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PHAGWARA: Announcing to launch “Jan Chetna Andolen”
in Punjab soon ,Bahujan Samaj Party Punjab State general Secretary MP
Singh Goraya has alleged that Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal
was collecting the detailed lists of criminals including gangsters to
misuse them in next lok sabha elections to ensure the victory of
Shiromani Akali Dal.
Talking to newsmen on Saturday,BSP State General
Secretary MP Singh Goraya alleged that SAD-BJP Government was
politicising the criminal elements which could harm the peaceful
atmosphere.and all necessary public interests issues were being
politicalised only for dirty politics and vested interests by Akali Dal.
Goraya
announced that a state level Jan Chetna Rally would be organised on
September 24 at Jalandhar which would be addressed by various senior
stalwarts of the party.Rally would be focused on several issues like
Unemployment,Price Hike and Excessive Policies of the State Government.
Goraya
alleged that law and order situation of the state was detoriorating day
by day and the incidents of crimes like
robberies,rapes,killings,snatchings were increasing.while commenting
upon the next lok sabha election,Goraya said that BSP will contest the
elections making all major issues like law and order,increasing of
unemployment and price hike of essentials commodities,as major poll
plank in next lok sabha elections.
that SAD-BJP alliance Government remained complete failure to control
the problems of the people of the state and BSP could soon launch a
state wide agitation in support of the people’s demands of normalcy.He
demanded immediate implementations of the recommendations of 6th pay
scale commission.Goraya alleged that state govt was diverting the
attention of the people from core issues of the state,but doing nothing
practical for the public interests.He also supported the demands of
blinds,and Anganwarri Workers,but strongly condemned the excessive
attitude of the government.
Mayawati surveys flood-hit Bihar, donates Rs.110 mn
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Friday
undertook an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas of neighbouring Bihar
and donated Rs.110 million (Rs.11 crore) for the relief and
rehabilitation of those affected by the calamity.
‘She handed over a cheque to a top official of the Bihar disaster management department here,’ an official said.
After
the aerial survey, she addressed a press conference and urged Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh to take an initiative to solve the annual
problem of floods in Bihar.
‘Floods are not new to Bihar, but the
government should take the issue seriously to come up with a solution,’
Mayawati said before leaving for Uttar Pradesh.
She expressed her support for the flood-hit people and assured all possible help to them.
Eighteen
days after floods hit the state, thousands of people are still
marooned. The turbulent Kosi river continues to pose a threat to lives
of people trapped in Bihar’s worst floods in over 50 years.
Officials
of the disaster management department said there was a strong
possibility of an increase in the water levels of the Kosi river till
the first week of October.
The floods have claimed 22 lives
officially and nearly 100 lives according to non-official estimates.
Over 2.5 million people and 925,000 head of cattle have been affected.
Many
Bihar districts were flooded by the swirling waters of the Kosi river
following a breach in an embankment upstream in Nepal.
According
to official sources, so far 830,000 people have been evacuated from
over 898 villages of five districts by government agencies in last 15
days with the help of army, navy and air force.
‘Over 275,000 people are staying in over 250 relief camps in the areas,’ an official said.
The flood waters have submerged about 100,000 hectares of farmland.
Lucknow, Sep 4 (IANS) A first-of-its-kind trauma centre in Uttar
Pradesh will soon be set up here, an official said Thursday.”The
upcoming trauma centre which will be set up by the Sanjay Gandhi Post
Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) will offer
comprehensive treatment, especially for accident victims,” chief
medical superintendent of SGPGIMS A.K. Bhatt told IANS.
“It will be the only trauma centre in the state that will offer all
super-specialty medical facilities like treatment of injuries in brain,
bones, lungs, etc. under one roof,” Bhatt added.
The state government has earmarked Rs.20 million for the upcoming hi-tech trauma centre, officials said.
The centre that is expected to be set up in the next six months will
have 150 beds along with state-of-the-art medical equipment, officials
added.
“In several cases, we have observed patients suffering while a
hospital arranges a team of super specialists to attend to them,” said
Bhatt.
