Saturday, November 28, 2009

Chidambaram praises contribution of CRPF on its 70th anniversary

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ew Delhi, Nov 27 (ANI): Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram applauded the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on its 70th anniversary here on Friday.

Chidambaram inspected a CRPF guard of honour, included one contingent of women, retired personnel and the Rapid Action Force.

He said the paramilitary force has been at the forefront, but added that its personnel, needed to adapt to the changing environment in different states.

"The CRPF is in the forefront on behalf of the government in facing up to the challenges. While the ground situation and working environment are different in different parts of the country, in some there are problems relating to changing environment and CRPF has to quickly adapt to the changing environment," said Chidambaram.

He further said that technology should be the cornerstone of modernisation of the CRPF.

"While we should be firm, decisive, and unrelenting in dealing with those who indulge in violence, we should show a great degree of sensitivity, patience and maturity when we deal with poor people and especially the tribal people. The enhanced security requirements are to be met squarely with increased capacity building measures, professionalism and sharing of intelligence inputs with all the stakeholders. Technology should be the corner stone of your modernisation policy," Chidambaram added.

Chidambaram presented awards to the CRPF personnel and to families of the slain personnel.

The CRPF was created in 1939 at Neemuch, in Madhya Pradesh, with the primary task of lending a helping hand to princely states to maintain law and order. (ANI)

China to take next leap in moon probe in October 2010

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eijing, Nov.27 (ANI): China''s second lunar probe, Chang''e-2, will be launched in October 2010, a top space scientist said Thursday.

The China Daily quoted Ye Peijian, chief designer of the nation''s first moon probe, as telling the third International Conference on Space Information Technology in Beijing yesterday that the country''s lunar lander and rover, Chang''e-3, is also well on the way toward lift off -- the project is in the prototype stage and its launch is set for before 2013.

Ye said the second lunar orbiter would carry different payloads and orbit the moon in a different way.

"It will orbit 100 km closer to the moon and be equipped with better facilities. We expect to acquire more scientific data about the moon with increased accuracy," he told the China Daily.

Tests will also be carried out during Chang''e-2''s mission to prepare for the lunar lander and rover, Ye said.

Chang''e-3, China''s first lunar lander and rover, is to be launched from a Long March 3B launch vehicle from the Xichang satellite launch center before 2013, he said.

At present, work on Chang''e-3 has gone beyond the planning stage and the machinery is now in the prototype stage.

The scientific objectives of the project include investigating the lunar landscape and exploring the geological structure of the moon. The mission will also help China study the material composition of the moon and search for usable resources.

Scientists also hope the Chang''e-3 project will let them study the internal structure of the moon and, ultimately, they want to build an observatory on the surface.

Chang''e-2 and Chang''e-3 are part of the second phase of China''s lunar exploration program.

The third phase will see China send a spacecraft to the moon to collect samples and return. That project is slated for before 2017. (ANI)

Trinidad''s lone gurudwara to receive Gursharan Kaur

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y Smita Prakash

Port of Spain, Nov.27 (ANI): The lone Gurudwara Sahib in Trinidad and Tobago will have a distinguished visitor when Gursharan Kaur, the wife of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, visits the place on Friday, along with her daughter.

The President of the Gurudwara Sahib, Sardar Devendra Duggal, is keenly looking forward to the visit of Gursharan Kaur along with the ten families of Sikhs in the country.

Located in the Tunapuna area, in the middle of the island country, the Gurudwara is 80 year old, and is regularly visited by the Sikh and Hindu communities based nearby.

The Gurudwara used to be an old house where the Granth Sahib was placed. Recently it was renovated and according to Duggal, who retired as a permanent secretary of the Trinidad Government, the two-storied new building is air-conditioned.

Like Hindu temples and mosques in this island country of 1.3. million people, of whom 41 percent are of Indian origin, descendants of plantation labour from India, the Sikhs have no permanent ''religious teachers'', or Granthis.

The Gurudwara has a Sunday service. Sikh families and their neighbors visit it during this period and read portions of the Granth Sahib and share their lunch.
(ANI)

Delhi suspends mid day meal scheme till further orders

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ew Delhi, Nov 28 (ANI): The Delhi Government on Saturday decided to suspend the mid –day meal scheme till further orders.

The decision came two days after 125 children from a government school in Trilokpuri fell ill after having the mid-day meal.

There were 926 schools getting the benefit of mid day meal scheme in the national capital territory.

In a statement, the Delhi administration has said that the scheme will be suspended for some days in order to review the scheme.

