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Anna Hazare's indefinite fast against corruption

2011-04-10T10:33:00.000-07:00

Kisan Bapat Baburao Hazare (Marathi: किसन बापट बाबुराव हजारे) (born 15 January 1940), popularly known as Anna Hazare (Marathi: अण्णा हजारे), is an Indian social activist who is especially recognized for his contribution to the development of Ralegan Siddhi, a village in Parner taluka of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India and his efforts for establishing it as a model village, for which he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 1992.[1] On April 5, 2011, Hazare started a 'fast unto death' to exert pressure on the Government of India to enact a strong anti-corruption act as envisaged in the Jan Lokpal Bill, a law that will establish a Lokpal (ombudsman) that will have the power to deal with corruption in public offices. The fast led to nation wide protests in support of Hazare. The fast ended on 9 April 2011, when all of Harare's demands were agreed by the Government of India and the Government issued a gazette notification on the formation of a joint committee headed by a senior minister, Pranab Mukherjee, to draft an effective Lokpal Bill.

Born 15 January 1940 (1940-01-15) (age 71)
Bhingar, Maharashtra, India
Nationality Indian
Political movement Watershed Development Programmes; Right To Information Act; Anti-Corruption Movement
Religion Hinduism
Parents Laxmibai Hazare (Mother)
Baburao Hazare (Father)
Website - www.annahazare.org

Anna Hazare - must see video:

India not as Corrupt as China and Russia: Fitch

2011-03-12T00:46:00.000-08:00

India is not as corrupt as China and Russia, according to the global credit rating agency Fitch.

The country, however, suffers from excessive regulation and tax laws, which is concern for foreign investors, Fitch Group Managing Director for Corporate Rating Richard Hunter told PTI in an interview.

"We will certainly rank India well below Russia and China when it comes to concerns about corruption. Really big concern about India is regulation and tax treatment," he said.

These comments come at a time when the nation is facing a plethora of corruption cases relating to allocation of 2G spectrum, conduct of Commonwealth Games, allotment of flats in Adarsh Housing Society and Devas-Antrix deal.

Hunter further said that the recent corruption cases have not dent the confidence of investors in India, adding that "Corruption is certainly not a specialty in which India will win the gold medal."

However, he said, domestic and foreign investors are concerned about the burdensome regulatory regime in India.

"Corruption is something that does deter investors much more in China. There is respect for Indian legal system," he said.

Hunter said the rating outlook for most Indian companies is stable for the current year.

Source: www.siliconindia.com

Some other interesting news:

Commonwealth Games record: 20 Gold medals and counting as India look to set

2010-10-08T12:12:00.000-07:00

Hosts India have now claimed 20 Gold medals in the 2010 Commonwealth Games and fans all across are egging the sportsmen and women to win more of the 'yellow metal' and do the country proud.

And with an entire batch of boxers yet to go after a perfect start in the competitions, India are certain to surpass the tally of 22 golds in the last edition of the Games in Melbourne.

In fact the countdown has now started for them to beat their Commonwealth Games record of 30 Golds, which they had set in Manchester eight years ago.

The shooters gave the country a great start today as Gagan Narang and Hasan Imran Khan won the gold in the men's pairs 50m rifle 3 positions shooting event. This was Gagan's third gold in the Games.

Another shooter Vijay Kumar did the country proud by winning Gold Men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event. Incidentally his score was higher than the wining score in the same event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The women's recurve archery team comprising of the troika of Deepika Kumari, Dola Banerjee and Bombayala Devi Laishram continued India's gold rush by beating English team who were favourites to clinch the top honours.

Women's freestyle wrestling gave the hosts double delight as Alka Tomar (59 kg) and Anita (67 kg) won gold in their respective categories to boost India's chances of finishing second in the table for the fourth consecutive day.

Omkar Singh won a gold medal late in the day in 10m Air Pistol to take India's tally to 20 golds.

The hosts though need to keep excelling in all disciplines if they want to stay ahead of England and Canada who have been traditionally finishing behind the dominant Australian contingent.

Source: ndtv.com

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Shame of Delhi Police: Woman ASI Molested

2010-10-08T12:01:00.000-07:00

In a shocking case, a woman Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) with Delhi Police was allegedly molested and physically assaulted by a Head Constable. And that's not all; the incident occurred in February but she has not been able to get the FIR registered.

The incident occurred within the premises of the police station in a posh south Delhi location, Lodhi Colony.

The accused allegedly tore off the victim's clothes during the attack. He also dragged her down the stairs and hit her on the head with a pot. The ASI informed her seniors several times and gave written complaints on many occasions but no FIR was lodged.

The victim is posted with Narayana police station while the accused, Head Constable Narender, is posted with Malviya Nagar police station. Both stay at the quarters in Lodhi Colony police station. A senior police officer on the condition of anonymity said that some cops are sheltering Narender.

"The incident took place on February 28. The victim was having tea with her husband Mahender Dhyani when Narender called her outside making obscene gestures. As the victim stepped out of her house she was attacked by the head constable. Narender slapped her on the chest and tore off her clothes. She tried to escape, shouting for help, but Narender dragged her down the stairs, causing her severe injuries.

"Her husband and some neighbours rushed to her rescue. A PCR call was made and a Sub-Inspector (SI) was sent to the scene to look into the matter. She was rushed to AIIMS and was discharged after treatment. She then lodged a written complaint with the Lodhi Colony police station. Station House Officer (SHO) Rajender Singh is aware of the incident but despite having known all the facts he did not loge an FIR," said a police source.

When contacted, she only said no corrective action has been taken so far by the senior police officer.

Her husband Mahender Dhyani said they had also filed an RTI plea in this regard and came to know that senior police officials were provided wrong information by the investigating officer.

"In our RTI reply we were told that an FIR had been registered naming both persons (ASI and HC). But in fact no such case was made by police officers. SHO, Rajender Singh and the ACP are well aware of the case. The RTI has proved that senior police officers have ditched their junior and want to shelter the accused," alleged Mahender.

The victim has now approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to get justice.

Source: ndtv.com

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Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Metro Station Opens

2010-10-03T11:03:00.000-07:00

From CWG volunteers to general public -- everyone boarded the newly-inaugurated Central Secretariat-Sarita Vihar Metro train for a 'joy ride' till Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Metro station to watch the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games.

Though Metro services on the line began just hours before the opening ceremony, people opted for the 'safe and comfort' mode of public transport to reach the stadium on time to watch the programme.

Huge queues could be seen everywhere at the Central Secretariat station, from where the train to Sarita Vihar starts, with people from all walks of life waiting to board a Metro train.

In the midst of the crowd was the man who gave the people of Delhi the Metro -- E Sreedharan. He also used the transport system along with his family to reach the venue of the opening ceremony of the Games.

Every train which began its journey from the CST station was jam-packed and almost emptied at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium station.

There were delays and some minor glitches on the inaugural day, but people did not complain much about that.

Sumitra, a college student, says she was waiting for the Metro to open today as she can take it to reach JLN Stadium and watch the opening ceremony.

"Many people would not have made it to the venue if the Metro had not started today. It is really good and we reached JLN Stadium in 10 minutes from CST station," she says as volunteers ask her to give the counterfoil from her ticket.

All CWG ticket holders were entitled for a free journey on the Metro today. Volunteers were in big numbers at the CST, JLN Stadium and Jangpura stations to regulate the crowd and help passengers.

Though there was no figures available immediately, it is estimated that at least 30,000 people would have taken the Metro from 8am till late afternoon.

Ravindran, a former government servant, said he felt very comfortable on the Metro travelling to the stadium. "It would have been very difficult for spectators if the Metro had not started services today. It helped a number of people to travel comfortably," he said.

The line was a big relief for volunteers and others associated with the Games to reach the JLN Stadium. A volunteer said till yesterday, he was spending Rs100 everyday on auto to travel from home to the stadium and back.

"From today till the end of the Games, I don't have to spend much. Metro is there," he said.

Source: dnaindia.com

More interesting News:

Ayodhya Verdict: Disputed Land to be Divided

2010-09-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

The Allahabad High Court on Thursday ruled by a majority verdict that the disputed land in Ayodhya be divided equally into three parts among Hindus and Muslims and that the place where the makeshift temple of Lord Ram exists belongs to Hindus.

In their separate judgements on the sensitive 60-year old title dispute on Ramjanambhoomi- Babri Masjid structure, Justices S U Khan and Sudhir Agarwal said that the area under the central dome of the three-domed structure where Lord Ram's idol exists belongs to Hindus.

The majority in the three-judge Lucknow bench also ruled that status quo should be maintained at the disputed place for three months.

Justices Khan and Agarwal decreed that the 2.7 acre land comprising the disputed site should be divided into three equal parts and be given to Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and the party representing 'Ram Lala Virajman' (Ram deity).

However, the third judge Justice D V Sharma ruled that that the disputed site is the birth place of Lord Ram and that the disputed building constructed by Mughal emperor Babur was built against the tenets of Islam and did not have the character of the mosque.

Justice Khan said "all the three sets of parties, i.e. Muslims, Hindus and Nirmohi Akhara are declared joint title holders of the property/premises in dispute as described by letters A B C D E F in the map Plan-I prepared by Shri Shiv Shankar Lal, Pleader/Commissioner appointed by court in Suit No. 1 to the extent of 1/3rd share each for using and managing the same for worshipping. A preliminary decree to this effect is passed."

However, the judge observed that it is further declared that the portion below the central dome where at present the idol is kept in makeshift temple will be allotted to Hindus in final decree.

He also said that Nirmohi Akhara will be allotted share including that part which is shown by the words 'Ram Chabutra' and 'Sita Rasoi' in the said map.

Justice Khan said even though all the three parties are declared to have one-third share each, "however, if while allotting exact portions, some minor adjustments in the share is to be made, then the same will be made and the adversely-affected party may be compensated by some portion of the adjoining land which has been acquired by the central government."

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Some other interesting news:

History of Ayodhya Temple - Masjid Dispute

2010-09-29T11:29:00.000-07:00

The decades long Ayodhya dispute revolves around the claim over the land in Ayodhya, which is considered scared by Hindus as it is believed to be the birthplace of Lord Ram while Muslims seek to defend the Babri Masji at the site.

Land in question:

Hindus believe that Ayodhya is the birthplace of Lord Ram, one of the avatars of Lord Vishnu. The land is, therefore, considered sacred and befitting the profile of a holy pilgrimage
spot.

The communal tension over the land took root in the construction of the Babri Masji, by Muslim emperor Babur, who in 1527 defeated the Hindu King of Chittorgarh, Rana Sangram Singh at Fatehpur Sikri.

The king left his general, Mir Banki as the Viceroy of the region. Mir Banki, who enforced Mughal rule over the population, came to Ayodhya in 1528 and built the Mosque.

There are claims that when the Mosque built, the Ram temple at Ayodhya was either demolished or modified largely.

