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| NDTV gets IPI India award for outstanding work in journalism NEW DELHI, Nov 20: The second international press institute India award for outstanding work in journalism, 2004 has.....more Developmental
NEW DELHI, Nov 20: Planning Commission deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwlia today said the process of......more Trade MoU
to be signed JALANDHAR, Nov 20: Media Advisor to the Choudhary Parvej Elahi, Chief Minister of Punjab (Pakistan), Mohabbat.....more Biotechnology
to BANGALORE, Nov 20: Biotechnology will spur the second green revolution in the country and it is already visible in......more |
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Khursheed questions Mulayams commitment LUCKNOW, Nov 20: Launching a scathing attack on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, the UPCC.....more Incense
and candle NEW DELHI, Nov 20: Church candles and incense can be dangerous to the lungs, according to a study by Dutch........more Mutt
sanctity intact CHENNAI, Nov 20: Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy today said there cannot be any blot on the sanctity of.......more Centre,
Congress BHOPAL, Nov 20: Vishwa Hindu Parishad senior vice-president Acharya Giriraj Kishore today alleged that Congress......more |
NDTV
gets IPI India award for outstanding NEW DELHI, Nov 20: The second international press institute India award for outstanding work in journalism, 2004 has been awarded to New Delhi Television (NDTV) channel for its investigave journalism work during the year 2003. The work done by NDTV to expose the baby swapping racket in Hyderabad and also the corruption trail of the Telgi stamp scam has been chosen as the best example of furtherance of public interest by a media organisation during 2003, the Indian Chapter of the International Press Institute said in a press release. The decision was taken by a jury headed by former Chief Justice of India and Currently chairman of the NHRC Justice A S Anand, which noted that NDTV had continuously investigate these two scams, exposed the guilty and helped the victims by its reportage. The members of the jury were Shobhana Bhartia, chairman, IPI-India and vice chairperson and Editorial Director, Hindustan Times, Philip Mathew, Vice Chairman of the IPI International Board and Managing Editor, Malayala Manorama, and M K Razdan, editor-in-chief, Press Trust of India. The award, including Rs two lakh, a trophy and a citation, would be presented by President A P J Abdul Kalam at a function here on December six, the release said. IPI India had instituted the annual award in 2003 to recognise and honour the best work done by an Indian media organisation or journalist working in print, radio, television and internet mediums, in furtherance of public interest, including safeguarding of freedom of press and other freedoms such as human rights. The first award for outstanding work in journalism, 2003 was given to Indian Express for its reporting of the Gujarat riots and their aftermath. The Indian chapter of the IPI is an active forum of editors, publishers and senior executives of newspapers, magazines and news agencies, all of whom are members of the IPI. The Indian chapter has successfully hosted the world Congress and General Assembly of the IPI in India in 1966 and 2001, and is taking up various issues related to press freedom. Founded 54 years ago in New York by a group of editors from 15 countries, IPI has grown into a global organisation committed to the furtherance of the freedom of press. The Vienna-based IPI has been in the forefront of safeguarding the freedom of the press through protests to Governments and organisations against any violation of press freedom and restrictions on the free flow of information. (PTI) |
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Developmental programmes under NCMP ready: Montek NEW DELHI, Nov 20: Planning Commission deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwlia today said the process of formulating developmental programmes based on the National Common Minimum Porgarmme (NCMP) have been completed and would be available to the Government for evolving a strategy for the next budget. "The Mid Term Appraisal (MTA) would flag off national priorities and a roadmap for development programmes which would be available to the Government for its consideration much before budget 2004-05," Dr Ahluwalia said after a meeting with the Chief Ministers of northern states. Today’s meeting was the last in the series Dr Ahluwalia has had with Chief Ministers. While the meeting with northern Chief Ministers took place in Yojna bhavan, Dr Ahluwalia visited some state capitals to meet the Chief Ministers of other states. The meetings were organised in groups comprising Chief Ministers of various states. The objective of organising the meetings was to get the feedback from the states on MTA and other financial issues affecting the states as well certain policies. Today’s meeting was attended by Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit, Punjab Chief Minister Amrinder Singh, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Veer Bhadra Singh and the Planning Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. "During the meeting with Chief Ministers the Planning Commission team asked about the general policy issues which should be addressed in the MTA, Dr Ahluwalia said. He said the states raised several issues. The mineral rich states wanted royalty on coal to be fixed on ad valorem basis. The forest rich states wanted compensation for not commercially exploiting forest cover. The states pointed out that in the case of Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CCS) there