“However, in the upcoming trauma centre, a team of specialist
doctors would be available round the clock to attend to trauma cases,”
Bhatt added
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BSP gets Muslim candidates in Chhattisgarh after long search Raipur, Sep 5 - The Bahujan Samaj Party -
has long been looking to put up Muslim candidates in Chhattisgarh to
widen its support base. It has finally found two.
The BSP, aiming to play spoiler between the state’s major
players - the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party - and the Congress - at
this November’s assembly election, is contesting all 90 seats at stake.
Observers say its big problem so far had been the reluctance of Muslim
politicians to be associated with it.
The BSP has now named 86 candidates, including the two Muslims. Sayed
Yunus Ali will be the party nominee in Bilaspur and Sadik Ali in Raipur
North.
‘We are ready to produce a surprising result this time in Chhattisgarh,
probably the BSP will be king-maker,’ Dauram Ratnakar, the party state
unit chief, told IANS. He claimed that BSP now enjoyed support from all
communities.
The BSP had won two seats - both reserved for Scheduled Caste
candidates - in the last poll in 2003. Its leaders say they are working
on a strategy to repeat the party’s Uttar Pradesh’s social engineering
formula in Chhattisgarh and bag seats in double digits for the first
time this year.
Thaindian News
Uttar Pradesh to get hi-tech trauma centre
NEW DELHI: Besides posting a letteryou may also stop at a post office to pop up a pill. Postal department is
considering using its 1.5-lakh-strong network across the country to sell
over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, including painkillers, medicines for
diarrhoea, essential cold and cough medicines and contraceptives.
OTC drugs are medicines that can be bought without a doctor’s
prescription. Companies are planning to start pilot projects in Uttar Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra from the next quarter, Novartis V-C and managing
director Ranjit Shahani said. About half-a-dozen pharma companies are expected
to be involved in the pilot project.
The move would increase the
market of OTC drugs. Major players like Novartis, Dabur, Ranbaxy, Cipla,
GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer and Zandu control nearly 51% of the total
over-the-counter market. The project will involve the department of
pharmaceuticals and DoP. “This may be a PPP project and would be
implemented by DoP and the concerned pharma companies,” a government
official said.
The move is aimed at ensuring accessibility of
over-the-counter drugs in the rural areas. There are about 1,50,000 post offices
across the country. “We have been in talks with the government to use the
network to sell over-the-counter drugs. However, since different ministries are
involved, implementation of the proposal is taking a bit of a time. So, we have
decided to start with the pilot project in three states for the time
being,” said Mr Shahani.
“While there are close to
4,50,000 chemists across the country, companies are willing to use the supply
chain and logistic facilities of the post offices and petrol pumps to make
medicines available in remote areas,” a pharma analyst said.
Uttar Pradesh roadways to add over 2,000 buses
Lucknow, Sep 6 (IANS) Over 2,000 more buses will run on Uttar
Pradesh roads soon, an official said here Saturday.”In the current
fiscal year, UPSRTC (Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation)
will include 2,100 more buses for benefiting the commuters,” A.K.
Srivastava, UPSRTC chief general manager, told IANS.
The new vehicles would offer both inter-state and inter-districts bus services, he added.
At present, about 7,000 buses of UPSRTC ply in the state, as well as
in neighbouring states, including Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar, officials said.
“The new buses would be added to the fleet in a phased manner,” said Srivastava.
Initially, over 426 buses would be pressed into service within the state in 70 districts.
Later, more buses would ply in neighbouring states, he added.
Former Uttar Pradesh minister defects from BJP to BSP
Agra, Sep 6 (IANS) Ram Babu Harit, a former Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) minister in Uttar Pradesh and three-time legislator, has shifted
to the state’s ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in an apparent move to
be its nominee from Agra during the next poll.He accepted the party
membership Friday evening in the prsence of senior BSP leaders
including the national general secretary Naseemuddin Siddiqui, S.P.
Singh Baghael, Ram Vir Upadhyaya, and Narayan Singh Suman.
Harit started his political career in 1988 after winning the a
municipal corporation election here on a BSP ticket. He later defected
to the BJP which made him the state’s health minister.