Over the years, Hindus have sought to reclaim the 'Ram Janmabhoomi' while Muslims have sought to defend the Babri Masjid.

Growth of dispute over the years

According to literature dating back to 1987, before the 1940s the mosque was called Masjid-i Janmasthan ('mosque on birthplace') by Indian Muslims

1947 - A Government order prohibited Muslims from being around the site (at least 200 yards). The main gate was locked. However, Hindu pilgrims allowed to enter through a side door.

1984 - The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) started a campaign to reclaim the site for Hindus so that a temple dedicated to the infant Ram (Ramlala) could be erected.

1989 - Allahabad High Court passed an order that the main gates should be opened up and restored the site to Hindus for eternity.

But the communal discord re-erupted when the Hindus intented to make modifications of the Islamic style structure built by General Mir Banki.

When they inaugurated the proposed new grand Temple with Government permissions, unrest erupted across India as the Muslim community was against this.

This is when Government moved the court, turning the dispute sub-judice

1992 - The dispute took a rather ugly turn on Dec 6, 1992 when the Babri Masjid was demolished during a political rally. This led to riots in which over 2000 were killed.

Ten days after the Babri Masjid demolition, the Liberhan commission was set up to probe the circumstances that led to the demolition.

2003 - On the order of the High Court, the the Archaeological Survey of India carried out excavation at the disputed site of Rama Janmabhumi - Babri Masjid from 12 Mar, 2003 to 7 Aug, 2003. The study reportedly found evidences of an ancient temple.

A 574-page report with maps, drawings as well as opinions was presented before the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court in Aug 2003.

Based on the archaeological evidence the the ASI report noted that the remains had distinctive features found associated with the temples of north India and said that there was sufficient proof of existence of a massive and monumental structure having a minimum dimension of 50x30 metres in north-south and east-west directions respectively just below the disputed structure.

2005 - On July 5, 2005, five terrorists attacked the site of the makeshift Ramlalla temple, in Ayodhya.

All the five terrorists were killed in the ensuing gunfight with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), guarding the area. The attack claimed life of one civilian, who died in a grenade blast that the terrorists triggered to breach a cordon wall.

2009 - In Nov 2009, some of the findings of the Liberhan commission was leaked to the media. These leaked reports indicted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders like LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi.

2010 - On Sep 24, 2010, the Allahabad High Court was slated to give its verdict on the Ayodhya title suit on ownership of the disputed land. On the eve of the judgement, the Supreme Court deferred the verdict by a week on a deferment plea and scheduled hearing of the postponement petition on Tuesday, Sep 28.

Some important observations/ chronicles prior to Indian independence:

As early as 1767, Joseph Tieffenthaler, a Jesuit priest, recorded in his French works that were Hindus worshipping and celebrating Ramanavami at the site of the mosque. In 1788, he recorded that Emperor Aurangzeb demolished the fortress called Ramkot to establish a Mahometan temple.

Even till 19th century, there have been chronicles of Hindus worshipping Ram at the Ramkot hill.

P Carnegy wrote in 'A Historical Sketch of Tehsil Fyzabad', 1870, "It is said that up to that time (referring to the the Hindu-Muslim clashes in the 1850), the Hindus and Mohamedans alike used to worship in the mosque-temple.

"Since the British rule a railing has been put up to prevent dispute, within which, in the mosque the Mohamedans pray, while outside the fence the Hindus have raised a platform on which they make their offerings."

While passing an order over the issue in March 1886, the Faizabad District Judge, Col F E A Chamier, observed:

"I visited the land in dispute yesterday in the presence of all parties. I found that the Masjid built by Emperor Babar stands on the border of Ayodhya, that is to say, to the west and south it is clear of habitations. It is most unfortunate that a Masjid should have been built on land specially held sacred by the Hindus, but as that event occurred 356 years ago, it is too late now to agree with the grievances."

Source: news.oneindia.in

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Bids touch 6 lakhs for lunch with Big B

2010-09-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan is auctioning off a lunch date with him to raise money for charity, sparking a frenzy which saw the bids rise above Rs 6 lakhs within hours of the announcement.

The bidding started at Rs 1001 yesterday at online marketplace eBay and it has already reached a whopping amount of Rs 6 lakhs.

The 67-year-old veteran has pipped Bollywood's bad boy Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar in the bidding amounts.

A breakfast date with Akshay is currently going for Rs 4,52,000.

On offer is the oppurtunity to spend time with the Shehenshah of Bollywood over lunch. Bachchan will answer the winner's questions about his long career and his easiest, most difficult, funniest and craziest moments.

The winner will also get the opportunity to take photographs with the Big B and get personalized autographs from him.

The actor decided to do the good deed to mark the 'Joy of Giving' week in collaboration with eBay.

The National Award winning actor who is set to host the superhit TV game show Kaun Banega Crorepati for a third time, will donate the proceedings to a charity of his choice.

Also during the Joy of Giving Week Bangalore NGO CMCA (Children's Movement for Civic Awareness) is auctioning an lunch date with actress Raveena Tandon in addition to cricket memorabilia.

Read more at: movies.ndtv.com

Some Other News

Strong earthquake rocks New Zealand

2010-09-05T00:44:00.000-07:00

Christchurch. New Zealand nearly 80-year history came in the devastating earthquake on Saturday is the loss of two billion dollars. Collapsed buildings due to earthquakes and panic on the streets killing people run away from their homes were forced to come.

Officials in every privilege that the country's second largest city of Christchurch intensity 7.0 earthquake was not due to any person's death.

Despite massive damage from an earthquake in the city are just two people seriously injured, while the city's population is 340 000.

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said that as was feared, it is far more damage. When viewed in daylight, we shocked we Ghan destruction.

Parker told national radio that the city has no family or home, which do not harm something.

Many of the buildings and trees have fallen earthquake, which damaged vehicles, the power supply has been disrupted. Many bridges were also destroyed and windows and glass scattered on the streets. Space - space debris is spread.

Emergency has been declared in the city. Evening from seven o'clock in the morning until seven o'clock curfew has been imposed. Also, people have been told to stay away from houses demolished by the city after the earthquake main shock is still continuing series of aftershocks.

Aware of the situation after the earthquake Civil Defence Minister John Carter said that I believe that we are very fortunate that no call was not Kaalit. We are blessed by the gods.

City residents are in deep shock, but Carter Little - coarse wound or injury in hospitals crowded with people putting appealed. He said the most important thing we can say to anyone that they are not Rahashhjad.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Geological Survey Science Centre said the quake came at four in the morning 35 minutes midnight and its intensity on the Richter scale was 7.4. The center about 45 kilometers from Christchurch was in the depth of five kilometers.

More news at: Premaajkal.blogspot.com

100 kms long Traffic Jam in China

2010-08-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

Beijing, Aug 24 2010 (IANS): Does your blood boil when you get caught in a traffic snarl? If so, then do spare a thought for motorists in China who have been stuck for the past 10 days in a traffic jam that stretches a good 100 km on a highway.

Trucks bound for the Chinese capital are barely moving on the Beijing-Tibet Expressway, formerly known as the Badaling Expressway, due to ongoing maintenance construction work.

Traffic authorities are struggling to cope with congestion on the major national expressway on which traffic has slowed to a snail's pace, Global Times reported Monday.

The congestion is expected to last for almost a month, since the construction is due for completion Sep 13.

Local residents are profiting due to the massive traffic jam by overcharging drivers for food.

Since Aug 14, thousands of Beijing-bound trucks have choked the expressway. Now traffic stretches for over 100 km between Beijing and Huai'an in Heibei Province and Jining in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China National Radio (CNR) reported.

Minor traffic accidents and broken-down cars have aggravated the jam.

'Insufficient traffic capacity on the National Expressway 110 caused by maintenance construction is the major cause of the congestion,' a publicity officer with the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau told the Global Times.

The National Expressway 110 is available to trucks with a carrying capacity of eight tonnes and more. The road had suffered serious damage due to the great volume of heavy trucks.

This month there have been more trucks carrying excessive coal or fruit, but the Beijing section of the Beijing-Tibet Expressway is available only to trucks with a weight of less than four tonnes.

Traffic congestion and road safety have become major concerns for Chinese motorists.

Some kill time by playing cards, while some wait patiently.

Source: in.news.yahoo.com

India Independence Day 2010

2010-08-15T09:46:00.000-07:00

India Independence Day 2010 - Proud to be an Indian

Jahan Dal Dal Par Sone Ki Chidia karti hai basera vo Bharat desh hai mera

INDIAN ARMY IN ACTION

This was during the recent HEMKUNT SAHIB pull break wherein people were stranded on both sides...ARMY was brought into action and temporary pull was set up to ensure smooth pilgrimage of people going to and coming from HUMKUNT SAHIB.

Where there's a wheel

2010-08-02T10:09:00.000-07:00

New Delhi, July 30 - She hangs out in the college canteen, she attends friends' weddings, she has 56 friends on Facebook and her favourite Bollywood actor is Hrithik Roshan.

Akshika Aggarwal, 21, a final year student of Janki Devi Memorial College, has a life as remarkable as anyone else of her age, except that she is paralysed from waist below since birth. With Delhi University announcing plans to make the campus more friendly for the physically disabled - by building ramps and elevators in colleges, introducing special buses and getting scanners to convert books into audio CDs - life could become much easier for such students.

But how have been they coping till now? Here's a look at a day in Akshika's life. The day for this BA Programmes student starts at 7 am in her second floor Karol Bagh apartment. Her mother helps her in dressing up. "I usually wear shirts and pants. Salwar kurtas are not very comfortable," she says. When ready, her father helps Akshika down to the ground floor.

The college is a five-minute scooter ride away. At the gate, a female attendant (Akshika calls her 'Auntyji'), especially employed by the college for Akshika, helps her into a wheelchair and takes her to the class. The college authorities moved all the classes of Akshika's course to the ground floor. "That was a very nice gesture," she says. "But sometimes, I get this yearning to go to the college's top floor and view things from there."

In the class, Akshika usually sits in the front row, where the wheelchair fits easily. "The teachers are very supportive. Since my hand movements are very slow, I write very slowly. Sometimes, my classmates Xerox their notes for me," she says. During regular class hours, the female attendant frequently checks on Akshika, in case she needs to go to the washroom. During lecture breaks, Akshika accompanies classmates to the canteen, which has also been provided with a ramp built specially for her use. As the classes get over, Akshika's attendant takes her to the gate, where her father waits for her. What when the attendant is delayed and friends have left? "Someone or the other always appears."

DU's special arrangements A special cell called the Equal Opportunity Cell (EOC) has been set up to help physically challenged students SGTB Khalsa College has specially designed elevators and toilets St Stephen's College is in the process of setting up a separate room in its library with five computers installed with software for the visually impaired.

Source: in.news.yahoo.com

Cars catch fire near Buckingham Palace in London

2010-07-14T09:12:00.000-07:00

Smoke was seen billowing from several cars which caught alight a short distance from Buckingham Palace and St James's Palace.