were too many guidelines and bureaucractic hurdles, which need to be streamlined. They said that excise duty concessions given by states adversely affect neigbouring states. Mr Amarinder Singh said as the export of paddy was below the issue price and the country being surplus in paddy, the need was for shifting the land use pattern to pulses and other crops. As for converting the land use pattern away from paddy requires Rs 1,000 crore for cropped area of one million hectares, the Centre should provide financial assistance to tackle this problem. Dr Ahluwalia said the investment requirements on the part of states are immense, but they are under severe fiscal stress. They require Central assistance but if the Centre wave’s off central loans, the Centre’s fiscal deficit would increase. Talking about subsides, Dr Ahluwalia said there was a case for supplying critical inputs to targetted groups. The well known economist gave an explanation relating to the fiscal problems of the states. There was a slow down in the growth rate and the fifth pay commission had put enormous burden on State Governments. The states need a more efficient tax system with modest rates and better compliance, Dr Ahluwalia said. Dr Ahluwalia said he had very successful consultation with the Chief Ministers and got significant feedback from them. Dr Ahluwalia said the Planning Commission would support infrastructure for the purpose of holding Common Wealth games in the capital in 2010. He said Ms Dikshit raised the issue in the meeting and he asked her to submit specific proposal in this regard. (UNI) |
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Trade MoU to be signed during
visit of JALANDHAR, Nov 20: Media Advisor to the Choudhary Parvej Elahi, Chief Minister of Punjab (Pakistan), Mohabbat Shuja Rana today revealed during the proposed visit of the CM some important trade agreements would be signed between the two Punjabs. Elahi, who will visit Punjab for Indo-Pak (Punjabs) games to be held in the first week of next month, will sign some trade aggrements with his counterpart Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh+ Rana, who was here in city as part of Pakistani delegation to participate in the Indo-Pak cultural festival Sanjh Dilan Di told PTI while claiming the proposed signing of MoU will begin new era in the field of resumption of economic tie between the two countries. Since our CM is also a well-known industrialist of Pakistan, he has already chalked out a blue print for resumption of trade tie between both of Punjabs he said adding that even in other fields also some significant policy decisions were expected to be taken during the proposed visit. Asked about the detail of the proposed agreements, without revealing the same, he said that these would be on the pattern of trade MoUs signed by Elahi with Chinese province of Ziang Su. Coming visit of Elahi will be very useful of both of Punjabs, as it will set the precedent of rest of the states of both the countries he claimed. Regarding the resumption of trade tie, he said that in Pakistan there was shortage of wheat and if the trade barrier would be opened, both of Punjabs would be benefitted as Pakistani Punjab could supply some commodities such as dry fruits and petroleum products at cheaper prices to India. Lauding the role of Punjabis in both the countries to develope bilateral relations, Rana said both Punjabs can play a significant role in excellerating the peace process as the cultural, language, civilisation and foods habits of them are same. I think that peace process should have began with Punjabs of both side and Punjabis should have taken the initiative for people to people contact much earlier. On the issue of Kashmir, which has emerged as dead lock in bringing total normalcy in the relations between India and Pakistan, Rana said that every issue could be sorted out through talks, for which suitable atmosphere should be created by generating public opinion in both the countries. Rana, who originally hails from Rahon area of Punjab, revealed that he along with his wife would visit his native village tommorrow to Rahon, to refresh his memories of childhood. (PTI) Biotechnology to trigger next green revolution: Pawar BANGALORE, Nov 20: Biotechnology will spur the second green revolution in the country and it is already visible in the cotton production, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said today. Speaking at the inaugural function of the Second National Conference of the Federation of Jain Educational Institutes (FJEI) at Jakkasandra, 40 km from here, Mr Pawar said the biotechnology revolution would be much bigger than the it boom and benefit the farmers by increasing the agricultural yield. He said the introduction of genetically muted cotton had already resulted in a 20 per cent increase in the production of cotton in India. This was notwithstanding a good monsoon, he added. He said India was a treasure trove of genetic resources and this could be effectively tapped by biotech experts to trigger increased production. There was need for greater awareness and enhanced knowledge on biotechnology across the country he said and wanted the educational institutions play a main role in this. Lauding the Jain institutions across the country for their contributing a lot to the spread of the education despite the community being a miniscule one, Mr Pawar said that institutions should be renowned not because of its founders, but through its faculty and heads who strive for excellence. He underscored the need for continuous upgradition of the skills of the teachers so that they keep abreast with the latest knowledge and groom the students. They could no longer remain stagnant, satisfied with the