Month: August 2012

AP task force on technical education to start work soon

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The Task Force formed by the Andhra Pradesh government to check the facilities and quality of education imparted in professional colleges like engineering would begin its work soon.

Deputy Chief Minister C Damodar Rajanarasimha held a meeting with the members of the Task Force and other officials
of Technical Education here today.

An official release quoted him as saying that admissions into the institutions should be made on the basis
of merit and not with a commercial motive.

MANUU announces Haroon Khan Shervani Centre for Deccan Studies

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In an attempt to honour the great scholar Haroon Khan Sherwani, Maulana Azad National Urdu University has announced establishment of Haroon Khan Sherwani Centre for Deccan Studies. The centre will also serve the dual purpose of promoting study of the Deccan besides paying tribute to the great scholar. Professor Haroon Khan Sherwani’s contributions to the study of medieval Deccan are remarkable.

Around 350 Pakistanis melt into Rajasthani locals

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Over the past 5 years around 350 Pakistani citizens, majority of them Hindus, have melted into Rajasthan’s local population. Sources say that they are unwilling to return owing to unfavourable state of affairs of their native country. However security agencies suspect that a large number of overstaying Pakistanis are ISI agents.

Since 2007 around 23000 have come to Rajasthan of them 4624 did not return even after the expiry of their visas.

Ulfa warns non-Assamese in Assam

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The ULFA Sunday warned of attacks on “Indians” in Assam if “atrocities” on Assamese people did not halt in other parts of the country.

A statement signed by its elusive chief Paresh Baruah alleged that 14 Assamese youth had been killed in “mainland India”.

“The atrocities on Assamese … must be stopped immediately, failing which we will be forced to take necessary action on Indians living here,” said the statement.

The statement also warned India-based Muslim groups against spreading communal hatred in Assam.

Fresh violence rocks Assam’s Kokrajhar, Dhubri

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Fresh incidents of violence were reported Sunday from Assam’s troubled Kokrajhar and Dhubri districts.

Police recovered the body of a missing person near Bogribari area in Dhubri district Sunday morning, while two people, including a woman, were injured in an attack by a group of miscreants in Salakati area of Kokrajhar district, a senior police officer said.

Five bodies were recovered from Chirang district Saturday evening, following which an indefinite curfew was clamped in the district and which continued Sunday.

Virbhadra Singh is Himachal Congress chief

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Ahead of assembly elections, former union minister and five-time chief minister Virbhadra Singh has been appointed Himachal Pradesh Congress president, replacing Kaul Singh, party leaders said here Sunday.

“Virbhadra Singh’s name has been cleared for the post of PCC (Pradesh Congress Committee) chief,” a party leader, who declined to be named, told IANS.

He said Virbhadra Singh would meet party president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Monday.

Two-time state Congress chief Kaul Singh told IANS that he has resigned.

Dharmana issue in CM’s court:Botsa

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Making it clear that he would not respond on Roads and Buildings Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao’s resignation issue, PCC Chief Botcha Satyanarayana said that Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy would look after it.

Speaking to the media here on Sunday, Botcha said that power cuts have come down and the situation would improve further in a few days. He asked the private Engineering colleges managements to help sort out the Fees Reimbursement issue.

Sand lorry owners stage dharna

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Owners of sand lorries staged a dharna near Auto Nagar at Vanasthalipuram in protest against the alleged harassment by the authorities.

Stating that false cases were being booked against them, lorry owners held a rasta roko and blocked vehicular traffic on the national highway.

Police had a tough time in clearing the traffic.

–Agencies

YSRCP politicising reservation for BCs, alleges Devender Goud

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Telugu Desam senior leader and Rajya Sabha member T Devender Goud on Sunday criticised the YSR Congress party for politicising the issue of reservation for Backward Classes.

Talking to media persons at NTR Trust Bhavan, Devender Goud suspected the commitment of the YSRCP over announcing 100 seats for Backward Classes in the elections on the lines of TDP. He accused the YSRCP of not showing real affection over the BCs and allotted 100 seats with an eye on vote bank. He ridiculed the YSRCP proposal of allotting tickets for BCs through lottery system.

