Hindu temples in the state. Over 2,000 people from different parts of Mumbai participated in the day-long programme. Sri N.S. Kurup, convenor of the Reception Committee, proposed a vote of thanks.
Source:
http://www.organiser.org
The Sangamam was presided over by Sri A.K.G. Nair, chairman of the Reception Committee. The programme began with lighting of the traditional lamp by Swami Vedananda Saraswati of Geetha Mandir Ashramam in Kerala, Sri Kummanam Rajashekharan, secretary of Hindu Aikya Vedi, Dr N. Gopalakrishnan, director, Indian Institute for Scientific Heritage and Sri Ramesh Shinde of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti.
After the welcome address by Sri Mannanur Ravindran, president of the Samiti, the guests were felicitated with shawls and bouquets. The people who were felicitated on the occasion included Sri P. Deivamuthu, editor, Hindu Voice, Sri Somanath Sangle, Sri Upendra Menon, Sri Bhushan Sharma and Sri Shivajii Wadge, chairaman Hindu Janajagruti Samiti and Guruswamis representing different Ayyappa temples in Mumbai.
Sri A.K.G. Nair stressed the need for unity among Hindus and stated that a Bill is likely to be passed for the take over of Hindu temples in Maharashtra. He appealed to the participants to express their resentment against the Bill. He also stated that the awareness about the traditions and values of the country should be created in the younger generation.
Swami Vedananda Saraswati said the Bhakta Sangamam was a good beginning. Criticising the interference of government in temple administration, he said only believers should be the inheritors of the temples. He stated that a Value Enrichment Action Plan should be taken up involving the collegians.
Sri Kummanam Rajashe-kharan stated that the Hindu population in the country has diminished during the past hundred years. He said large-scale conversion is being carried out by other religions offering monetary incentives and added that foreign money is pumping into the country for this purpose. He said the government has no right to take over the temples. He pointed out that the Kerala government during the last Sabarimala pilgrimage season had earned revenue to the tune of Rs. 1,500 crore without providing adequate facilities to the Ayyappa devotees.
Sri Ramesh Shinde said unity of all the Hindus is need of the hour. He also appealed to the younger generation to take interest in learning Hinduism.
Dr N. Gopalakrishnan said out of the 49 civilisations in the world, only the Sanatana Dharma alone has survived despite 960 years of foreign subjugation. Referring to the rich cultural legacy of the country, he said the Hindus are blessed with 2,182 books written by sages of yore supplemented by 10,000 commentaries and over lakh sub-commentaries. Quoting profusely from the scriptures, he elaborated on the ancient wisdom handed down by the rishis and saints of the country.
The Sangamam was basically organised to register protest against the decision of the Maharashtra government to frame a law to take over temples and other religious places of Hindus. At the instance of the Kshetra Paripalana Kendra Samiti, about 4.50 lakh temple trusts and Hindu religious places are now being brought under the banner of Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh. The Bhakta Sangamam was organised to mobilise awareness among Hindu devotees about the need to protect temples in the country and to involve the new generation in temple activities.
A resolution was also passed at the Sangamam for sending it to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. The effort is to desist the government from enacting the law for the take over of Hindu temples in the state. Over 2,000 people from different parts of Mumbai participated in the day-long programme. Sri N.S. Kurup, convenor of the Reception Committee, proposed a vote of thanks.
Source:
http://www.organiser.org
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
India's Reliance Big Entertainment in deals to fund Hollywood projects UPDATE
Reliance Big Entertainment (RBE), part of the group controlled by Indian billionaire Anil Ambani, said it will provide development funds to eight Hollywood production companies.
RBE has signed deals with Nicolas Cage's Saturn Productions, Jim Carrey's JC 23 Entertainment, George Clooney's Smokehouse Productions, Chris Columbus' 1492 Pictures, Tom Hanks' Playtone Productions, Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment, and Jay Roach's Everyman Pictures.