employment, he added. Mr Pawar also urged upon educational institutions across the country, especially those managed by the Jain community, to spread computer literacy in villages to prevent the digital divide. He suggested that these institutions should have mobile it vans that visit villages and allow rural students gain first hand knowledge about computers. Mr Pawar also lamented over the high rate of school dropouts among girl children in rural areas due to various compulsions wanted the trend to be arrested. The girl student dropouts in India was as high as over 35 per cent as against a mere 15 per cent in China, he added. The two-day conference to be addressed by experts was being attended by over 1400 heads of Jain educational institutions across the country. The conference would be a platform to discuss the future plans of FJEI to upgrade the Jain institutions and seamlessly integrate these institutions with leading global educational schools. The conference was organised by the Jain group of institutions, runing over 25 educational institutions in Karnataka and other centres, including a private university in Chhattisgarh. (UNI) |
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Centre, Congress president have role in Seer arrest: VHP BHOPAL, Nov 20: Vishwa Hindu Parishad senior vice-president Acharya Giriraj Kishore today alleged that Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the Central Government had an indirect role in the arrest of Kanchi Mutt Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati. "It is strange that the Congress president did not say a word on the arrest of the Seer", Mr Kishore told newsmen here. Observing that the Shankracharya was arrested a day before Diwali in Andhra Pradesh where the Congress was in power, he said the State Government there must have consulted the Central. Government and the party president prior to the arrest. Maintaining that the act was unfortunate he said the entire Hindu community had been hurt, he said a chargesheet should have been issued before the arrest of the Shankaracharya. Acharya Kishore said the VHP was starting a three-day national agitation in protest against the arrest. Besides, he said the organisation has called for a Bharat Bandh on Nov 22. Stating that Shankaracharya was innocent he said the allegation that he would have fled to Nepal had he not been arrested was ridiculous. The circumstantial evidence that led to the Shankaracharya’s arrest point to the role of land mafia in the particular murder case, he said adding that the mafia was eyeing the immovable property of the Mutt and this was the reason behind the murder in which the Shankaracharya’s name has also been dragged. The VHP leader also alleged that in a particular case relating to the property of the Mutt, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha was also annoyed with Shankaracharya because she wanted to give the property to some other organisation at a cheaper rate. Replying to a query he said the VHP was not keen to form a new political party. On suspended BJP leader Uma Bharti joining the VHP’s agitations in protest against the Seer’s arrest he said "if she decides to participate in the agitation, she is welcome to do so". (UNI) |
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Punjab to observe 2005 as women KHARAR (PUNJAB), Nov 20: The Punjab Government would observe 2005 as women empowerment year to make the women economically and socially self-reliant in the state. This was announced by Punjab deputy Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal while launching a massive programme for women empowerment through dairy entrepreneurship at a state-level public function in Morinda, 14 km from here yesterday. Addressing a huge gathering of women from across the state to mark the 87th birth anniversary of slain Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, she disclosed that self-help groups of women would be formed at village-level to impart special training to the women in different trades, for which loans would be arranged from different agencies. For the implementation of schemes in their respective districts, additional Deputy Commissioners (development) would be nodal officers. The respective Deputy Commissioners would review the schemes on monthly basis. Stating that women have been the backbone of all agro-economic activities since ages, she said their efforts never got due recognition. She said that women self-help groups would go a long way in uplifting the economic and social status of women besides giving due recognition to their efforts in different fields. Mrs Bhattal called upon the women community to unite against the increasing menace of female foeticide, cautioning that if this menace was not checked forthwith the next generations would have to suffer a great loss. She hoped that women would fight for maintaining their due existence in the society. Animal Husbandary Minister Jagmohan Singh Kang, while divulging details of programme for women empowerment through dairy entrepreneurship, said through this programme women will be given training in improved dairy farming practices, milk production and in value-addition to their produce. Besides training women to make indigenous milk products and sell them and orient them to a new concept of entrepreneurship, women self-help groups will be formed. Women will be imparted training in converting milk into local value-added products, he said. He said that initially 200 villages will be covered where all women dairy farmers will be roped in. Every village will have 5 self-help groups of 10 women each. For this purpose, assistance from NABARD,PAU, NDRI will be availed. (UNI) |
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