With the Agra city seat being declared reserved, the candidature of Harit, a dalit, could prove valuable for the BSP.
clearing a tough law against organised crime and terror, Uttar Pradesh
government on Thursday withdrew the legislation with Chief Minister Mayawati
accusing the Congress of double standards for not scrapping a similar measure in
Maharashtra.
“We have dumped the UPCOCA bill in ‘raddi ki tokri’
(dustbin) with immediate effect,” Mayawati told reporters here, while announcing
the decision to withdraw the UP Control of Organised Crime Bill-2007 which was
passed in the state Assembly on February 13 and was awaiting Presidential
assent.
Accusing the Congress of following double standards,
Mayawati said that UPCOCA was prepared on the lines of MCOCA in Maharashtra
after the Centre had asked the states on June 6, 2001 to frame similar law to
firmly deal with organised crime.
Mayawati said that Congress was of
the view that there was no need of the new law. “If it is so why they (Centre)
did not do away with MCOCA in Maharashtra?”
She also asked the
Maharashtra government to take a cue from the state and control crime with
existing laws.
Mayawati’s move came days after Union Minister of
State for Home Sri Prakash Jaiswal said the Centre would turn down the UP’s
request to pass UPCOCA.
| Uttar Pradesh to frame new textile policy | |
| September 05, 2008 (India) | |
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Recently, Dr. V. Rajagopalan, IAS, Principal Secretary, SSI & Textiles, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh met a group of eminent textile mill owners, industrialists, garment manufacturers and garment exporters at NITRA. The meeting was held to seek once again the industry’s opinion before finalizing the revised draft textile policy (2008-13) for Uttar Pradesh. In this context it may be recalled that in December 2005, Govt. of U.P. NITRA also discussed with CEOs of leading textile companies of UP like The referred meet was held as a sequel to the exercise already made, so New Draft of UP Textile Policy: 1) UP textile policy should be framed keeping the policy guidelines of |
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Barack & Behenji
1 Sep 2008, 0211 hrs IST, Jug Suraiya
On the same day that Barack Obama made history by being the first
African-American to be nominated as a US presidential candidate -
exactly 45 years after Martin Luther King made his famous ‘I Have a
Dream’ speech - BSP leader Mayawati made her first appearance in a
Forbes magazine’s list, on which Sonia Gandhi also features, of the 100
most powerful women in the world.
Barack and Behenji are of course literally worlds apart, in personal
attributes and career paths as in geography. However, both are
inspirational icons to their respective communities.
Because of their history of slavery and oppression, African-Americans
may be deemed to be the Original Inhabitants of the New World. The comparison is of
course facile and doesn’t stand scrutiny. Today, many if not most
African-Americans have achieved a social and economic status that -
even taking into account the very different levels of overall
prosperity respectively obtaining in India and the US - remain an
unthinkable dream to the vast majority of Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa, that is the Great Prabuddha Bharath, exposed as they are
to the most brutal forms of caste discrimination.
Another, more subtle difference between Obama and Mayawati might be
discerned in the way the two are perceived and spoken about by the
urban Indian elites, many of whom would define themselves as liberals.
Among this set, Obama has, ever since he announced his candidature,
been hailed as not only America’s but the whole world’s great black
hope for evolutionary change. That the world’s most powerful democracy
can elect - or even seek to elect - a black man to its highest public
office, is seen as a watershed breakthrough for progressive ideas and
ideals not just for the US but for the international community in its
entirety, wounded as it is by entrenched antagonisms. An
African-American in the Oval Office represents an incredible journey,
from slave ship to White House, and becomes a beacon of hope for all
those who would break the shackles of historic oppression.
Not just an articulate, but a lyrical and impassioned speaker, Obama is
a hands down winner in urban, upper-middle-class India, particularly so
after he established his ‘desi’ credentials by revealing that during
his student days he’d learnt from a room-mate (a Pakistani) how to cook
a mean daal. Elite India’s love affair with Obama is heartening, not
least because it might help to rebut the often-made, and valid, charge
of racism leveled at us.