Firefighters and police attended the blaze in The Mall, central London, at about 1015 BST.

One car caught fire and three others set alight as a result. Police closed the road to traffic and pedestrians but it was reopened at about 1145 BST.

London Fire Brigade said the fire was extinguished by 1103 BST.

Tyres Melted

The Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command said they had investigated the car fire and there was nothing untoward about the incident.

Inspector Mark Kelly said that, responding to the call, there was always the possibility it could have been a terror attack.

"We don't know whether it could be a terrorist device. But we deal with it the best we can for the safety of the public," he said.

Two fire engines and 10 firefighters attended the incident.

The cars were parked on the Horse Ride outside Marlborough House, which is across the road from Clarence House.

They were burnt white with their tyres melted, bonnets open and engines disintegrated.
'Nothing suspicious'

A spokeswoman at Clarence House, which is the official residence of the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, said she was aware of the fire but that it was not affecting the property.

Mounted police joined officers on foot to clear hundreds of tourists away from the Mall and out of Green Park.

One policewoman shouted: "As quickly as possible, ladies and gents, for your own safety. There's a big fire which could go off any second."

Standing in front of three burned-out cars, station manager Rick Ogden, of the London Fire Brigade, said: "There is nothing suspicious at this stage.

"It was a standard car fire where one car has ignited the other two.

He said the owners of the vehicles had been identified and the fire could have started through overheating or from an electrical fault.

Source: bbc.co.uk

America will be nuked by 2013

2010-06-28T19:55:00.000-07:00

Terrorists will set off an atom bomb in the US within the next three years, retired nuclear scientist Robert Beeman has predicted in his just-released novel, No More Time For Sorrow. Beeman maintains that the sacking of the commander of the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, will only help the terrorists.

"America's enemies in Afghanistan will take renewed encouragement from General McChrystal's firing," the 65-year-old debutant author says.

"They will interpret President Barack Obama's action as ideology trumping defence," he adds. Ironically, Beeman spent much of his working life as a scientist at the Three Mile Island civilian nuclear facility, which made international headlines on March 28, 1978, when one of its reactors had a meltdown. It was the most serious accident to have taken place ever in an American nuclear facility.

Beeman, who sounds hawkish in the positions he takes on issues, says General McChrystal had been called back to the "woodshed" in Washington because he spoke out against administrative policies.

"Instead of making an example of him, Obama should applaud his passion. Terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan are planning the next major assault on the US. McChrystal knows this," the author says in an email interview.

General McChrystal, who lost his job because of the derogatory comments he made on President Obama in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, has been replaced by General David Petraeus, the commander who turned around the Iraq war for America.

Beeman may be bang on target about the Taliban celebrating the general's sacking. In a media interview from an undisclosed location, senior Afghan Taliban commander Sirajuddin Haqqani has said the development showed America was frustrated and divided over the Afghan war.

"After the American invasion, my father said Afghanistan would become another Vietnam for the US which is now gradually proving to be true," Haqqani said in the interview to The Daily Beast.

In No More Time For Sorrow - which has just hit the American market - Beeman talks about why today's liberal and progressive approach to terrorism is making America less safe and how an atomic bomb can be built, transported, deployed and triggered by non- technical personnel.

The atom bomb will be a weapon of choice for three reasons, the author says. Efficiency is one of them. "Killing by means of individual explosive suicide belts tends to use up a lot of recruits," he says.

Then, fundamentalist groups have to justify their existence to their fund-providers by lining up an impressive number of corpses. An atom bomb would give them the most value for money. Above all, it's the message an atom bomb would send out that would make the terrorists zero in on it.

The uranium for the bomb, Beeman believes, will "most likely come from Iran". America will also see more bombers like the failed Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad.

" These individual lunatics are being encouraged by the current US administration's emphasis on individual criminal acts instead of a war on terror. They know the worst case is they'll be shut up in one of our comfortable prisons, and maybe even make parole eventually," he says, adding: " Remember, the Obama administration has already released scores of prisoners from Guantanamo Bay who went right back into the fight against us." " Today, when his country is at war, he finds himself too old to fight and too slow to run away.

This book is all he can do, and he hopes his reader will find it in himself to do more," says his website. This is one book Obama may want on his bookshelf.

Source: Indiatoday.intoday.in

Delhi Honour Killing Suspects info Reward

2010-06-23T09:59:00.000-07:00

The Delhi Police released photographs of the three suspects in the honour killing cases on Wednesday and decided to announce cash rewards for anyone providing information about the trio.

The double murder case took a new twist on Tuesday after the body of Mandeep's sister Shobha was found in a car. Two days ago, the bodies of Ankit's sister Monica and her husband Kuldeep had been found from the Ashok Vihar area. The suspects were allegedly angry that their sisters had eloped to get married.

DCP (North West Delhi) N S Bundela said cash rewards will be given to anyone providing information about Mandeep (23), Ankit (22) and Nakul alias Nikku (21) -- who allegedly murdered Monica along with her husband Kuldeep on Sunday for marrying in another caste.

However, the amount for the cash rewards has not been fixed, he said.

The trio is also allegedly involved in the killing of 22-year-old Shobha, a cousin of Monica. Police had Tuesday recovered the body of Shobha, who too had eloped with a man belonging to a different caste.

All the three are suspected victims of honour killing. Police feel that the perpetrators of the crime could have been enraged over the inter-caste marriages in the family which apparently started with Monica, 24, who was followed by her cousin sister Shobha.

Ankit is brother of Monica while Mandeep is her cousin. Shobha is Mandeep's sister. Mandeep and Ankit are absconding and police suspect the involvement of both in Shobha's murder.

Meanwhile, a man whose two relatives are on the run after killing three of their family members, claims honour killing is good for society. These are the men suspected of killing their sisters and brother-in-law in the name of honour.

Dharamveer Nagar, uncle of the victims Sobha and Khushboo, said: "Police has done nothing. There is a threat to Khusbhoo's life also. We support the murder. Whatever happened is good for the society. Whosoever has done it, it's right."

You will also like Delhi Honour Killing...

Source: ibnlive.in.com

Delhi Honour Killing

2010-06-23T09:49:00.000-07:00

In the dingy lanes of a rural suburb, where a family allegedly murdered its own daughter and her boyfriend in the name of 'honour killing', a cold silence greets outsiders.

Two dramatically different versions of Delhi co-exist in the heart of the city. Right now, the first one is being spruced up like a soon-to-be bride, under the facade of modernisation for the upcoming Commonwealth Games.

And voila! Meet her diabolic twin that perpetrated the brutal murder of an innocent couple in love under the infernal shadow of honour killing.

Here, in the mosquito infested lanes of Swarup Nagar in north-east Delhi, Asha Saini, 19, and her boyfriend Yogesh, 20, met a gory end allegedly at the hands of her family. On Sunday night, the girl's family is said to have beaten up the couple and electrocuted them at her uncle Omprakash's flat in the sparsely populated colony.

The girl's family had disapproved of Asha's relationship with Yogesh, a driver, and had asked the boy to back off.

According to Omprakash's next-door neighbour and eye-witness Umesh, Yogesh had been summoned to the Swarup Nagar flat, where the girl had been detained by her uncle and aunt since the last 20 days.

few minutes later, says Umesh, the girl's aunt was heard screaming in the balcony about Yogesh's arrival. An infuriated Omprakash then attacked the boy with a stick, says Umesh.

The neighbours tried to intervene but were curtly asked to mind their own business. Asha's cousin, Sanjeev, dispersed the curious onlookers.

The girl's parents also reached the flat soon and the enraged family allegedly tortured the couple for hours.

"From 2 am onwards I could hear the boy wailing. The girl was pleading for his life. I could sense something was fishy but couldn't communicate with anyone as I had no access to a telephone at that hour," said Umesh.

At approximately 4 am, Umesh saw the girl's family scurrying out of the house, but the couple was missing.

He told rediff.com that had he not witnessed the whole drama in his adjacent verandah, the murder would never have been accounted for.

"It seemed the family intended to dispose of the two dead bodies in the Maruti car the boy had arrived in. They brought the car very close to the gate. But sensing my presence, they took the car back to its original spot and rode away on three motorbikes," he says.

The three other neighbouring families had left before sunrise, said Kalpana, another neighbour, possibly due to Sanjeev's threats and a fear of police investigation.

The police found the dead bodies with multiple bruises and burns at 8 am on Monday. They nabbed the girl's uncle and her father Suresh Kumar Saini, who admitted to the barbaric crime.

According to the police, the girl's family had taken the extreme step as the boy hailed from a lower caste.

Source: news.rediff.com

Indian court convicts 7 in Bhopal gas disaster

2010-06-07T10:45:00.000-07:00

A court Monday convicted seven former senior employees of Union Carbide's Indian subsidiary of "death by negligence" for their roles in the 1984 leak of toxic gas that killed an estimated 15,000 people in the world's worst industrial disaster.

Survivors of the Bhopal accident, some of whom gathered in this central Indian city chanting slogans, said the light sentences — two years in prison — are too little, too late given the scale of the damage. In India's notoriously slow justice system, the appeal process could drag on for years, even decades, while those convicted remain free on bail.

On the morning of Dec. 3, 1984, a pesticide plant run by Union Carbide leaked about 40 tons of deadly methyl isocyanate gas into the air of Bhopal, quickly killing about 4,000 people. Lingering effects of the poison raised the death toll to about 15,000 over the next few years, according to government estimates.

In all, at least 500,000 people were affected, the Indian government says. More than 25 years later, activists say thousands of children are born with brain damage, missing palates and twisted limbs because of their parents' exposure to the gas or water contaminated by it.

The Union Carbide subsidiary's former employees, all Indian nationals and many in their 70s, were sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay fines of 100,000 rupees ($2,175) apiece. All were released on bail shortly after the verdict.

The rulings appear set for appeals — the bail requests would be a first step in the appeal process — putting the case back into a notoriously slow and ineffective judicial system.

India's court system is badly burdened by corruption, incompetence and a lack of resources, making it easy to stall a case for many years. On Monday, even top Indian judicial officials acknowledged the system was in trouble.

"It's most unfortunate that it has taken that much of time to give the verdict," Law Minister Veerappa Moily told reporters after the ruling. "We need to address that."

Rachna Dhingra, a longtime activist with the Bhopal Group for Information and Action, a rights group that works with survivors, blasted Monday's ruling as "a travesty of justice."

"But this is not new or unexpected," Dhingra said. "Every one of these men is free on bail and will go home to their families tonight. For survivors and families of victims there is nothing to go home to. They lost their families."

The subsidiary, Union Carbide India Ltd., was convicted of the same charge as the individuals and ordered to pay a fine of rupees 500,000 ($10,870). Union Carbide eventually sold its shares in the subsidiary company, which was renamed Eveready Industries India.

While the judge did not explain his negligence ruling against the seven, India's Central Bureau of Investigation, the country's top investigative agency, has said the plant was not following proper safety procedures before the disaster.

