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| Devotees allege international conspiracy behind Seer’s arrest CHENNAI, Nov 14: Condemning the arrest and detention of Kanchi Seer Jayendra Saraswathi, a Hindu organisation.....more Punjab
among top five CHANDIGARH, Nov 14: Punjab and Haryana figure among top five states in issuing birth registration certificates while......more Rs 4,000
cr to be BARAUNCHI, Nov 14: Maintaining that providing infrastructural facilities is one of his Government’s priorities, Madhya....more Chandran’s
KOCHI, Nov 14: Noted film maker T V Chandran, through his latest venture, seeks to offer "homage to suicides" and.....more |
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Ensurance cover for poor women being implemented in HP SHIMLA, Nov 14: Himachal Pradesh Government in its commitment to ensure welfare of women folk is giving special......more Competitiveness
NEW DELHI, Nov 14: President A P J Abdul Kalam today said competitiveness was the single factor that would decide........more PCC chiefs
in eight NEW DELHI, Nov 14: After the appointment of new Pradesh Congress Committee presidents in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.......more Prasar
Bharati kicks NEW DELHI, Nov 14: After a long wait, public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has finally kicked off its Rs 500 crore DTH....more |
Devotees
allege international conspiracy CHENNAI, Nov 14: Condemning the arrest and detention of Kanchi Seer Jayendra Saraswathi, a Hindu organisation today alleged that there was an international conspiracy to tarnish "the good name of the seer". "It is well known that Jayendra Saraswathi was provided security due to the information given by intelligence agencies of both the Centre and the Tamil Nadu Government that he could be harmed," Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Bhakthargal Pervai (Sri Kanchi Kamakoti devotees front) convenor "Vinayagar" Murali told reporters here. Now, both the Central and State Governments should expose this international conspiracy, he demanded. "Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee spoke to Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and asked him to ensure the safety and security of the seer because he knows of this (international conspiracy)," Murali claimed. Murali, who claimed he was addressing the press "also on behalf of the Mutt", alleged that some politicians had also "conspired to fabricate the case against the Shankaracharya with an eye on the vast properties of the Mutt." "If a warrant of arrest can be obtained against President A P J Abdul Kalam, then one can understand how easily Jayendra Saraswathi can be fixed," he claimed. Murali claimed that some police officials, who were ‘sympathisers of some political parties’ had shown a "partisan" attitude and have allegedly targeted the Seer. Murali denied that the murdered Sankararaman was a former employee of the Mutt. "It is a blatant lie that Sankararaman was a former employee of the Mutt at any point of time. All the information submitted linking him with the Mutt is far from true," he claimed. When pointed out that even some eminent persons have said that the arrest could not have taken place without some evidence, he said only time would tell how "true" such evidence were. Asked whether Tamil Nadu Police was so inefficient that it had gone ahead with the arrest, he said it was "hundred per cent vengeance". Replying to a question whether there was any power struggle going on within the Mutt, he replied in the negative and said the "struggle is going outside the Mutt to get hold of its properties". (PTI) |
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Punjab among top five states in issuing birth certificates CHANDIGARH, Nov 14: Punjab and Haryana figure among top five states in issuing birth registration certificates while Bihar and Jharkhand are at the bottom of the list. Addressing a function organised to award those who made national campaign to issue birth certificates distribution in Punjab a success, Registrar General and Census Commissioner D K Sikri lamented that in Bihar a mere three per cent birth certificates are issued while the figure in neighbouring state Jharkhand was 18 per cent. He said that while in Punjab 90 per cent births are registered there are some states where only 50 per cent of birth certificates are issued. Sikri said that the Ministry of Home Affairs and his office were regularly holding seminars and issuing advertisements to create awareness among the people urging them to get birth certificates from concerned authorities. He said that out of a total of 2.5 crore birth certificates distributed throughout the country for the past one year, nearly two crore certificates had been issued in states of Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh alone. Director, census operations, Punjab, Inderjeet Singh said that 47.49 lakh birth certificates out of a targeted of 53.06 lakh had been issued in the state till November 6, which accounted for nearly 20 per cent certificates issued throughout India. Singh said that during the first phase of the national campaign which started in November last, 22.63 lakh certificates were distributed in the state. "During the second phase of the campaign which started in June this year, we had kept a special target to cover school and Anganwadi children," he said. Sikri said that the Registrar General’s Office was contemplating to recommend to other states the way Punjab had gone about planning its campaign to issue the certificates. He, however, expressed concern at the adverse sex ratio (775/1000) in state. "It is a cause of concern for all of us when we mention Punjab’s name as a progressive state and at the same time we also talk about its skewed sex ratio," Sikri said. "On November 10, we had a meeting in Delhi in which Punjab’s case was discussed. The Centre believes that state intervention is required to check this. The State Government should introduce monthly monitoring of districts which have worst sex ratio," he said. (PTI) |