Liberal and progressive India’s adulation of Obama is in sharp contrast
to the scorn and suspicion it continues to reserve for Mayawati. Forbes
might salute the Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa, that is the Great Prabuddha Bharath leader for having overcome millennia-old caste
and gender barriers to become the chief minister of what is generally
considered to be the most politically significant state in the world’s
most populous democracy. But for upper crust India, Mayawati remains,
at best, an object of satire and ridicule, and, at worst, a disaster
waiting to happen as a would-be prime minister.
Why this disdain for an undoubtedly charismatic political leader who,
apart from having given a voice to the voiceless, has advocated sound
measures such as upgrading English-medium education in UP and using
energy-efficient CFL bulbs in government offices? Part of it of course
is social snobbery. Urban, and urbane, liberals who would never dream
of harbouring caste prejudices are - by the very token of that elitist
high ground - inveterate social snobs. How dare this arriviste Behenji
(the nickname a supercilious put-down) flaunt diamonds and have opulent
birthday bashes. If she were a true champion of the downtrodden she
should sport a jhola and look like Medha Patkar.
Snobbery apart, Mayawati is too up close and personal for liberal
comfort. Obama’s fine; he’s safely far away. No African-American is
going to pop up in one’s sitting room with son-in-law aspirations; a
Behenji-inspired Original Inhabitant of Jambudvipa, that is the Great Prabuddha Bharath just might. That’s the real trouble with
Mayawati: she’s too close to the knuckle for our long-distance
liberals. Or is she?
By all means vote for Barack as US prez. But, equally, vote for Behenji as our next PM. Deal?
Enjoy trekking in Kullu Valley
Trekking season is at its peak in Himachal Pradesh
and several enthusiastic trekkers from different parts of the country
and abroad are making a beeline for a thrilling experience here.
Thousands of trekkers have thronged to Kullu valley to enjoy its mystic and scenic beauty.
“I have come to Kullu Manali for the first time. I just love the
mountains. The place is so fascinating and spectacular that I don’t
have words to express my feelings. The most important thing is that
whosoever thought of and managing the complications and vastness of
these adventures must be great minds behind this,” said Ankita
Shrivastava, a trekker from Uttar Pradesh.
Many international tourists appreciate this place for trekking for
being quite reasonable in rates. “I did a lot of trekking in Himachal
Pradesh and I really liked it because it is cheap as you can arrange
water and everything, a price that is payable for us,” said Isabel, a
trekker from Belgium.
One can find trekkers belonging to Africa, Europe, the Middle East and
different regions of Asia who arrive here to enjoy and explore the
Himalayas. The long treks are in the regions of Chandertal, Surajtal
Lake and Pin Parvati Pass, and Spiti valley as well as the Ladakh
region towards Leh in Jammu and Kashmir.
There are world famous trekking routes like Chanderkhani Pass, Beas Kund, Bhrigu, Hamta Pass.
“We have around thousands of people participating in trekking every
year. Here we have loads of organisations, which promote these
adventure activities. The famous places for trekking and adventure
courses are Chanderkhani Pass, Hamta Top, Vyaskund Trek, Saarkund Trek,
Saar Pass trek and many more,” said Amar Chand, one local trekking
organiser.
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Trekking in Ladakh.