On Monday, Union Carbide in a statement on its website said the company and its officials were not subject to the jurisdiction of the Indian court since they did not have any involvement in the operation of the plant, which was owned and operated by UCIL.

Union Carbide was bought by Dow Chemical Co. in 2001. Dow says the legal case was resolved in 1989 when Union Carbide settled with the Indian government for $470 million, and that all responsibility for the factory now rests with the government of the state of Madhya Pradesh, which now owns the site.

The Central Bureau of Investigation had originally accused 12 defendants: eight senior Indian company officials; Warren Anderson, the head of Union Carbide Corp. at the time of the gas leak; the company itself and two subsidiary companies.

The 12 had initially been charged with culpable homicide, but in 1996 India's Supreme Court reduced the charges to death by negligence, which carries a sentence of two years in prison.

Seven of the eight Indian company officials were convicted Monday. The other one has since died. Anderson and Union Carbide did not appear in the court proceedings.

Anderson was briefly detained immediately after the disaster, but he quickly left the country and now lives in New York.

Last July, the same court in Bhopal had issued a warrant for Anderson's arrest and also ordered the Indian government to press Washington for the American's extradition. It was not immediately clear if the Indian government had begun to process the Bhopal court's request.

Investigators say the accident occurred when water entered a sealed tank containing the highly reactive gas, causing pressure in the tank to rise too high.

Union Carbide Corp. said the accident was an act of sabotage by a disgruntled employee who was never identified. It has denied the disaster was the result of lax safety standards or faulty plant design, as claimed by some activists.

Know more about : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster

Source: news.yahoo.com

2 year old who smokes 40 cigarettes a day

2010-05-31T18:51:00.000-07:00

Taking a deep drag on his cigarette while resting on the steering wheel of his truck, he looks like a parody of a middle-aged lorry driver.

But the image covers up a much more disturbing truth: At just the tender age of two, Ardi Rizal's health has been so ruined by his 40-a-day habit that he now struggles to move by himself.

The four-stone Indonesia toddler is certainly far too unfit to run around with other children - and his condition is set to rapidly deteriorate.

But, despite local officials' offer to buy the Rizal family a new car if the boy quits, his parents feel unable to stop him because he throws massive tantrums if they don't indulge him.

His mother, Diana, 26, wept: 'He's totally addicted. If he doesn't get cigarettes, he gets angry and screams and batters his head against the wall. He tells me he feels dizzy and sick.'

Ardi will smoke only one brand and his habit costs his parents £3.78 a day in Musi Banyuasin, in Indonesia's South Sumatra province.

But in spite of this, his fishmonger father Mohammed, 30, said: 'He looks pretty healthy to me. I don't see the problem.'

Ardi's youth is the extreme of a disturbing trend. Data from the Central Statistics Agency showed 25 per cent of Indonesian children aged three to 15 have tried cigarettes, with 3.2 per cent of those active smokers.

The percentage of five to nine year olds lighting up increased from 0.4 per cent in 2001 to 2.8 per cent in 2004, the agency reported.

A video of a four-year-old Indonesian boy blowing smoke rings appeared briefly on YouTube in March, prompting outrage before it was removed from the site.

Child advocates are speaking out about the health damage to children from second-hand smoke, and the growing pressure on them to smoke in a country where one-third of the population uses tobacco and single cigarettes can be bought for a few cents.

Seto Mulyadi, chairman of Indonesia's child protection commission, blames the increase on aggressive advertising and parents who are smokers.

'A law to protect children and passive smokers should be introduced immediately in this country,' he said.

A health law passed in 2009 formally recognizes that smoking is addictive, and an anti-smoking coalition is pushing for tighter restrictions on smoking in public places, advertising bans and bigger health warnings on cigarette packages.

But a bill on tobacco control has been stalled because of opposition from the tobacco industry.

The bill would ban cigarette advertising and sponsorship, prohibit smoking in public, and add graphic images to packaging.

Benny Wahyudi, a senior official at the Industry Ministry, said the government had initiated a plan to try to limit the number of smokers, including dropping production to 240 billion cigarettes this year, from 245 billion in 2009.

'The government is aware of the impact of smoking on health and has taken efforts, including lowering cigarette production, increasing its tax and limiting smoking areas,' he said.

Mr Mulyadi said a ban on advertising is key to putting the brakes on child and teen smoking.

'If cigarette advertising is not banned, there will be more kids whose lives are threatened because of smoking,' he said.

Ubiquitous advertising hit a bump last month when a cigarette company was forced to withdraw its sponsorship of pop star Kelly Clarkson's concert following protests from fans and anti-tobacco groups.

Read more: Dailymail.co.uk

Thousands gather for Khalsa Day parade Canada

2010-04-27T08:18:00.000-07:00

In spite of Sunday’s gloomy grey skies, Toronto was ablaze with bright blues and oranges as thousands of festively-attired Sikhs celebrated the birth of their religion and its values of peace, harmony and kindness.

“It was nice to come out and see the unity,” said Brampton’s Sonia Pabla, who attended the Khalsa Day celebrations with her husband and two children. "This type of atmosphere is what we mostly are all about: peaceful togetherness."

Toronto’s annual Khalsa Day parade celebrates the birth of Sikhism in 1699 and Sikhs from as far as Montreal and Windsor travelled to join friends and family in the GTA. The day kicked off with traditional music, hymns and prayer at the CNE grounds before taking to Lake Shore Boulevard for a parade.

Police estimate some 12,000 people attended the parade and another 30,000 gathered at Queen’s Park for the event's conclusion; organizers, however, claim a total attendance of some 100,000.

Sunday’s festivities were in stark contrast to recent violence plaguing the local Sikh community. A prominent lawyer was stabbed outside a Brampton temple April 12, allegedly with a kirpan, the ceremonial dagger Sikhs are required to wear at all times as an outward symbol of their religion. Two weeks later, a brawl broke out at another temple in Brampton where machetes, hammers and construction knives were brandished.

The incidents were on the minds of some of the celebrants.

“To be honest, I’m really ashamed of what happened,” said Amar Singh, 26, who travelled from Guelph to attend the parade. He says he only uses his kirpan for ceremonial purposes, the last time being a year ago when he dipped the dagger into prasad, which he described as a treat made of sweet flour, clarified butter and water. “If you dip the kirpan into it, the guru eats it,” he explained.

But for event organizers, the destructive behaviour of just a handful of individuals does not represent the greater Sikh community.

“This year, amongst all the negativity, what we came out with was such a positive aspect of Sikhism and that’s what you saw firsthand,” said event coordinator Manjit Parmar, who is with the Ontario Sikh and Gurdwara Council.“We represented what Sikhs are (today).”

Other OSGC event organizers also did not want to discuss the kirpan issue at all.

“We’re not talking about these things today. We are celebrating,” said Beant S. Charma.

Premier Dalton McGuinty, federal NDP leader Jack Layton, federal Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff and immigration minister Jason Kenney were among those attending; all covered their heads with saffron head scarves, or romalas, as a gesture of respect. Blue — the colour of meditation — was also prominently displayed by Khalsa Day participants.

There was some speculation McGuinty — who ignited outrage earlier this month by welcoming Indian minister Kamal Nath to Ontario, a man accused of participating in the 1984 massacre of more than 3,000 Sikhs in the wake of the assassination of Indian leader Indira Gandhi — might skip out on this year’s festivities

In his address to the crowd, McGuinty alluded to the incident but did not issue an apology, as some members of the Sikh community had hoped.

“Just a few weeks ago, I conveyed my sympathies to my fellow Ontarians who still feel the pain of the atrocities that occurred in 1984,” McGuinty said. “Thousands of lives were lost and that pain is still felt very deeply today. In Ontario, we are thankful that together we condemn extremism and intolerance and we never forget those who lost their lives.”

Jagdip Grewal of Brampton would have liked to hear the premier apologize for welcoming Nath to Ontario, adding the incident had left him “disgusted.”

“That’s like inviting someone who was involved in other war crimes, like a Nazi or something . . . that’s how bad it was for us,” he said. “I was hoping McGuinty would go down that path and apologize but it just didn’t happen.”

But Grewal, who celebrated Khalsa Day with his wife and baby, still had fun at the celebrations, saying he especially enjoyed Layton’s attempts at speaking to the crowd in Punjabi.

“It was good,” he said of the day. “My newborn, he’s almost three months, so it’s his first parade.”

Toronto’s Khalsa Day celebration has grown from 2,000 people since its inauguration in 1986 to become Toronto’s third-largest parade after Pride and Caribana.

Charity is an important component of the Sikh faith and prasad, samosas, sweet rice and hot beverages were distributed free among the crowd as they trudged through the rain under umbrellas and plastic raincoats. Donations for charity were also collected.

Source: Thestar.com

Radioactive Material at Delhi Market

2010-04-09T11:34:00.000-07:00

Friday April 9, 2010, New Delhi: An unassuming market in West Delhi turned into the location of a high-drama search-and-seize. The target: radioactive material in a scrap shop that has led to five people being hospitalized. Experts say this is possibly the worst case of radiation exposure in India, with levels a thousand times higher than permissible limits.

Half a kilometer of the market was cordoned off by the Delhi Police. Inside, specialists from the Department of Atomic Energy, armed with Geiger counters to detect radiation, looked through metal scrap in dozens of shops. Sixteen hours later, the area was declared safe.

"We have isolated the metal wires which came into contact and they have all been loaded onto a truck...we are not sure where the material has come from, maybe it came from outside, we are still investigating, " said S K Malhotra, the spokesperson of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).

The potentially-contaminated items were loaded onto a carefully-shielded lead container and taken to the Narora Atomic Station where they will be further analyzed to find out where it could have come from.

A week ago, Deepak Jain, who owns two metal scrap shops showed signs of radiation poisoning: dizziness, hair loss, burn and rash marks on his hands. He was admitted into hospital, and then on Thursday night, four other workers at his shop developed similar symptoms. When they arrived at a government hospital, the authorities were alerted and the Department of Atomic Energy moved in to investigate.

Cobalt-60, a radioactive compound used in hospitals where cancer patients are treated, was found in Jain's shop.

Ahead of the Commonwealth Games this year, three government hospitals in Delhi have been equipped and trained to look after patients who've been exposed to radiation. In addition to the safety lapses, what was worrying in this case was the slow reaction of doctors
and the DAE in recognizing the signs of what could have widened into a much bigger crisis.

Source: Ndtv.com

Lalu attacks Baba Ramdev, calls him 'Senile'

2010-04-01T08:14:00.000-07:00

Once an admirer of Baba Ramdev, RJD chief Lalu Prasad went hammer and tongs against the Yoga Guru for attacking politicians and nurturing political ambitions and said he has gone 'senile'.

The former Bihar Chief Minister said it is not good for Ramdev, who recently announced that he would float a political party, to criticise every politician in the country.