Earlier, Delhi Education Minister Aravind Singh Lovely also hinted that the administration is considering to replace mid day meal with packed food.

"The officials from the directorate have been asked to workout a mechanism to provide mid-day meals to the children. They will review the situation and submit me the report within two days,'''' Lovely had said.

Meanwhile, the education department is also studying the system of preparation and distribution of mid-day meals in other states to find the best practice. (ANI)

Veerappa Moily announces a new bill to check corruption in judiciary

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ew Delhi, Nov 28 (ANI): Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily said on Saturday that India has drafted a new bill to check corruption and increase accountability in the judiciary.

Moily said this at a seminar on Judicial and Legal Reforms organised by the Bar Association of India.

Known as the Judges Standard and Accountability Bill, it will be introduced in the parliament soon.

"The Judge Enquiry Act of 1968 will not take us anywhere. This is my conclusion. I have come to this conclusion. There is no point in talking about this individual or that individual in this system. What have you given? Have you created an environment so that nobody can be corrupt? If you can create that kind of situation, which is possible, I don''t think anybody can be corrupt. Mow, I have already drafted a bill called the Judges Standard and Accountability Bill. No person with a shadow of corruption can become a judge if that system is put into place," said Veerappa Moily.

The Law Minister said the bill has been drafted after wide consultations to strengthen the judiciary.

"The work of the national legal mission is borne out of the national consolations where we have worked out a vision of timely delivery of justice to all, a vision to strengthen judiciary to reducing pendencies and delays. Idea is that we will not hesitate to take decisions on human resource development management, infrastructure -physical and technological, policy changes and procedural reforms and also create a special purpose vehicle to fund it. Because when all this work is lined up people say where is the fund for it. We are creating that, a dedicated fund both at the state level and the central level so that all that we intend to achieve should not suffer want of funds," said Moily.

Moily said he would make all the reforms in the new bill a reality within 3-4 years and would speed up the process of dealing with the pending cases.

He also congratulated the judges who recently declared their assets for bringing about a transparency in the system. (ANI)

Tripura bans cell phones in schools, Meghalaya in vehicles

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he Tripura government has banned the use of mobile phones by students and teachers in schools across the northeastern state, an official said here on Saturday. The Meghalaya government has banned the use of mobile phones by drivers.

The Tripura cabinet took the decision in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Manik Sarkar.

A Tripura education department official said: "If a student up to Class 12 is caught using a mobile in the school premises, he or she would be punished." He added that a notification to the effect is being issued.

The official told reporters: "The Central Education Department issued the ban (to be applicable in all central government control and aided schools) a couple of months back and sent an advisory to all the state governments across the country to consider the issue."

Tripura School Education Minister Tapan Chakraborty said: "To maintain discipline in schools the ban on mobile phones was necessary."

The minister urged parents and guardians of students not to give mobile phones to their schoolgoing children.

The Meghalaya government has prohibited the use of mobile phones in vehicles, including two-wheelers.

"Sending or receiving calls, messages, playing games, listening to music, taking photos or making videos while driving has been banned," a Meghalaya government transport department notification said.

"Use of mobile phones, even when the vehicle is stationary or caught in a traffic jam, will not be permissible," the notification clarified.

A penalty of Rs 500 would be imposed for first violation and up to Rs 5,000 for the second or subsequent offences.

According to the notification, the vehicle licensing authority can also disqualify a lawbreaker from holding a driving licence or revoke it.

2.4 lakh students register for CAT this year

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he Common Admission Test (CAT), which is being conducted through computers for the first time, kicked off on Saturday with over 2.4 lakh students registering for the entrance for admission into the prestigious Indian Institute of Managements (IIMs).

The IIMs for the first time have entrusted the task of conducting the CAT to Prometric, an American firm, which is organising the computer-based test over a period of 10 days.

The test is being conducted at 105 centres in 32 cities across the country. Students can appear in the test at these centres during the 10-day window period.

There will be two rounds of test each day. The first round will start from 10 am to 12.30 pm while the second round will be from 3.30 pm to 6 pm, Prometric said.

The aspirants will be evenly spread during the 10-day testing for smooth conduct of the entrance.

A total of 2,41,582 students have registered for the exam this year, which is a marginal drop as compared to last year when 2,46,000 students appeared in for CAT.

While the pattern of the exam -- the questions and the weightage of subjects -- will remain unchanged in the new format, the test does away with paperwork. These candidates will vie for around 2000 seats in IIMs.

Directional maps detailing the locations of all test centres have been made available on the CAT website by Prometric.