Markha Valley Trek ( 8-10 days) This Cost: 280 Euros/ person for a group of 3 to 6 Pax Cost: 320 Euros/ person for a private group of 2 Pax Size Of group: 2 Min 6 Maximum Highest Point: Gongmarula Pass 5150mts Grade: Medium Duration: 8 Days To book the trek and for a detailed day by day itinerary and to know what includes please email us at dreamladakh@hotmail.com OR dreamladakh@gmail.com Spituk to Stok Trek (4 days) Rumbak valley Trek This Cost: 160 Euros/ person for a group of 3 to 6 Pax Cost: 180 Euros/ person for a private group of 2 Pax Size Of group: 2 Min 6 Maximum Highest Point: Stokla Pass 4850mts Grade: Medium Duration: 4 Days To book the trek and for a detailed day by day itinerary and to know what includes please email us at dreamladakh@hotmail.com OR dreamladakh@gmail.com Hemis to Tsomoriri Trek (14 - 16 days) Cost: 560 Euros/ person for a group of 3 to 6 Pax Cost: 630 Euros/ person for a private group of 2 Pax Size Of group: 2 Min 6 Maximum Highest Point: Nakpo Gonzing Pass 5390mts Grade: Medium-Strenous Duration: 16 Days To book the trek and for a detailed day by day itinerary and to know what includesplease email us at dreamladakh@hotmail.com OR dreamladakh@gmail.com Rumtse to Tsomoriri Trek (8-9 Days Trek) Cost: 320 Euros/ person for a group of 3 to 6 Pax Cost: 360 Euros/ person for a private group of 2 Pax Size Of group: 2 Min 6 Maximum Highest Point: Nakpo Gonzing Pass 5390mts Grade: Medium-Strenous Duration: 8-9 Days To book the trek and for a detailed day by day itinerary and to know what includesplease email us at dreamladakh@hotmail.com OR dreamladakh@gmail.com |
Online edition of India’s National Newspaper
Sunday, Sep 07, 2008 Singapore readying for Pravasi Bharatiya Divas P. S. Suryanarayana
SINGAPORE: The stage is being set for the first-ever Asia-Pacific “Indian Diaspora event.”
India’s annual Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is seen here as a festive
conclave with “a global reach.” The ‘PBD Singapore,’ slated to be held
for three days from October 9, will be a regional variant. The
objective, according to the organisers, is to promote an event with a
difference, which will be in tune with the City State’s efforts to
remain “an economic hub” in the Asia-Pacific zone.
The prime mover is the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce &
Industry (SICCI). While the Confederation of Indian Industry has joined
hands with the SICCI, the governments of Singapore and India have
extended “full and active support,” according to Sat Pal Khattar,
chairman of the ‘PBD Singapore’ steering committee.
Singapore, in his view, is the theatre where India scored its “first
Look-East policy breakthrough under [former] Prime Minister Narasimha
Rao [in the early 1990s].”
Free trade pact
Briefing journalists, SICCI chairman Vijay Iyengar said the
“business focussed” conference would be particularly topical, as
India’s free trade agreement with the Association of South East Asian
Nations (ASEAN) “is in the pipeline.” The key thematic discussions
would centre on sustainable development, scenarios for India’s next
generation, and youth and education.
‘Towards a dynamic Indian Diaspora’ being the overarching theme, it
was expected that the conference would capture the imagination of
entrepreneurs and opinion leaders among overseas Indians in
Asia-Pacific, he said. Estimates of the Indian-origin people in this
region varied from five million to 10 million.
The entire galaxy of Singapore’s political leadership would be
associated with the conference; and elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew,
presently Minister Mentor, is expected to shine the spotlight on
“India’s role in the big global picture.” Indicating this, Ambassador
Ong Keng Yong said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong would be the guest of
honour at the inaugural session. While Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong
would recall his long engagement with India, President S.R. Nathan had
also agreed to associate himself with the event.
Economic dimension
Mr. Ong said “the economic and trade dimension” would define the
Singapore event, in some contrast to the pervasive sense of “kinship”
that usually enlivened the annual shows in India itself.
‘PBD Singapore’ is open to both resident and non-resident Indians,
Indian-origin citizens of other countries, and also other foreigners
with a stake or interest in India. Official India would be represented
by Union Ministers Kamal Nath, Vayalar Ravi, Kapil Sibal and A. Raja.
Malaysia’s Human Resource Minister S. Subramaniam is another likely
participant.
Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change, and China’s Special Representative for Climate Change
Yu Qingtai agreed to participate in the session on sustainable
development, being seen as the centrepiece of the thematic agenda.
Dedicated website
The SICCI has already launched a dedicated website http://www.pbdsingapore.com.sg
for the conference. Mr. Iyengar said the ongoing preparations helped to
“catalyse” the launching of the SICCI’s Representative Office in New
Delhi to cater for the long-term needs of small and medium
entrepreneurs. The SICCI India office could also serve as a portal for
‘PBD Singapore.’