"It is not good that Ramdev is criticising every politician in the country to prove himself good," Prasad said at a function here yesterday targeting the noted Yoga Guru.

"I have advised him against joining politics. In fact, Ramdevji bauwra gaye hai (Ramdevji has gone senile)," he said.

Ramdev had blamed politicians for some of the problems facing the country.

But Lalu's tirade against Yoga Guru Ramdev did not go well with the BJP chief Nitin Gadkari.

Gadakri came out in defence of Ramdev and ticked off Lalu saying his language was inappropriate and that it was not warranted against such a "veteran spiritual leader".

Initially telling he would not like to comment on the issue, Gadkari later opened up saying Lalu should have "refrained from using such language against Ramdev."

"His comments on such a respected person are disappointing," he added.

At the function, Lalu said "We once saved him (Ramdev) or else he would have been beaten up."

Lalu was apparently referring to the strong support he had extended as railway minister to the Yoga Guru when the latter was attacked by CPM leader Brinda Karat who had alleged that animal bones were being mixed with the ayurvedic medicine produced by an institution established by Ramdev at Haridwar.

Lalu had stressed that even if human bones were mixed with medicines, it was justified as they proved to be effective in curing people.

He also criticised Ramdev for claiming to cure cancer.

"In this research age, it is nothing but cheating and befooling people," he said.

Lalu and Ramdev had been mutual admirers earlier. He praised the Yoga Guru for teaching him 'aasans' which cured his high blood pressure and blood sugar. Ramdev had also praised Lalu for doing `hasya (laughing) aasan' frequently and keeping himself healthy.

Source: ibnlive.in.com

Proud to be Gay: Ricky Martin

2010-03-31T08:48:00.000-07:00

For any gay Indian celebrity who's living in the closet — is there any other kind? — two rather different approaches to coming out have recently presented themselves. The most recent, of course, was Latin singer and heartthrob Ricky Martin who came out in a dignified statement posted on his website. It was time, he said, to put aside the fears and insecurities he had lived with, and to take responsibility for who he was. "I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am."

The other approach was from Sean Hayes, known for playing the flamboyantly gay character Jack in the hit TV series Will & Grace. As with Martin, there had long been rumours that Hayes was gay, but like Martin he had always dodged the question. When Hayes finally came out in an interview to a gay magazine, he was distinctly grouchy about it. He asked: "What more do you want me to do? Do you want me to stand on a float? And then what? It's never enough."

One can see what Hayes means, though it's a pity he wasn't more gracious. Actors can fairly hope to be judged on what they do — act — rather than what they are, which shouldn't be anyone else's business, as long as they aren't causing anyone else harm. Hayes can take credit for a role that helped familiarize millions of TV viewers around the world with the character of an unashamedly open and appealing gay man. Why ask more by expecting him to bare his private life?

But he's not just an actor, but a celebrity, we argue, and as such his whole persona is important, and he plays the celebrity game by sharing with us many details of his life, so if we are willing to listen to them, don't we have a right to them all?

Such audience entitlement claims are a bit dubious, and in any case what if the revelations threaten what made him a celebrity in the first place. Since Hayes played a gay man he was hardly at risk here, but it was a real issue for Martin. When your career is built on thousands of teenage girls going nuts over you, would you risk them knowing they had no chance? Martin brought this up well. "Being on stage fills my soul in many ways, almost completely. It's my vice. The music, the lights and the roar of the audience are elements that make me feel capable of anything. This rush of adrenaline is incredibly addictive. I don't ever want to stop feeling these emotions."
One should also remember how young he was when he found this out — just 13 when he joined the Latin music boy band Menudo and became its biggest star. Martin was a celebrity before most kids start dealing with their sexuality, so he could be forgiven some reluctance with the latter. And yet, Martin went on to say, that same feeling of peace he felt on stage, he felt now as he made his private life public.

Because no matter how you justify it, shutting down on such an essential part of your life is going to be as painful as wearing sneakers that are too small, except it's not your feet we're talking about here, but, corny as it sounds, your heart and how you see yourself. No matter how well it seems to fit, the closet scars you, and the evident bitterness of someone like Sean Hayes is proof of that.

Martin was recently in the news for having twin boys, through a surrogate mother, and in his statement he credited them with bringing about his change. Gays and lesbians are often told to remain closeted for the sake of their families, but for Martin it was having a family that made him realise he should come out: "To keep living as I did up until today would be to indirectly diminish the glow that my kids were born with." The closet is founded on fear and he knew that this was the worst possible basis on which to bring up his kids.

Imagine the rumours that would always surround their father, the knowledge that he was possibly gay, possibly afraid, and possibly always at risk of being blackmailed or outed by the media, as so many other gay celebrities (George Michael, for example), have been. Against this was the disapproval of some, the approbation of others and, best of all, the increasing indifference of most. Why force yourself (and your kids) to suffer for something that really shouldn't matter? In those terms, Martin's decision is obvious, and one can only hope that some closeted gay Indian celebrities learn from it, and perhaps come out with some of the class that Martin has shown.

Communal Tension in Uttarakhand

2010-03-15T08:56:00.000-07:00

Rudrapur: Tension gripped a locality after some miscreants threw an animal carcass inside a mosque in Rudrapur town in Uttarakhand, police today said.

Following reports that communal tension was brewing after the organs of a pig were thrown inside a mosque yesterday, police were immediately deployed in the area early today to avert a possible clash.

The authorities also ensured that the place of worship was cleansed.

Angry Muslims, however, demanded the immediate arrest of the miscreants.

When police picked up some persons for questioning on the basis of suspicion, some Hindus in the locality gheraoed the police station and demanded their release.

The police, however, said their personnel were adequately deployed and no untoward incident was reported yet.

Source: DNAIndia.com

50 Lakh take Holy dip in Ganga on Maha Kumbh

2010-02-13T09:47:00.000-08:00

Over 50 lakh devotees, along with sages and ash-smeared Naga sadhus, took a holy dip in the Ganga here on Friday on the first ‘shahi snan’ (royal bath) of the Maha Kumbh on Mahashivaratri. The day was marked by a grand procession of the ‘akharas’ or religious orders.
The city was in a festive mood as the akharas marched, chanting slogans, and bands played loud music. The procession, which witnessed thousands of Naga sadhus displaying their acrobatic and martial skills, added colour to the Kumbh Mela which started on January 14.
Mahashivaratri marks the day when Lord Shiva married Parvati. Across the country, the faithful thronged temples to offer prayers and observed dawn-to-dusk fast as Mahashivaratri was celebrated. Devotees waited in long, serpentine queues to offer milk and ‘Gangajal’ to the Shivlingams at the temples.

They turned up in droves at the famous Somnath temple in Gujarat’s Junagadh district. In Delhi, Shiva temples were beautifully decorated. In several areas, devotees took out traditional marriage procession of Shiva. The festival was also observed in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh with traditional fervour. Devotees had brought ‘Gangajal’ from Haridwar and Gaumukh to offer at the temples.

In Jammu city, people thronged the Ranbeshwar temple, the Pir Kho temple, the Panj Bakhtar temple and the Aap Shamboo temple to offer prayers.

Mahashivaratri was also celebrated in the districts of Kathua, Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur, Doda and Kishtwar in Jammu and Kashmir.

In Reasi district, thousands of people visited the historic Shiv Khori shrine at Ransoo, where the three-day ‘Shiv Khori Mela’ began from Thursday.

Temples in Rishikesh, Uttarkashi and Gopeshwar in Uttarakahand also saw large number of devotees visiting to offer prayers.

Rucika Sexual Abuse: 19 year Sentence to only 6 Months

2009-12-23T08:22:00.000-08:00

Panchkula near Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association at Rucika came to play tennis. Tennis Association, was director of the then DGP Rathore. Rathore here on August 12, 1990 Rucika of tampering. It became so upset that Rucika three years later she gave up her life by eating poison. But now that it had awakened hopes of getting justice Rucika see justice in the case so serious that all were shocked former DGP SPS Rathore, was sentenced to only six months. After the decision has spread outrage across the country. And once again with the same finger on the judicial system has begun to rise. The case is filled from the road to Parliament. But the government's silence is shameful. Rucika with what happened, this is not the first case, women with earlier sexual crimes have been many times but because justice delayed is still many criminals are roaming freely. Come know some similar cases where top police officers from how the women made by Professor target.

Just 19 years later sentenced to 6 months

Then when the police Inspector-General of 14 Rucika Girhotra SP S Rathore Bdsluki of her. He complained to his family, police oppression began. But his battle against the Abru put his hand slowly in - slowly everything was broken. The defendant made to police his brother. His father had to leave town. In three years his young dreams were shattered and he poisoned his life Niglkar Lila Lee finished. Then he was seventeen.

Rucika the uproar in Parliament

Convicted former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore, the punishment of six months in both houses of Parliament Tuesday Mudwa raised. The opposition parties over Mudve government to round up such a shameful punishment did. CPM Rajya Sabha MP Brinda Karat said the taking of Mudve only six month sentence in such a big issue is embarrassing for the government together after so many years with the punishment the administration has kept open and expose the judicial system .

Only Six Month Sentence

Significantly, the CBI special court on Monday Nineteen years ago to molesting a teenager in the case of the former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore, the convicted is sentenced to six months rigorous imprisonment. Also they have been asked to pay a fine of one thousand rupees. To pay fines or sentenced to a month and have to bear Rathore. Victim's kin Rathore six months rigorous imprisonment hear less told. Under Section 354 IPC convicted person sentenced to two years imprisonment may be. Friend and the only witness to the incident Rucika Aradhana Gupta decided to hear the case from Australia with her husband had come Chandigarh. Aradhana, Rucika ally and neighbor was a tennis player. He was 13 years old at the time of the incident. After the death of worship that Rucika his family had moved some unknown place. Since then his father were fighting this battle.

This family of victim complaints

- Light The decision was then comes alive when Rucika. Anyway, today revealed that the law punished those who have played with. Whether he or any other DGP. - Madhu Prakash, the complainant

Fight is not over. Now I also court Gsitunga those who tried to save Rathore in this issue. Victory of truth is. Rathore was punished, now it is time for Mddgaron.- Anand Prakash, Madhu Prakash complainant's husband

I am from Australia come to see today's justice. This sentence is too low. Action will continue until full justice. Rathore came before me I will tell you that Rathore had to be punished so easy. Rathore is a blot on khaki. I remember that day was chaired by Hajb Rathore Lawn Tennis Association. 14 and 13 years of that time I was Rucika. And I play lawn tennis were Rucika. Rathore and when I came back I sent invite coach saw that Rathore had Rucika grip the arms. I saw Rathore Rucika left. Two days later called again and again Rucika Rathore of tampering. - Aradhana, Rucika friend

VIP Treatment ..

Blames former DGP Rathore gave the course the court heard the sentence but the police retained their dominance Afsri. While other criminals from the court pronouncing sentence Dbockr 17 leads police station before pulling their photos in this case the fingerprint takes the court within the police took fingerprints of Rathore.