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Rs 4,000 cr to be spent for roads in MP BARAUNCHI, Nov 14: Maintaining that providing infrastructural facilities is one of his Government’s priorities, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Babulal Gaur has said that work would be initiated for either laying or repairing 4,000 km roads by incurring a cost of Rs 4,000 crore during the next 12 months. "Pathways are in special focus and quality of roads shall be given particular attention," he said during an interaction with visiting reporters yesterday. Mr Gaur was here to assess development work at this Gokul Gram (model village) in tribal-dominated Mandla district. Referring to the state’s resource crunch, he pointed out that the road finances would be obtained from the Central Road Fund (CRF), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, Mandi Nidhi and Hudco. "New Delhi has been urged to enhance the CRF Grant Component from 30 to 50 per cent. At present, 70 pc of the finances are treated as a loan," Mr Gaur explained. With regard to the power crisis, the Chief Minister claimed that the situation would be "completely under control" by 2007. "In view of the rising agricultural demand during the rabi season, adequate electricity is being provided by my Government which is purchasing Rs 150 crore worth of power every month. The Indira Sagar Poject is producing an additional 100 mw," he explained while admitting a peak-hour demand-supply gap of about 800 mw. Pointing out that 246 mw were recently slashed from Madhya Pradesh’s NTPC quota, Mr Gaur said that his Government had objected to the cut and it was hoped that the same would be revoked soon. "Parleys are underway with the Reliance group regarding electricity production from methane in coal mines. If that is done, 2,000 mw can be generated. Later today, I’ll speak with Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani who is visiting Vindhya region’s Bandhavgarh national park. The group also wishes to work on some other projects in this state," he added. Mr Gaur claimed that the country’s prominent business houses would invest Rs 4,000 crore in Madhya Pradesh by March 2005. "My Government is following a policy of providing all possible assistance to industrialists. Agreements have been arrived at regarding setting up a Rs 725-crore textile mill at Sehore district’s Budhni, a Rs 500-cr colour picture tube factory at Malanpur near Gwalior and a Rs 450-cr welding rod-unit at Mandideep," he added. Besides, Rs 2,300-cr worth of units would be set up at Rewa, Pithampur, Bhopal and Nagda. (UNI) Chandran’s Kathavasheshan
way of paying KOCHI, Nov 14: Noted film maker T V Chandran, through his latest venture, seeks to offer "homage to suicides" and claims that it is not merely another film on the gory Gujarat riots. Malayalam film ‘Kathavasheshan’ (who is no more), he claims, is still a positive call to live valiantly though the protagonist in the film commits suicide in ‘the shame of being.’ The Director, whose last film ‘Padam Onnu- Oru Vilapam’ (lesson one-a cry) won several national and international recognitions, also wants to say that his hero ends his life as an altruist, unlike the majority, after knowing that his one-time acquaintance in Gujarat was gangraped and killed in the riots there. Produced by reigning matinee idol dileep, it puts the Malayalam superstar on the verge of breaking into the national scene with his powerful portrayal of the hero, unlike his past superhit image of an entertainer at the box offices. The film begins with the sudden suicide of Gopinathan, staying alone in a flat in the city and the plot develops as a search by Renuka (done by Jyothirmayi) probing the reasons for his death. She comes across 14 people, speaking different languages in several places, only to know that everybody had only good things to say about him, for he managed to rise above languages proving that the bond of humanism was above any other relation. Finally, Renuka unwraps the mystery of his death. She finds that he ended his life in ‘the shame of being’ after seeing in a newspaper the photo of the girl who was gangraped and killed in Ahmedabad. The girl was the daughter of his houseowner but like his own sister. An abject and hapless Gopinathan choses to bow humbly before "failure" and ends his life, unlike those matinee idols, who were not able to do anything against the vices around. "I am not glorifying suicides. But at times, such a failure is sweeter than victories. Today everybody believes in success and anybody can be there. His suicide is a call to life for the living," chandran told newspersons at the premiere of his film here. He picked the thread of the movie following a phone call from his son Yadav working in Ahmedabad in March 2002. "He was just crying over the phone after seeing the ghastly scenes of children in fire and he told me in between that he wanted to commit suicide," the Director recollected. "I am not glorifying suicides, but trying to hail life. To accept failure as anybody else would dare is in itself bold," the Maverick Director claimed. He also wanted to put it above Gujarat incidents, holding that "Gujarat was not an isolated case and everywhere it is happening in many ways." Superstar Dileep is also thrilled at having done a serious role. "I am really happy to get a role which I loved to have always," he said leaving the rest to his fans. Incidentally, Kerala tops the country in suicides. (UNI) |