New Microsoft browser lets you surf ‘InPrivate’
Anand Parthasarathy
Beta 2 of version IE8 offered for free download |
BANGALORE: Like great minds thinking alike, the announcements of
‘Chrome,’ Google’s browser, and the latest — and eighth – ‘avatar’ of
Internet Explorer, the market leader in this application area, were
almost simultaneous last week.
And trust Microsoft to steal some of Google’s thunder by introducing
a feature which was one of its key additions to existing browser
features: privacy! The second beta or trial version of IE8 is available
for free download at www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/beta/ and it is a 16 MB file. A key feature is InPrivate.
In fact, Microsoft has applied for a trademark on the term, which
it explains as follows: “Computer programmes for disabling the history
of web cashing features of a web browser … and for notifying a user
of a web browser when others are tracking web use, and for controlling
the information others can access about such use.”
Simply put, it means the new IE enables its users to delete — what
Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram would call — an ‘audit trail’ of
their surfing — websites they visited and cookies they downloaded. If
they stumble on sites which try to snoop on their activities they are
warned and will be able to block such attempts.
It is too soon to fully evaluate the new browser offerings, but it
would seem at first glance that this feature in IE goes beyond what
might be on offer in Chrome in its Incognito feature.
Microsoft has also tweaked IE to cut the time and the number of
clicks to perform common tasks. It has quickened search by trying to
second guess what you are looking for even as you make every key
stroke. Visual elements have been integrated into basic search. The new
Explorer can be downloaded to all PCs running Windows Vista, Windows
Server 2003 or Windows XP which has been updated with Service Pack 3.
Anand Parthasarathy
Chrome browser seamlessly integrates search and navigation functions |
Browser released as open source code
Available for free download with 7 MB capacity
— Photo: Special Arrangement with Google
CHROME CREATORS: Sundar Pichai (far right), Google’s
vice-president for product development who led the Chrome browser team,
with product manager Ian Fette and Brian Rakowski:
BANGALORE: Reacting to the surprise announcement by Google last week
of its own browser offering, named Chrome, the authoritative
‘Information Week’ wrote: “The desktop is dying. Long live the
browser.” And it is right on target.
The web’s search leader offers GMail, a web-based email service;
GoogleTalk, a web voice call and chat client; GoogleDocs, virtually an
office suite on the web; Orkut, a web social networking site, and
GoogleMaps, the ultimate tool to understand where on earth you stand
(literally!).
With Chrome, Google has virtually carpeted the average Internet
user’s entire span of experience and, more importantly, shifted
everything to the ‘Cloud’, a fashionable term for the enveloping cloud
of Net-based applications and services.
Chrome is available for free download with a button, the Google search engine ( www.google.com).
It is a fairly slim 7 MB download and the opening page is starkly
simple like all Google offerings. This can change fast because the page
is quickly populated — by you.
Different browser
Unlike other browsers, Chrome does not fill the page with default
offerings but uses most of the space for 9 window panes — the nine
pages you have visited most frequently in the past. To have web pages
download fast, Chrome’s development team, headed by Google’s
vice-president for Product Management, Sundar Pichai (a B.Tech from
IIT-Kharagpur and M.S. from Stanford University, U.S.) decided not to
reinvent the wheel, so to speak: it just took the Webkit rendering
engine used by Apple’s Safari browser. Ironically, there is no Chrome
version for Apple’s Mac PCs — yet, it works, now only with Windows.
In a videoconference briefing for The Hindu, from
his lab in Mountain View, California, Mr. Pichai explained that Chrome
was released as an Open Source project. This means the source code is
available for developers to build their own applications. The fruit of
two years work, Chrome does away with annoying pop-ups and dialogue
boxes; seamlessly integrates search and navigation functions and allows
users to surf “incognito” — erasing all trails of where they surfed.
Will satisfied users of Internet Explorer, Firefox or Opera shift to
Chrome? It remains to be seen; but if you are already a heavy user of
Google’s tools it might make good sense to put all your web-hatched
eggs in one big basket called Chrome!