I did not Tamper

I will challenge the Court's decision that could come before Schci. I never Rucika not tampered with. From my side of justice, war will continue.- SPS Rathore, former DGP, Haryana

What When - When did

August 12: Rathore Rucika tried to tamper with. The act of worship's friend Rucika Rathore sees.
1990 August 15: Rathore's father said Rucika complained so bad.
August 16: Main - Home Secretary to the Minister submitted an inquiry.

1993 October 23: CIA's brother Ashu Rucika against 11 cases of theft and criminal acts filed. Nearly two months in jail kept Asu. November 26: Government not taking any action Aradhana Anand's father took him to high light matter. December 28: Rucika poison absorbed through the impatient. December 29: Rucika's death. After much banging on the same day Asu was thrown out of his house.

1998 August: High Court case handed to CBI

2000 November 17: CBI court in Ambala file charge-sheet.

2001 October-November: CBI court in the case of abetment to suicide against Rathore and filed Section 306. Rathore in the High Court appeal, the High Court removed this section.

2006May: Rathore High to shift the case and urged anywhere from Ambala. Patiala transfer case.

2009 November 5: The matter came to Chandigarh from Patiala.

December 21: Rathore guilty of tampering

What is Sexual Harassment

In 1997, the case of Vishaka Vs Rajasthan Government The Supreme Court defined sexual harassment was a new manner. According to which sexual harassment, which refers directly or indirectly from that crime to a woman is sexual Hres. It by words, physically, showing pornographic things, or include demand for sex.

Vohra to Recommend Rukhsana Kausar for Bravery Award

2009-10-02T08:38:00.000-07:00

Jammu and Kashmir Governor N.N. Vohra on Tuesday lauded Rajouri girl Rukhsana for fighting terrorists at her village home and killing one of them.

Vohra said he would seek a formal report from the state DGP on Rukhsana's encounter with the terrorists and recommend her for bravery awards. He also announced he would call the 19-year-old to Raj Bhavan and honour her.

Earlier, Rukhsana's daring act drew praise from across political parties. While RJD chief Lalu Yadav said she deserved a bravery award, the BJP's Shahnawaz Hussain said: "Rukhsana's act is a reply to all those who think they can get the support of Muslims in the name of jihad."

Rukhsana has now turned into a role model not only for her village but the whole of Jammu and Kashmir.

"She should be provided proper security as her act of courage is bound to disturb the terrorists' plans," said Kamal Farooqi, chairman of Delhi State Minority Commission.

Lauding Rukhsana, Mahmood A. Madani of the Rashtriya Lok Dal said: "Terrorism cannot be rooted out unless ordinary citizens stand up and face the terrorists."

Taking inspiration from Rukhsana, a girl in Srinagar said: "The women of Kashmir will have to be bolder for the sake of their security."

Another girl said: "Rukhsana gave a befitting reply to the terrorists and made it clear that the women of Kashmir are no Source: longer what they used to be."

Source: Indiatoday.com

Haryana Girl Kills 7 Family Members

2009-09-23T10:59:00.000-07:00

A family was brutally murdered by one of its members, all for the fear of a relationship not being accepted.

A teenaged girl in Haryana murdered seven members of her family after they discovered she was in love with a boy from their own clan.

19-year-old Sonam is accused of killing seven members of her own family and her lover, Naveen, abetted the crime.

Police say both of them did it fearing their families would never accept their relationship, as they belong to the same clan.

So, when Sonam's family found out that they were in love, the two decided to kill them all. Police claim Sonam poisoned her parents, brother, grandmother and three cousins.

"They knew that when they wanted to marry officially the family would oppose it. The parents and grandmother would never allow their wedding so they decided to kill them," said Anil Kumar Rao, SSP Rohtak.

Police say it was tough case to crack. A breakthrough was possible only after they questioned Sonam who gave it away during interrogation. Now, Sonam appears remorseful.

"I have done a wrong thing, I know that," said Sonam Daggar.

Marriage within the same clan is a strict no-no in rural Haryana. Village panchayats are dead opposed to any such relationship and there have been many killings in the name of protecting family honour.

But this case has come as a shock to many, who feel it will only fuel the anger and hatred against same-clan marriages.

Source:ndtv.com

Pakistan Launches Stampede Probe

2009-09-15T00:10:00.000-07:00

An investigation has been launched into the stampede in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi which killed at least 14 people on Monday, officials say. Women and children were crushed in a stampede to get free flour being handed out by a private group for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. The police have arrested the distributor of food for negligence and unintended murder. The government of Sindh province has also announced compensation packages. It says it will award 100,000 rupees ($1250) to the family of each victim.

The incident took place at Khori Garden in central Karachi, near the waterfront. The area is lined with narrow streets where wholesalers operate warehouses of wheat, grain, pulses and other such goods.

A private charity was handing out free flour at the time. An argument was reported to have broken out after which the stampede occurred. Hundreds of women had gathered and many of those who died were suffocated or trampled in the ensuing chaos. Police arrested the distributor of the food. Mohammad Iftikhar Memon was granted bail by a court on Tuesday morning.

Many Muslims hand out food to the poor during Ramadan, the most sacred month of the Islamic calendar, which ends next week.

Our correspondent says prices for staple goods have risen sharply in Karachi, and the government appears unable to provide relief to increasing numbers of people affected by poverty.

Source: News.bbc.co.uk

Why the Hindu right wing loves Mr Jinnah

2009-09-01T21:59:00.000-07:00

Why are some of India's Hindu nationalist leaders in love with Mohammed Ali Jinnah? The founder of Pakistan is a much reviled man in India, treated as a minor conspiratorial figure, and considered to be the architect of the bloody partition of the country on religious lines in 1947. Even the secular Congress party abhors him.

So when leaders of the Hindu right sing praises for Mr Muhammad Ali Jinnah, they stir up a hornet's nest. Four years ago, the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), LK Advani, who led a successful Hindu revivalist movement in the early 1990s, praised the founder of Pakistan during a visit to the country. This raised the hackles of Hindu fellow travellers and invited scorn from the Congress party. The BJP leader even offered to put in his papers after the kerfuffle.

Now Jaswant Singh, a doughty senior party leader and former finance and external affairs minister, who counts people like Strobe Talbott as his friends and chess, golf and polo as his pursuits, has praised Mr Jinnah as a "self made man" who "created something out of nothing and single-handedly stood up against the might of the Congress party and against the British who didn't really like him." He has expanded on his thesis in his new, unimaginatively titled 669-page book Jinnah: India-Partition- Independence, which released this week.

What is surprising is Mr Singh's defence of Mr Jinnah in a TV interview in the run-up to the book release where he is even more effusive in his praise of the Quaid-e-Azam (Great Leader) as Mr Jinnah is remembered as in his homeland. He demolishes the popular Indian historiography of Mr Jinnah being a Hindu-basher and a born demagogue. "That certainly he was not," says the BJP leader. "His principal disagreement was with the Congress party. Repeatedly he says and he says this even in his last statements to the press and to the constituent Assembly of Pakistan."

Then Mr Singh goes on to say that India misunderstood Mr Jinnah "because we needed to create a demon". He insists the Congress party's majoritarian instincts were responsible for the federalist Mr Jinnah turning away from the idea of India and asking for a separate nation for Muslims.

Yet Mr Jinnah began his political career with the Congress and until after World War I remained India's best "ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity". Biographer Stanley Wolpert says he was as "as enigmatic as Gandhi, more powerful than Nehru, and one of the most charismatic leaders and least known personalities". Historians like Patrick French believe that though Mr Jinnah "remained a secularist of sorts until his death, but also at times... willing to use communal antagonism in a strategic way."

Listen to Mr Jinnah before the formation of Pakistan, raising the spectre of Hindu majoritaranism: "We Muslims have got everything - brains, intelligence, capacity and courage- virtues that nations must possess. But two things are lacking, and I want you to concentrate your attention on these. One thing is that foreign domination from without and Hindu domination here, particularly on our economic life that has caused a certain degeneration of these virtues in us."

Or listen to him after a meeting with Egyptian and Palestinian Arab leaders in 1946: "I told them of the danger that a Hindu empire would represent for the Middle-East... If a Hindu empire is achieved, it will mean the end of Islam in India, and even in other Muslim countries."

At the same time, it is true that Mr Jinnah felt short changed by the Congress. On 26 July 1946, Jinnah and his working committee spoke about Muslim India having "exhausted, without success, all efforts to find a peaceful solution of the Indian problem by compromise and constitutional means; and whereas the Congress is bent upon setting up Caste-Hindu Raj in India with the connivance of the British..."

Jaswant Singh In Mr Singh's book, Jawaharlal Nehru and the Congress emerge as some of the principal architects of the partition. He writes that the Congress "overestimated its strength, its influence, and its leaders were extremely reluctant to accept Jinnah as the leader of just not the Muslim League but eventually of most Muslims in India".

There is some truth in all this. But in trying to say that Mr Nehru and Congress were largely responsible for partition, Mr Singh is possibly ignoring the larger political realities of the time. Mr Jinnah positioned himself as the "sole spokesman of Pakistan", but his party Muslim League which led the Pakistan movement, won the last election in 1946 in British India with the number of Muslim voters at significantly no more than 10 to 12% of the total Muslim population in that year. As many historians say, the nation of Pakistan came into being "even before its mass base was established." The fault lines have widened since.

But to return to the original question, why did Mr Singh write this book? Does it have to do with his wider political ambitions? He is a self-professed liberal in a party of hawks. In 1992, at the zenith of the BJP's rathyatra (motorised chariot) movement to whip up support for a temple at Ayodhya, Mr Singh did not attend a single function on the road. His induction into the cabinet in the late 1990s was vetoed once by the party's ideological fountainhead, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

With his mentor and BJP's only pan-Indian leader and former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee fading out and Mr Advani himself weakened by political defeat and party infighting, is Mr Singh trying to position himself as a liberal party leader-paterfamilias that Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee once occupied? It is difficult to say.

In a sense, one could argue, Mr Singh kills two birds with one stone with his revisionist take on the partition - as a senior leader of the main opposition party, he goes for the Congress's jugular by holding it responsible for the partition along with Mr Jinnah; and by heaping encomiums on Mr Jinnah, he endears himself to Indian Muslims, who have been lukewarm to the BJP's overtures. Is Mohammed Ali Jinnah a way for Mr Singh to reach out to Muslims and push his political ambitions in a party which appears to have lost its way in modern India? We will know in the days ahead.

Source: bbc.co.uk

Girl finds her 15 brothers and sisters on Facebook!

2009-08-27T23:27:00.001-07:00

London, August 25 (ANI): A teenaged girl has been reunited with her parents and 15 brothers and sisters, thanks to popular social networking website Facebook.

Sophie Featherstone was devastated after the demise of her beloved grandmother Pat, who raised her.

