Friday, June 19, 2009

Rahul Gandhi turns 39, Congress celebrates

New Delhi, Jun 19: Congress party's youth icon Rahul Gandhi turned 39 on Friday, Jun 19. Rahul will be celebrating his birthday in London reportedly with his close pals.


Reports suggest that the celebration will be a private dinner, most likely with friends from his Cambridge days and some old family friends. Rahul had apparently asked his partymen not to have huge celebrations and to visit Dalits and slums instead and distribute sweets.


However, Congress workers gathered in large numbers at the party headquarters and state offices to wish their beloved lead all the best. Congress party has decided to celebrate Rahul Gandhi's birthday as 'Samrasta Divas' and hold the 'sahbhoj'. Rahul, who emerged as the key leader of Congress after the Lok Sabha polls 2009, will be joined by Sonia Gandhi in London.

London is the favourite destination of PM in the making. Born on June 19, 1970, he is a Member of Parliament from Amethi constituency in Uttar Pradesh.

Assam Youth is Finalist in International Music Talent Show

Guwahati, Jun 17 : A youngster from Assam, Joshua Queah, has made it to the finals of Sutasi, a contemporary Asian music TV talent show hosted in Singapore.

‘I have been selected as one of the finalists for the final round. Now internet voting system is on. Now it is all on votes,’ said Joshua Queah.


Music has always been the first love for this youth and he is the first ever musician from the northeast to reach the finals of this premier South Asian musical competition.

This competition is also called as Euro-Asiatic, which searches talents from South Asia, East Asia, and South-East Asia.

Joshua Queah is a part of a group named Casino Blues, he is also associated with bands like Euphonic Trance and Faith.

He has mastered playing the music and songs of Deep Purple, Led Zapplin, Eric Clapton among others.

The finale of the competition is scheduled at Los Angeles in the United States later this year.

Northeast on Swine Flu Radar, Pig Import Banned

Agartala, Jun 17 : Authorities in the northeastern region have stepped up precautionary measures against the spread of swine flu, besides banning import of pigs and pork products from adjoining countries, officials said Tuesday.


A health official said no case of influenza A(H1N1) infection had been reported in Mizoram, Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura. However, these states have banned import of pigs and pork products. The northeastern states share unfenced borders with Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bhutan and China.

‘We are on a maximum alert with our rapid action teams keeping a strict vigil along the international border with Myanmar and Bangladesh and also boundaries with other northeastern states,’ said C. Sangnghina, director of Mizoram’s animal husbandry and veterinary department.

‘We are holding regular review meetings and collecting reports from deputy commissioners on the latest situation,’ he added.

Sale of pork in Mizoram, Tripura, and Manipur has already come down after swine flu cases were reported in the country. Pigs are imported from Myanmar with pork being a favoured delicacy of Mizos.

The state governments of Tripura, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Manipur have launched a massive awareness campaign about swine flu as a substantial number of people in the region rear pigs and consume pork, a possible source of the deadly disease.

‘The Manipur government has sounded an alert and has taken certain steps to prevent the entry of animals through international border with Myanmar,’ said Thoiba Jiban Singh, director of Veterinary and animal husbandry department.

‘We are following the standard guidelines in our seven government run pig breeding farms in Tripura and asked the private farms to follow the same,’ said a senior official of the Tripura animal resources development department.

The Meghalaya government has also issued a set of directives to pig breeders.

Manipur Euphoric Over Boxers’ Achievement

mphal, Jun 18 : State sports bodies are euphoric over the success of two state boxers in the just concluded Asian championships held at Zhuhai in China. This comes after Mary Kom won four golds in a row in the world women championships.

The navy’s Mayengbam Suranjoy grabbed a gold, while Thokchom Nanao of the army won a silver. Suranjoy (22), from Uchiwa village in greater Imphal, defeated his Chinese opponent Li Chao 9-8 in the fly weight category.


At the end of the championships, India was third in the overall rankings with one gold, two silver and four bronze medals. China topped the list and Uzbekistan stood second. Suranjoy’s feat gave the nation its first Asian championship gold in 15 years. The last gold was won by Rajkumar Sangwan in the 1994 Tehran games.

“We are really proud of our boys’ who gave India the third rank and Suranjoy’s golden victory was extraordinary,” Indian Boxing Federation vice president Khoibi Salam said on Sunday.

Khoibi, also the All Manipur Boxing Association (AMBA) general secretary, said luck did not favour the youth world champion Nanao and so he could not win a gold. “He is a skilled boxer and he will win many top laurels in future,” he added.

“We hope they also win in the Delhi Commonwealth games next year,” Khoibi said adding that AMBA will organize a grand reception for the two boxers at Imphal.