TDP accuses CM of shielding corrupt ministers

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Telugu Desam Party senior leader K Yerran Naidu on Sunday accused Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy of shielding Roads and Buildings Minister Dharmana Prasad Rao, against whom the CBI has filed charge sheet in connection with disproportionate assets case.

Chiranjeevi demands Sub-plan for BCs

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Hailing the Cabinet Sub-Committee’s report on the SC/ST Sub-Plan, Rajya Sabha member K Chiranjeevi on Sunday appealed to the State Government to consider a similar sub-plan for the Backward Classes in the State.

Paswan demands CBI probe into uterus scam

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Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan Sunday demanded a CBI probe into the alleged removal of uteruses of over 16,000 below poverty line women to swindle them of their health insurance money provided under a central government scheme.

Paswan also said that a delegation of leaders of the opposition parties will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh soon in this connection.

“It is a big health scam in Bihar, LJP demands a CBI probe into it. If CBI can probe bungling in a health scheme in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh why can’t it probe the uterus scam,” Paswan told reporters here.

‘Heroine’ will be Kareena’s best film: Karisma

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(IANS) Karisma Kapoor is extremely proud of her sister Kareena Kapoor, whose career is shaping up pretty well and feels that “Heroine” will be a milestone in her acting journey.

The film’s promos, including the item song “Halkat Jawani”, has been released and Karisma says: “It is a wonderful song and the promo of the film ‘Heroine’ is also looking very good. I am looking forward to seeing the movie.”

“I feel that ‘Heroine’ will be Kareena’s best performance. In fact, it will be the best,” she added.

India-China meet on trade and market access

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India will raise its growing trade deficit with China and market access for IT and IT enabled services (ITES) at the Joint Economic Group (JEG) meeting that will begin here Monday.

The balance of trade is in favour of China. In 2011-12, it provisionally stood at $39651.46 million

According to an official release, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma will meet his Chinese counterpart Chen Deming at the 9th session of JEG.

Market access for Indian agricultural products are also likely to be raised along with investment related issues and import of Indian films by China.

‘China wants to maintain instability in northeast India’

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China’s role in northeastern India is not to create instability but “to maintain instability” because it wants to keep India out of Myanmar, says veteran journalist-writer Bertil Lintner.

His new book, “Great Game East: India, China and the Struggle for Asia’s Most Volatile Frontier (Harper Collins India)”, released last week, looks at the geopolitics of eastern Asia.

Lintner says at the core of China’s covert interference in the region is the Indian Ocean, which the country wants to penetrate for strategic gains without India’s interference, Lintner said.

Books are tonic for the brain

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Reading is not just another leisurely activity or a way of brushing up your literacy skills and factual knowledge – it acts as a tonic for the brain too.

Neuroscientist Susan Greenfield suggests that reading helps to expand attention spans in kids. “Stories have a beginning, a middle and an end – a structure that encourages our brains to think in sequence, to link cause, effect and significance,” she says.

33 insurgents killed in Afghanistan

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Thirty-three 33 Taliban insurgents have been killed by police, army and the NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan since Saturday, the interior ministry said Sunday.

Up to six other insurgents were wounded and two detained during operations in Kabul, Nangarhar, Kandahar, Zabul, Uruzgan, Logar, Ghazni, Paktika and Helmand provinces, the ministry.

Xinhua quoted the authorities as saying that weapons were seized. It was not clear if any of the security personnel were killed.

Two dead in ‘honour killing’

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A man killed his sister and her minor daughter, chopped the bodies and threw them into the Ganges for marrying against the family’s wishes, police Sunday said.

Sanjana Devi, 22, and Gungun Kumari, 3, were killed Saturday at Gulab Bagh, about 50 km from Patna.

Their bodies were cut into pieces and thrown into the Ganges near Barh, Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Amrit Raj said.

Her family was not in touch with Sanjana after she married Dilip Kumar, who belonged to a different caste, four years ago.

Police use force on protests near PM, Sonia houses

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Police used tear gas and water cannons as hundreds of anti-corruption activists led by Arvind Kejriwal staged noisy protests near Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s residences.

What began as a trickle of protests swelled dramatically after noon, taking Delhi Police by surprise as large numbers of India Against Corruption (IAC) supporters carried out their threat of besieging the houses of Manmohan Singh, Gandhi and BJP president Nitin Gadkari.