"I occasionally asked about my parents and Nan would tell me what happened with my mum, but she didn't know who my dad was," the Mirror quoted Sophie as saying.

The 19-year-old went into depression after losing her granny to cancer, and destiny struck when she checked her Facebook account while visiting a friend in Liverpool.

She had received a message from unknown woman, called Sarah Prescott, which said: "Your dad would love to get in touch with you."

Sophie began chatting with Sarah, who revealed her partner, Paul, always suspected that the teen was his daughter and when the two met there were no grounds for doubt.

She also met her half-brother, Jessee, 19 months, and Sarah's children Kerry-Ann, 16, and Scott, 12, from a previous relationship.

Sophie also found that she had five half-brothers and half-sisters from Paul's previous relationships.

Sophie's mum Debbie Featherstone, mum of Jamie, 16, Katie, 15, Ffion, 12, Jack, 10, Bailey, four, Madison, two and Declan, one, and eight months pregnant with her ninth child, soon heard the news about the reunion and her daughter initiated a contact using Facebook again.

Sophie said: "I was at my dad's and saw the message from Katie saying 'Mum would love to see you'.I was so happy I almost cried. I thought my mum and I would never meet again because too much time had passed to ever be a family again."

Sophie added: "It was like history repeating itself, we arranged a meeting and I moved in with her and her family for a couple of weeks. It has been incredibly easy to bond with everyone here, I already feel part of the family." (ANI)

Source: news.yahoo.com

Was Mr Lal Bahadur Shastri murdered?

2009-08-27T21:56:00.000-07:00

Was India's third prime minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri, murdered? Officially, the diminutive leader died of a heart attack in a dacha in Tashkent, hours after he signed a peace agreement with the Pakistani president, Ayub Khan, on 11 January 1966, some four months after the end of the second war between the two neighbours. But if you believe surviving members of Mr Shastri's family and an enthusiastic Delhi-based journalist, Mr Shastri was possibly poisoned.

What has added grist to the conspiracy mill is the Indian government's refusal to declassify a document it has in its possession pertaining to Mr Shastri's death. In response to a right to information request by the enterprising Anuj Dhar, a journalist and a self-proclaimed "declassification enthusiast", the prime minister's office said that making public that document could "harm foreign relations, cause disruption in the country and cause breach of parliamentary privileges". Totally non-controversial in his life, Mr Shastri has become controversial in death. I did a little digging around and found that most of the better-known accounts of Mr Shastri's death have raised no doubts - death by heart failure. In his magisterial India After Gandhi, historian Ramachandra Guha writes Mr Shastri "died in his sleep of a heart attack".

In her biography of Indira Gandhi, Katherine Frank writes that after he "went to bed in the early hours of the 11th January, Mr Shastri had a fatal heart attack".

The most vivid account is in my dog eared copy of the long out-of-print book India, The Critical Years by veteran Indian journalist Kuldip Nayar. He was part of the prime minister's travelling press corps to Tashkent.

Mr Nayar writes that the Indian prime minister was already a heart patient, having suffered two attacks. He had had a hectic day, holding talks with the Russian premier, Alexey Kosygin - the Russians having brokered the pact - and his officials and had had very little sleep. "That evening," writes Mr Nayar, "I met by chance his personal physican Dr RN Chugh, who accompanied him. I asked him how Shastri was standing the strain. He looked up to the sky and said: 'Everything is in the hands of God'." Mr Nayar does not elaborate. Mr Nayar then proceeds to describe the fateful night in Agatha Christie-like detail. Since he was to travel in the prime minister's airplane early next morning to Kabul en route to Delhi, he retired to bed early an hour before midnight. "I must have been dozing when someone knocked at my door and said: 'Your prime minister is dying.' A Russian lady was waking up all the journalists," writes Mr Nayar.

A group of journalists then sped to Mr Shastri's dacha from the hotel. On arriving, Mr Nayar found a grief-stricken Mr Kosygin standing on the verandah. "He could not speak and only lifted his hands to indicate Shastri was no more."

When Mr Nayar went in, he found Dr Chugh being questioned by a group of Soviet doctors through an interpreter. In the next room Mr Shastri lay still on his bed. The journalists emptied the flower vases in the room and spread them on the prime minister's body. Mr Nayar also noticed an overturned thermos flask on a dressing table some 10 feet away from Mr Shastri's bed and wondered whether the prime minister had struggled to get to open it to get water. "His slippers were neatly placed near the bed; it meant that he walked barefoot up to the dressing table in the carpeted room," Mr Nayar writes. Mr Nayar then pieces together the events leading up to Mr Shastri's death - of how the prime minister reached the dacha around 10 pm after a reception, chatted with his personal staff and asked his cook Ram Nath to bring him food "which was prepared in the dacha by the Russians". It gets more interesting from here. "In the kitchen there was a Soviet cook helped by two ladies - both from the Russian intelligence department - and they tasted everything, including water, before it was served to Mr Shastri," Mr Nayar writes. Remember this was at the height of the Cold War and India-Pakistan hostilities and the security paranoia was extreme.

As Mr Shastri tucked into a frugal spinach and potato curry meal, he received a call from a personal assistant in Delhi and sought the reaction to the Tashkent agreement back home. Then he spoke to his family in Delhi. He asked his eldest daughter, Kusum, about how she had found the peace pact. "She replied, 'we have not liked it'," writes Mr Nayar. "He asked 'what about her mother?' She too had not liked the declaration, was the reply given." A crestfallen Mr Shastri, according to Mr Nayar, then remarked: "If my own family has not liked it, what will the outsiders say?"
Mr Nayar writes that the prime minister's wife did not come on the line to talk despite many requests - a contention that is disputed by many of his surviving family members. This upset Mr Shastri. "He began pacing up and down the room... For one who had had two heart attacks earlier, the telephone conversation and the walking must have been a strain," he writes. Then his staff gave him milk and some water in the flask. Around 1.30 am, his personal assistant Sahai, according to Mr Nayar, saw Mr Shastri at his door, asking with difficulty, "Where is the doctor?"

The staff woke up Dr Chugh, while the prime minister's staff, assisted by Indian security men, helped Mr Shastri walk back to his room. "If it was a heart attack - myocardiac infarction, and obstruction of blood supply to the heart muscles, as the Soviet doctors said later - this walk," writes Mr Nayar, "must have been fatal." Mr Nayar writes - presumably from an eyewitness account by the personal assistant - that Mr Shastri began coughing "rockingly", touched his chest and became unconscious. Dr Chugh arrived soon after, felt the prime minister's pulse, gave an injection into the heart, tried mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but to no avail. More doctors arrived. They found Mr Shastri dead. The time of the death was 1.32 am. Talk about foul play began as soon as the body arrived in Delhi. Mr Nayar says the prime minister's wife asked him why Mr Shastri's body had turned blue. He told her that when "bodies are embalmed" they turn blue. Mrs Shastri was not convinced. She asked about "certain cuts" on Mr Shastri's body. Mr Nayar told her he hadn't seen any. "Apparently, she and others in the family suspected foul play," Mr Nayar writes.

They still do. I went to meet Sidharth Nath Singh, the prime minister's grandson and a senior member of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, recently to hear the family side of the story. He told me that Mr Nayar's account of the telephone conversation that Mr Shastri had with his family members that night was inaccurate, and that he HAD spoken to his wife. Mr Singh, who was two years old when his grandfather died, says that one person was detained on "suspicion of poisoning Mr Shastri", but was released. Mr Nayar's book has no mention of this.

"Knowing the truth is important for our family. The truth has never been out," Mr Singh told me. Then he talked about the cold war politics of the day, and who would have gained from poisoning Mr Shastri who had served as prime minister for only 19 months: a foreign power, political rivals. Some of it sounds remotely credible; other bits outlandish. But Mr Singh and the nation deserve to know why the government is holding the paper about Mr Shastri's death back. How will it imperil our foreign relations? With whom? India has a notoriously stodgy reputation as far as declassifying historical documents is concered; the state almost encourages a statist historiography. The truth should be out and the controversy should be buried, once for and all.

Source: bbc.co.uk

Yoga can Cure Swine Flu: Baba Ramdev

2009-08-13T05:16:00.000-07:00

Amidst growing concern on the increasing spread of the H1N1 virus in India, renowned yoga guru Baba Ramdev prescribed yoga as a cure for the disease.
Talking to reporters here on Tuesday, Baba Ramdev advised people to practice yoga as a preventive measure against swine flu.
"People with strong immune system cannot be affected with swine flu. Through yoga and pranayma, you can keep your immune system particularly the respiratory system strong," he added.
He further said that the media was creating panic among the people.
"There is a lot of panic among the people. The news channels round the clock make it breaking news every time there is a death due to swine flu," said Ramdev.
The yoga guru also advised people to use facemasks while in crowded places.
However, a doctor and a 29-year-old woman succumbed to the deadly swine flu virus in Nashik and Pune respectively on Wednesday taking the country's' swine flu death toll to 14.
With the increasing number of swine flu cases, the Central Government has unveiled fresh measures to control the spread of disease by allowing private labs to conduct tests and private hospitals to provide treatment.

Source: littleabout.com

Tulsi can help keep Swine Flu Away: Ayurvedic Experts

2009-08-13T05:12:00.000-07:00

Use “Nilgiri Oil” (Eucalyptus oil) drops on handkerchiefs and masks as one of the preventive measures against Swine Flu (NIV) National Institute of Virology.

Not just Tulasi, Vitamin C rich substances are known to boost immunity. So taking hot Lemon or Amla (Indian Gooseberry) powder mixed with hot water would be very helpful.

Wonder herb Tulsi can not only keep the dreaded swine flu at bay but also help in fast recovery of an afflicted person, Ayurvedic practitioners claim.

"The anti-flu property of Tulsi has been discovered by medical experts across the world quite recently. Tulsi improves the body's overall defence mechanism including its ability to fight viral diseases. It was successfully used in combating Japanese Encephalitis and the same theory applies to swine flu," Dr U K Tiwari, a herbal medicine practitioner says. Apart from acting as a preventive medicine in case of swine flu, Tulsi can help the patient recover faster. "Even when a person has already contracted swine flu, Tulsi can help in speeding up the recovery process and also help in strengthening the immune system of the body," he claims. Dr Bhupesh Patel, a lecturer at Gujarat Ayurved University, Jamnagar is also of the view that Tulsi can play an important role in controlling swine flu. "Tulsi can control swine flu and it should be taken in fresh form. Juice or paste of at least 20-25 medium sized leaves should be consumed twice a day on an empty stomach." This increases the resistance of the body and, thereby, reduces the chances of inviting swine flu," believes Patel.

