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Classical music a neglected sphere: Amjad Ali Khan NEW DELHI, Dec 28: Classical music continues to be a neglected sphere as the ‘filmi culture’ has emerged as the way of life in Indian society, sarod ...more
NR to run special trains NEW DELHI, Dec 28: Northern Railway would introduce special trains and augment the capacity of some of the trains to meet the heavy rush of ....more Army’s hands full ', NEW DELHI, Dec 28: After the setback and final success in Kargil, the armed forces had their hands full in the year 2000 with constant action.....more Sikkim HC directs state
police to arrest NHPC GANGTOK, Dec 28: GANGTOK, Dec 28: The Sikkim High Court has passed a stricture on the state police for failing to arrest those involved in the attack on the chief engineer of National Hydro-electric Power Corporation (NHPC) in Singtam....more |
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DTH to remove GUWAHATI, Dec 28: ‘Direct To Home’ (DTH) television would remove the feeling of alienation from among the people of the North East region, ..more Cong welcomes NDA Govt’s ceasefire initiative HYDERABAD, Dec 28: Congress today welcomed the Vajpayee-led NDA Government’s ceasefire initiative ...more
Id-ul-Fitr celebrated with religious fervour in Mumbai MUMBAI, Dec 28: Id-ul-Fitr - the end of the Ramzan, was celebrated in Mumbai with religious fervour as all roads led to mosques and Dargahs, ...more ‘Pink City’ produces 800-1000 tonnes solid waste daily JAIPUR, Dec 28: India’s Pink City, Jaipur, now seems off colour with tonnes and tonnes of solid waste piling up....more |
Classical music a neglected sphere: Amjad Ali Khan NEW DELHI, Dec 28: Classical music continues to be a neglected sphere as the ‘filmi culture’ has emerged as the way of life in Indian society, sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan said here today. "Filmi culture is the culture and the `Rajniti’ (politics) is the religion," the music maestro told reporters after formally announcing the names of awardees of this year’s Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan Award. The award, instituted since 1985, in honour of Khan’s illustrious father, would go to renowned ‘Ghatam’ artiste T H Vikku Vinayakram and eminent classical vocalist Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan, he said. He said to remove the sense of neglect among the classical musicians, the ‘Sarod Ghar’ has decided to honour them. "This was a dream my father saw and I am just carrying forward his wishes and ‘Agya (orders)’," he said. Ustad Amjad Ali Khan’s wife Subhalakshmi Khan said the award was more of a humble tribute conferred on classical musicians by the ‘Sarod Ghar’. (PTI) |
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NR to run special trains for ‘Kumbh Mela’ NEW DELHI, Dec 28: Northern Railway would introduce special trains and augment the capacity of some of the trains to meet the heavy rush of passengers for the Kumbh Mela at Allahabad next month. All special trains from Allahabad to Manikpur, Katni, Jabalpur, Bhopal, Itarsi and beyond would originate from Naini station while such trains to Phaphamau, Phulpur, Pratapgarh, Rai Bareilly, Lucknow, Faizabad, Ayodhya, Unnao and Unchahar would run from Prayag and Prayag Ghat stations, an NR said in a press release here today. Similarly the special trains running to Varanasi, Bhatni, Ghazipur, Chhapra, Balia, Gorakhpur and beyond would run from Allahabad city station and trains towards the east, north-east and west directions would run from Allahabad junction. Certain regular trains would run with additional coaches to clear the extra rush of passengers from January 10 to February 10, it said. Sealdah-Mughalsarai Express would be extended to Allahabad for a month from January 10, the release added. (PTI) |
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NEW DELHI, Dec 28: After the setback and final success in Kargil, the armed forces had their hands full in the year 2000 with constant action countering the changing face of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir where Pak-sponsored mercenary groups launched ‘Fidayeen’ (suicide) attacks. Learning a bitter lesson from Kargil, the army has begun to deploy Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), remote sensing detectors and sensors on the LoC, while making determined efforts to fence the 100-km Jammu-Pathankot stretch of International Border as part of stepped up measures to check infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir. A wide range of sensors, integrated observation equipment, hand-held thermal images and unattended ground sensors have been put in place along the 800-km long LoC after long trials, army officials said. The first batch of high alititude UAVs, which will give the army the capability to "spot movements" across the LoC, has been deployed, the Army Chief Gen S Padmanabhan said adding "we have asked for more and we will get them". There was change of tact on the part of security forces too. For the first time, Air Force helicopters went into action to hit suspected militant hide-outs in remote mountaintops in Kishtwar region and the newly-raised naval commandos, instead of action in the high-seas, found themselves chasing ‘Fidayeen’ groups in dense jungles in the frontier district of Kupwara. Gen S Padmanabhan also hinted at army employing unconventional tactics against the militants indicating that special forces - the para-commandos - would be used in surprise raids on militants, to exploit the advantages of recent placement of hi-tech equipment. Boosted by these force multipliers, sorely missed in Kargil