Month: January 2010

Trivandrum, January 04: Pointing out that Indian science was now passing through a phase of regression, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has called for special efforts to encourage scientists of Indian origin currently working abroad to return to their homeland.

He was inaugurating the 97th Indian Science Congress in the Kerala capital of Trivandrum on Sunday. The focal theme of the five-day event is “Science and Technology Challenges of 21st century – National Perspective”.

New Delhi, January 04: A cold wave swept over north and east India on Sunday throwing life out of gear.

While several places witnessed disruption in flight and train services, in Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand a number of deaths were reported due to the intense cold.

According to the disaster management department of Uttar Pradesh, as many as 14 people died in different parts of the state on Saturday and Sunday because of the cold.

New Delhi, January 04: The union home ministry on Sunday asked Delhi Police to explain how three Pakistani terrorists awaiting deportation escaped from a city hospital even as police claimed they were not at fault as they were not informed about the visit.

While Delhi Police announced a reward of Rs50,000 on clues leading to the arrest of the three terrorists and put out their photographs for public display, the home ministry sought from the city police a report on the escape as soon as possible.

New Delhi, January 04: BJP is understood to have conveyed to Speaker Meira Kumar on Sunday that its Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde will be the candidate for the post of Chairperson of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee.

Sources said BJP’s decision to appoint Mr. Munde as PAC Chairman and senior leader Yashwant Sinha as head of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs was conveyed to the Speaker.

The post of PAC Chairperson, which goes to the main opposition, fell vacant after expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh resigned from the post.

Thiruvananthapuram, January 04: Young researchers should not hanker after what is fashionable — the “trend of the moment” — but pursue only that which they find really interesting, Nobel laureate Roger Y. Tsien said. He was interacting with mediapersons on the sidelines of the ongoing 97th Indian Science Congress at the Kariavattom campus of the University of Kerala.

New Delhi, January 04: Two days after three Pakistani terrorists made a comfortable escape from an eatery in central Delhi, the special cell has been handed the task of tracking them.

ACP Ravi Shankar of the special cell, who had arrested the trio 10 years ago along with five others, is now on their trail.

The five others in custody are being questioned regarding the escape of the terrorists — Abdul Razzak, Mohammed Sadiq and Rafaqat Ali.

New Delhi, January 04: A Young man from Punjab was stabbed to death by a hate gang in Melbourne on Saturday night, sparking anger among Indian students against Australian authorities for failing to protect them from racist attacks.

Nitin Garg, 21, is the first to be killed in the spate of attacks on Indians in Australia. He had been attacked a month ago and was anxious about his safety, his friends said.

Even as New Delhi responded sharply to the murder, saying it could impact ties with Canberra, the local police declined to term it as a race- related incident.

Bangalore, January 03: The territorial dispute between China and India was an “issue left over by history” and there was strong consensus between New Delhi and Beijing that it should not be an obstacle in improving bilateral relations, a senior Chinese diplomat said today.

Asked if demarcating the Line of Actual Control was one of the solutions to deal with the dispute, Consulate General of China Wang Dong Hua told reporters, “territorial dispute should not prevent us from working together in terms of strengthening economic relations.”