Symptoms of Swine Flu

2009-08-12T11:16:00.000-07:00

The Symptoms of Swine Flu or H1N1 flu virus in people are same to the symptoms of seasonal fluwhich include headache, fever, sore throat. some people also reported vomiting and diarrhea. The main Symptoms of Swine Flu in Children are given below:

1.Not drinking enough water or other fluids

2.Fast breathing or problem to take breath

3.Severe or persistent vomiting

4.Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held

5.Bluish or gray skin color

6.Not waking up or not interacting

7.Flu-like symptoms, fever, cough

Symptoms of Swine Flu in adults are given below:

1.Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen

2.Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath

3.Severe or persistent vomiting

4.Sudden dizziness

5.Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough

6.Confusion

Six more Die of Swine Flu, India Toll Climbs to 17

2009-08-12T11:10:00.000-07:00

Pune/Mumbai/New Delhi, Aug 12: India's swine flu toll rose to 17 Wednesday as six people succumbed to the H1N1 virus in quick succession in Maharashtra, forcing authorities to shut down educational institutions and public places in Mumbai for a week.

Wednesday saw the highest number of six deaths for a single day since the first victim, Reeda Sheikh, 14, died in Pune Aug 3.

In New Delhi, the health ministry asked the states to take strict action against those hoarding face masks and illegally selling Tamiflu, an anti-influenza drug.

In Maharashtra, where swine flu has claimed 13 lives, the state government was forced to announce closure of all educational establishments in state capital Mumbai for a week from Thursday and multiplexes for three days.

However, offices and malls will remain open, an official clarified.

While five people died due to swine flu in Pune, called the 'epidemic city', the sixth death was reported from Nashik.

The five who died in Pune were Gautam Shelar, a 48-year-old driver, Nita Meghani, 50, Babu Genu Kuland, a school student, Sanjay Mistry, 35, and Shravani Deshpande, 29, a Maharashtra Swine Flu Control Room official said.

They all died at the Sassoon Hospital, which has been handling very serious cases of swine flu in this second largest city of Maharashtra.

Shelar was admitted to the hospital in a critical condition three-four days ago and died around 4.45 p.m. His death came barely an hour after Meghani died.

Babu died in the same hospital at about 11 a.m. A resident of Pimpri town near here, Babu was hospitalised three days ago in a serious condition, according to Pune Municipal Corporation (Health Department) chief S.R. Pardeshi.

Mistry, another Pimpri resident, died in the wee hours of Wednesday. He was hospitalised Sunday in a critical condition and put on ventilator.

Within hours, Deshpande too died of the A(H1N1) influenza around 3 a.m. She had been hospitalised three days ago with pneumonia and later was found to be suffering from swine flu. She was then put on ventilator.

Around the same time, Rakesh Gargunde, a doctor with the Civil Hospital in Nashik city, also succumbed to swine flu virus, said civil surgeon A.D Bhal Singh.

While Maharashtra accounts for 13 deaths - 10 in Pune, two in Mumbai and one in Nashik - one death each has been reported from Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram.

As many as 115 people were found positive Wednesday - 61 in Pune, 24 in Mumbai, 10 in Bangalore, eight in Delhi, four in Ahmedabad, three each in Kolkata and Hyderabad, and one each in Shillong and Goa, the health ministry said.

The new cases take the total number of affected people in the country to 1,193 - 588 of whom are at various stages of recovery, it said.

Maharashtra, the most affected state, was preparing for the next stage of its battle against the flu.

'The government has ordered the closure of all schools, colleges and other educational institutions in the city (Mumbai) from tomorrow till Aug 20,' a Maharashtra government official told IANS. Suburban trains in the western megapolis would, however, function as normal.

Reeling under the growing menace of swine flu, the state government admitted the disease was progressing, necessitating a change in strategy to counter it.

Now, the government plans to change its treatment process. Currently, Tamiflu is given after tests results, but it will be given at the initial stage itself, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Sharvari Gokhale told mediapersons.

She said that 22 private hospitals in Mumbai and nine in Pune have come forward to offer treatment facilities for swine flu patients since the government hospitals were getting overcrowded.

Many private schools in Maharashtra have already closed down for two days -- Wednesday and Thursday. Thereafter, Friday, Saturday and Sunday are official holidays.

With reports of hoarding of masks and illegal sales of Tamiflu tablets, the union health ministry held a meeting in New Delhi and also issued guidelines for private labs, making it clear that only those that comply with bio-safety facility would be allowed to do the tests.

In New Delhi, Joint Secretary (Health) Vineet Chawdhry said there was no need for all to wear the N95 mask, which is only for those who are either visiting a testing centre or are affected with the influenza A(H1N1) virus.

He also asked the state governments to ensure no one was selling Tamiflu or hoarding masks.

'The state governments have to come with a heavy hand on all those hoarders and black-marketers. This is a public health emergency crisis in the country. Citizens from all walks of life have to cooperate,' he added.

He said that people should avoid crowds or crowded places during the Hindu festival of Janmashtami Aug 14 so as not to catch the virus.

Gearing up to fight the flu, the Delhi government also issued directions to all private hospitals under the Epidemic Act to reserve 10 beds each for the flu patients.

Source: News.yahoo.com

जोया : इस महिला के खून के प्यासे हैं आतंकी

2009-07-28T11:12:00.000-07:00

तालिबान और अलकायदा आतंकी अफगानिस्तान की सबसे युवा सांसद रहीं मलालई जोया के खून के प्यासे हैं। वह कट्टरपंथियों के भी निशाने पर हैं। उन पर पांच बार जानलेवा हमले हो चुके हैं। महिला अधिकारों की बात करने और उन्हें समान कानूनी अधिकार दिए जाने की मांग उठाने के कारण वह आतंकियों के निशाने पर हैं। इसी के चलते 5 मई, 2006 को उन पर संसद में जानलेवा हमला भी किया गया।

फिर 21 जून, 2007 को जोया को संसद से बर्खास्त कर दिया गया। लेकिन इतना कुछ होने के बावजूद जोया के फौलादी इरादों में कोई कमी नहीं आई है। उनका कहना है कि महिलाओं को अधिकार दिलाए बगैर उन्हें चैन नहीं है। वह संसद से सड़क तक संघर्ष जारी रखेंगी। 05 में अफगान की युवा सांसद के रूप में चुनी गई जोया ने संसद में अपराधी रहे लोगो की सांसद के रूप में मौजूदगी पर सवाल उठाया।

उनका कहना था कि अफगानिस्तान में लोकतंत्र मात्र एक दिखावा है। उनकी इस टिप्पणी पर न केवल उनकी पिटाई की गई बल्कि उन्हें संसद से बर्खास्त भी कर दिया गया। संसद से बर्खास्त करने की घटना ने उन्हें अंतरराष्ट्रीय स्तर पर खासा लोकप्रिय बना दिया। कनाडा, अमेरिका, जर्मनी, ब्रिटेन, इटली तथा स्पेन के सांसदों का समर्थन भी उन्हें हासिल हुआ।

Source: bhaskar.com

Solar Eclipse Video 22 July 2009

2009-07-21T21:51:00.000-07:00

Find Solar Eclipse 22 July 2009

You can also check it at: Solar Eclipse 2009

Beautiful Temples of the World! Part-2

2009-07-16T22:01:00.000-07:00

Wat Rong Khun

Wat Rong Khun is a contemporary unconventional Buddhist temple in Chiang Rai, Thailand. It was designed by Chalermchai Kositpipat. Construction began in 1998 and is expected to end in 2008.
Wat Rong Khun is different from any other temple in Thailand, as its ubosot (Pali: uposatha; consecrated assembly hall) is designed in white color with some use of white glass. The white color stands for Lord Buddha’s purity; the white glass stands for Lord Buddha’s wisdom that "shines brightly all over the Earth and the Universe."

Prambanan

Prambanan is the largest Hindu temple compound in Central Java in Indonesia, located approximately 18 km east of Yogyakarta.

The temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the largest Hindu temples in south-east Asia. It is characterised by its tall and pointed architecture, typical of Hindu temple architecture, and by the 47m high central building inside a large complex of individual temples.

Beautiful Temples of the World!

2009-07-14T03:46:00.000-07:00

Here is a listing of some of the beautiful temples of the World! Includes the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar, Taktshang in Bhutan, Wat Rong Khun in Thailand, Prambanan in Indonesia, Shwedagon Pagoda in Burma, Temple of Heaven in Beijing, Chion-in in Japan, Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Tamil Nadu & the Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

Taktshang

Taktshang is the most famous of monasteries in Bhutan. It hangs on a cliff at 3,120 metres (10,200 feet), some 700 meters (2,300 feet) above the bottom of Paro valley, some 10 km from the district town of Paro. Famous visitors include Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal in the 17th century and Milarepa.The name means "Tiger's nest", the legend being that Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) flew there on the back of a tiger.

The monastery includes seven temples which can all be visited. The monastery suffered several blazes and is a recent restoration. Climbing to the monastery is on foot or mule.

Hazrat Maulana Syed Abdullah Bukhari passes away

2009-07-08T22:07:00.000-07:00

Hazrat Maulana Syed Abdullah Bukhari had become the XIIth Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid in the capital. On Wednesday, 36 years later on the same date, he passed away after a prolonged illness at AIIMS. He was 87.

Born in Sambhar district of Rajasthan and educated in Delhi, Syed Abdullah Bukhari became the Naib Shahi Imam in 1946, a year before India became independent. He came into prominence in 1975, two years after being appointed Shahi Imam of the famous mosque. This was the year Emergency was declared and he opposed the then Congress government, particularly the sterilisation drive in parts of Old Delhi.

Politicians used to approach him regularly to seek his support in every election, giving him a clout which some felt he didn't command. A controversial figure, he later made up with the Congress.

Political observers recollect that he used to be in full flow during any election. He would make catchy statements, hold press conferences and even issue fatwas to make it to the headlines and prove his hold over the community. He played an active role in the Babri Masjid stir but later his appeal started to wane.

On Wednesday, several prominent personalities, including Farooq Abdullah, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Subodh Kant Sahay, cricketer-turned-MP Azharuddin and Sheila Dikshit paid tributes to him.

Sources: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Muslim priests at Shiva temple in Kashmir

2009-07-08T10:51:00.000-07:00

hi.... got an interesting news from yahoo news.. so want to share with you..... I think you will like it.....

A Lord Shiva temple situated on the banks of the icy Lidder river, a 900-year old Shiva temple is the only Hindu shrine in Kashmir valley which has Muslim priests. After the migration of Kashmiri Pandits from a nearby village, two Muslim priests - Mohmmad Abdullah and Ghulam Hassan kept the doors of the Mamalaka temple open and bells continued to toll.

"We not only took care of temple but also held ''aartis'' everyday," Ghulam Hasan told a visiting PTI correspondent here. Besides ensuring the safety of the 3-feet-long black stone "shivaling", Abdullah and Hassan have ensured no devotee goes without prasad even for a single day.

Built by Raja Jai Suria, the temple was once a must stop over for pilgrims going to the Amarnath cave shrine in South Kashmir Himalayas.

Source: in.news.yahoo.com

Hello there....

2009-07-08T10:50:00.001-07:00