conflict, towards the end of the year, army suspended operations against militants in response to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s announcement of cease-fire, as it bolstered measures to check infiltration. The Army Chief hinted that if the peace process gained momentum, army’s prime role would be to block infiltration along the LoC. He said clamour for cease-fire from some of the Kashmiri militant groups was coming as security forces through sustained operations had got total ground domination in the state. As installation of hi-tech sensors made infiltration perilous across the LoC, Pakistan ISI shifted the focus to 100 kms long stretch of international border facing Jammu division, with as many as over 56 attempts to sneak across detected during the year and many more going un-noticed. To confront the menace, the Government redoubled efforts to take up the electric fencing of the stretch at war footing, with security force personnel including those from army and border security force taking on the task as civilian contractors turned tail on being fired upon by Pakistani rangers. (PTI) |
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Sikkim HC directs state
police to arrest GANGTOK, Dec 28: The Sikkim High Court has passed a stricture on the state police for failing to arrest those involved in the attack on the chief engineer of National Hydro-electric Power Corporation (NHPC) in Singtam. Justice Anup Deb on December 26, censuring the police, directed them to apprehend all culprits by January 16 "otherwise it will be considered whether the case shall be referred to the CBI." "The incident took place on December five. Twenty one days have have already elapsed but nobody could be arrested. It does not reflect a very happy state of affairs. It is shocking," the judge said. Deb in his order, asked the Government to submit the case diary and day-to-day progress of the case in a sealed cover on January 17, the next date of hearing, and gave a directive to send notices to the Home Secretary, DGP, IG (law and order), DIG (range), SP (East) and OC of Singtam Police Station. There should not be "any lapse or loophole" in the investigation which shall be supervised by a "competent" police officer and monitored by the SP (East) and in his absence the DIG (range), the High Court order said. The probe shall be such that the court "will not be compelled to make observation that it is not fair and conducted to protect the interests of the accused persons," the order said. A gang of unidentified people had attacked the Chief Engineer of NHPC M M Madan, entrusted by the Centre with commissioning the 510 mw Teesta Hydel Project (Stage V) in North and East districts worth, Rs 2500 crore, at his Singtam office on December five. The gang severely beat up Madan, four other staff members and ransacked the office furniture before leaving. NHPC, which lodged an FIR with the Singtam police station terming the attack as ‘pre-planned. They threatened to stop all work of the Teesta project till those involved were arrested and proper action was taken against them. As per the FIR, a copy of which was also enclosed by the judge in his order, the Singtam police registered a case but could not arrest anybody. (PTI) |
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‘Pink City’ produces 800-1000 tonnes solid waste daily JAIPUR, Dec 28: India’s Pink City, Jaipur, now seems off colour with tonnes and tonnes of solid waste piling up on its streets everyday. Spread on 218.30 sq kms, the city has witnessed rapid population growth over the past five decades, from just 2.81 lakh in 1951 to the present 22 lakh mark, according to a study. "On an average 67 per cent of Jaipur’s population disposes waste on streets," said the study presented by Mr P U Asnani at a workshop on "modernisation of solid waste management" yesterday. The author is a member of a committee constituted following a Supreme Court directive to manage solid waste. Mr Asnani is also consultant to a US-Asia environment partnership and the US agency for international development. A survey undertaken by Bhartiya Gramin Vikas Sansthan on Jaipur indicated about 400 to 500 tonnes of commercial, industrial and construction waste was produced everyday in the city in addition to household garbage, taking the lot to 800-1000 tonnes a day, Dr Asnani said. Recyclable material was dumped on streets along with domestic "trade" waste, Dr Asnani said. Though more than one-thirds of the annual budget of Jaipur’s Municipal Corporation was spent on solid waste management, no doorstep sweeping arrangement or community bin existed in the city. Street sweeping was done through 773 beats in the walled city area and in the rest by 1112 beats, he said and pointed out that the community waste storage facility was highly "inadequate" and "inefficient". The survey showed that there were 2387 waste storage sites in Jaipur, of them 708 were in the walled city and 1679 in the remaining area. Of this "dustbins’ were placed only at 123 sites in the walled city and 169 locations outside, he said. Mr Asnani said waste disposal was carried out through "crude dumping " at two areas, a dry drain in Jagatpura and a piece of low-lying land in "Jal Mahal " Vidya Vihar locality. All the waste was transported on municipal and private vehicles to these dumping grounds and the waste was spread with the help of bulldozers, leaving it uncovered, he said. Mr Asnani said that Rs 8.90 crore was needed for purchasing vehicles and equipment used under the modern system of waste management and this project was proposed to be implemented in two years. (UNI) |
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