The deal provides for creation and implementation of scripts in collaboration with production entities and RBE will co-finance these projects, a company spokesperson said.
In a statement, the company said the deals secure Indian rights for films that it co-finances. Additionally, RBE said it expects to attract productions to India, where Reliance Entertainment is the largest film producer and owns physical studios and facility companies.
'I expect to have further such development deals in the near future,' said chairman Amit Khanna.
The company plans to develop 30 projects through these deals over a span of two years, of which eight to 10 projects are expected to go into production, RBE President Rajesh Sawhney told Thomson Financial News in a phone interview from the Cannes Film Festival in France, where the deals were announced on Sunday.
When asked if the company had set an investment target for the deals, Sawhney said: 'We don't have any targets. We will see as the opportunities unfold.'
Sawhney said the company did not have any upper limit on the budget. He said that a Hollywood movie typically costs $25 million to $150 million, so the investments will depend upon the kind of projects that go into production.
Source:
http://www.forbes.com/
Friday, May 16, 2008
Bhajji banned for 5 ODIs, warned of life ban
Temperamental off-spinner Harbhajan Singh today got away with a five-match ODI ban for slapping his India teammate S Sreesanth but was warned by the Cricket Board of a life ban for any further misconduct on his part.
A day after BCCI-appointed Commissioner Sudhir Nanavati submitted a 14-page report to the Board, the BCCI's Disciplinary Committee acted swiftly to impose the ban on the beleaguered spinner who will now miss the forthcoming tri-series in Bangladesh and two matches of the Asia Cup in Pakistan.
The 27-year-old Harbhajan, who had already been banned from the ongoing Indian Premier League and fined a whopping Rs three crore match fee for the level 4 offence, was summoned by the Disciplinary Committee, headed by president Sharad Pawar, to hear his views on the incident which happened after an IPL match in Mohali on April 25.
"The Committee accordingly decided to ban Harbhajan Singh for five one-day internationals, starting today and further observed that any further instance of misconduct will invoke a life-ban," the BCCI said in a statement after the committee's hearing.
"The Committee invoked Rule 3.2.1 of the BCCI Regulations for Players, Team officials, Managers, Umpires and Administrators. Under this provision, the maximum punishment that can be meted out to a player is a ban up to a maximum of 5 ODIs and/or 3 Test matches," Pawar told reporters.
He said a copy of the report was given to Harbhajan who was heard by the committee before taking a final decision on the quantum of punishment.
Source :
http://www.saharasamay.com/
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Indian Mujahideen claims responsibility for Jaipur blasts
A mysterious e-mail by an outfit known as "Indian Mujahideen" has claimed responsibility for Tuesday's blasts in Jaipur. The central security agencies and Rajasthan Police are now trying to work out the source of the mail which has warned about more such attacks in the country.
The police have detained a cyber cafe owner in Ghaziabad from where the e-mail claiming responsibility for Jaipur serial blasts was reportedly sent.
Shyam Bir, owner of a cyber cafe in Sahibabad area of Ghaziabad, is being interrogated by police officials to find out the details of the persons who may have sent the e-mail.
The e-mail, which was sent last night to various television channels, has given the frame number (129489) of the bicycle which was planted at Choti Chaupad near Kotwali in the Pink City.
The frame number of a bicycle recovered by the Rajasthan Police from the spot is same, informed sources said, adding the e-mail was written yesterday from a cyber cafe in Sahibabad in the outskirts of the capital.
The e-mail ID used was-guru_alhindi_jaipur@yahoo.co.uk, the sources said, noting that the account was created yesterday itself using the UK domain of the Yahoo.
The e-mail warned India should stop supporting the US in the international arena, "and if you do continue then get ready to face more attacks at other important tourist places".