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Prasar Bharati kicks off DTH operations NEW DELHI, Nov 14: After a long wait, public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has finally kicked off its Rs 500 crore Dth venture, roping in around two lakh subscribers to begin with. "We signed agreements with private channels on Thursday and are beaming to about two lakh subscribers," Prasar Bharati CEO K S Sarma told PTI here. The public broadcaster becomes the second Dth operator in the country after Zee-promoted ASC enterprises’ dish TV, which has managed to corner around 1.5 lakh subscribers in about a year’s operations. Sarma said DD’s Dth would telecast only free-to-air channels, also airing All-India Radio Channels as an add-on. "So far, we have 17 DD channels on the platform and 12 private channels, which include BBC World, Aaj Tak, Headlines Today, Zee Cinema, Zee Music, Splash TV, Aakash Bangla, Sun TV, Kairali," he said. The platform, which just entails an initial cost of about Rs 2,500-3,500 for the dish and the set-top box, will also offer about 10 radio channels to begin with and air plans to increase it to 19 in the coming months. These radio beams would include regional radio channels. The Prasar Bharati CEO said their service will be initially targeted at non-cable and non-TV coverage areas. "These include Jammu and Kashmir and north-eastern areas." Prasar Bharati had begun trial run for the Dth platform for the last few months, but is awaiting a formal inauguration by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. According to an official of the public broadcaster, about Rs 160 crore have been spent on the venture so far. "The rest of the investment will be made in the coming months for upgradation as well as other expansion programmes," he said. The service is being marketed by about 900 private dealers in about 130 cities and the public broadcaster is bullish on the prospects, going by the huge numbers of non-cable houses. Prasar Bharati also distributed free of cost about 10,000 STBs and dish antennae in remote areas in the north-east, J&K, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. With Prasar Bharati looking like securing large rural market and dish TV trying to make inroads into urban areas, it will be a competitive field for the Star-Tata promoted ‘space TV’, which is expected to get a final Government nod for its Rs 1,600 crore venture by this year-end. (PTI) |
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New scheme for farmers in Haryana: CM TOHANA, Nov 14: Haryana Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala today said that a new scheme had been launched to provide loans to farmers at an interest rate of eight per cent and this loan amount would vary from 60 to 80 per cent of the value of the foodgrains stored by them in the godowns of the HAFED. This was stated by Chautala while laying the foundation stone of godown to be constructed by HAFED over an area of 15 acres at a cost of Rs 1.88 crore at Tohana in Fatehabad district. He said that the godowns in the state had a storage capacity of 7.50 lakh metric tonnes and a target had been set to add storage capacity of one lakh metric tonnes by constructing more godowns. He said that this godown at Tohana would have storage capacity of 10,000 metric tonnes. He said that a new rice mill would be set up at Taraori in Karnal district. The franchise of hafed would be set up in those villages which did not have branches of mini banks. As many as 300 such franchises had already been set up. Earlier, he laid the foundation stone of water works to be constructed at a cost of Rs 71 lakh at village Parta. It would provide 70 litres of water per capita per day to the inhabitants of the village. While speaking on the occasion, Chautala said that NABARD had sanctioned drinking water supply schemes costing Rs 194.62 crore for the districts of Sirsa, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Bhiwani, Jind, Kurukshetra, Rewari, Mahendragarh, Ambala, Kaithal, Panipat, Fatehabad, Sonipat and Gurgaon. As many as 694 villages in these districts would be covered by implementing 294 drinking water supply schemes. Chautala said that adequate drinking water would be available in all villages by next festival of Raksha Bandhan and no women would have to go out of the Phirni to fetch it by keeping pitchers on her head. He said that a target had been fixed to augment the supply of drinking water in 525 villages at a cost of Rs 120.91 crore during the current financial year. (PTI) |
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