Source : http://www.saharasamay.com/
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
60 killed, 150 injured as terror strikes Pink City
Terror struck the Pink City (Jaipur) for the first time on Tuesday evening as serial blasts killed at least 60 people and injured more than 150. Starting around 7.30 p.m. there were nine or 10 blasts within 15 minutes at six crowded places, including in the vicinity of two Hanuman temples, in the Walled City area.
Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria confirmed 60 dead and 150 injured though unofficial sources said the casualties could be higher.
Eyewitnesses said they could count 60 bodies in the overflowing mortuary of the City’s leading hospital, Sawai Man Singh. Some bodies were reportedly kept in the satellite hospital, Kanwatia, and a private hospital, Santokbha Durlabhji Memorial.
The blasts caused panic in the entire city while the authorities sealed off the Walled City. No traffic was allowed through its historic gates. The communication system also was jammed with mobiles not giving out signals.
The former Rajasthan Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot, who spoke to Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, said the Centre had assured the State authorities all possible help to handle the situation. Union Minister of State for Home Jaiswal is reaching here on Wednesday.
Director-General Police A.S. Gill told this correspondent that forensic experts were still verifying the nature of the explosives. He did not confirm the use of RDX but said high intensity explosives were used in the bombs.
The blasts outside the temples targeted the devotees who gather in large numbers on Tuesdays. One temple is at Sanganeri Gate, while the other is at Chandpole.
The Chandpole blast was said to be of less intensity while the explosion on Maniharon ka Rasta near the victory tower, Sargasuli at Tripolia, was the most powerful.
Source :
http://www.hindu.com/
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Now, Bajaj set to roll out Rs 1 lakh car
Here's a competitor for Tata Motor's small car Nano. Renault-Nissan head Carlos Ghosn and Bajaj's Rajiv Bajaj unfolded their joint venture plan on Monday, announcing a low-cost car at $2,500 (Rs 1 lakh) to be manufactured in India. The car is expected to hit the road early 2011, a little more than two years after Nano, which is scheduled to roll out in September-October.
Sources said the Bajaj-Renault-Nissan car would come in both petrol and diesel options. "Initially, it would come with a petrol version and diesel would follow," they said. However, apart from revealing the price tag, the two companies refused to give details regarding investments, engine capacity, and fuel efficiency.
In a statement issued on behalf of Bajaj and Ghosn, the companies said they they would form a joint-venture to develop, produce and market the low-cost car code-named 'ULC' (most probably Ultra Low Cost). The new JV will be 50% owned by Bajaj Auto, 25% by Renault and 25% by Nissan (a group company of Renault).
Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
Monday, May 12, 2008
Samsung beats Motorola as India’s No. 3 mobile brand
The January-March 2008 quarter has seen a change in the pecking order of the Indian mobile phone market. While Nokia is still enjoying leadership position by a huge margin followed by Sony Ericsson, there has been a change in the position for the third slot. Korean vendor Samsung has replaced Motorola to emerge as the third largest player in the Indian market.
Latest ORG data reveal that Samsung is the only prominent player to have increased its market share in the Indian market in the January-March period. It has gained market share from 5.7% in January to 7% in March. In the same period, Motorola India lost market share from 6.7% to 5.9%, but Sony Ericsson remained at the same level of 8.1%.
Motorola India director (marketing-mobile devices) Lloyd Mathias refused to comment on market share. “However, the only thing we can say is that there has been a rationalisation of our portfolio in India. We are not competing in all segments and the focus has moved towards mid-to-high end phones. In fact, our average selling prices have increased in India,” he said.
Motorola recently announced that its global handset shipment had seen a fall from 40.9 million phones in Q4 of 2007 to some 27.4 million handsets in Q1 of 2008. On the other hand, Samsung, which has become the world’s second largest handset vendor, plans to launch a series of new products at entry-level and premium segment to further consolidate its Indian share. Not only are existing vendors sprucing up their plans in the mid-to-high end phone segment, but even Apple’s much-hyped iPhone is set to debut in India towards end of the year.
Source :
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com
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