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Venue around Ferozshah NEW DELHI, Apr 15: A "no-fly" zone will be enforced over the air space around Ferozshah Kotla ground on Sunday as a security measure as Prime ...more Indian
furniture can NEW DELHI, Apr 15: How about houses where spaces and furniture could be folded up, .....more Shimoga
bypoll an BANGALORE, Apr 15: For S Bangarappa, former Karnataka Chief Minister, the...more NEW DELHI, Apr 15: BJP Chief Ministers Babu Lal Gaur of Madhya Pradesh and Narendra Modi of Gujarat today met party president L K Advani ......more |
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ICWAI urges Centre for change in nomenclature CHENNAI, Apr 15: The Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI) today urged the Centre to implement . .....more Buta concerned about influx of extremists from Nepal NEW DELHI, Apr 15: Expressing concern over large scale infiltration in bordering districts .....more ‘Lacklustre’first quarter for Bollywood, total losses Rs 60 cr NEW DELHI, Apr 14: The sorry run for Bollywood continues a spate of flops, punctuated by a few hits like Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘page 3’ .more Mukherjee asks defence PSUs not to depend on Govt support NEW DELHI, Apr 15: Asking the defence public sector units not to depend on the "crutches of Government support", ...more |
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India to import 20 mt LNG from Qatar by 2015: Aiyar ..... Looks sometimes help, says Mona Singh of ‘Jassi Jaisi...’ ......... |
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Venue around Ferozshah to be declared "no-fly" zone NEW DELHI, Apr 15: A "no-fly" zone will be enforced over the air space around Ferozshah Kotla ground on Sunday as a security measure as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf witness the one-day cricket match between India and Pakistan. No planes or helicopters or any other flying machine will be allowed over or in the air space adjacent to the stadium during the time the two leaders will be seeing the match. This measure is being taken to ward off any aerial threat to the VVIPs. Anti-aicraft guns with a radar have already been positioned at strategic locations to shoot down anything that violates the air space. An Indian Air Force helicopter has been kept in readiness in nearby Ambedkar stadium for evacuation of the VVIPs in case of exigencies, the sources said. A three-ring security cover will be thrown around for the protection of the VVIPs with the elite Special Protection Guard (SPG) in the closest ring. Over a dozen teams have been carved out of the commandoes from NSG and ITBP, who have been designated as "hit-teams" and will be scattered outside the cricket ground, to ward off threats of a suicide attack. The air space over the hotel, where Musharraf would be putting up, already comes under the ‘no-fly zone’ category. The Pakistan President will have around 10 of his own security men with weapons to guard him. (PTI) |
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Indian furniture can be made fun with Israeli designs! NEW DELHI, Apr 15: How about houses where spaces and furniture could be folded up, staircases conveniently rolled over to different sections and there are light bulbs that do not need ugly fixtures for support. All this is possible if Israeli designers have their way. In the absence of a design tradition, Israeli designers have churned out abstract works like modular folding staircases, lights from backbones of umbrellas and wooden chairs and bookcases that promise to transform boring homes into fun. ‘Domains’, an exhibition of such contemporary Israeli designs that has travelled across China, Japan, Korea and Australia showcasing works of 13 Israeli industrial designers, is currently being displayed at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts in the capital. Yacov Kaufman, considered to be the mentor of one-off and experimental design in Israel, has translated his fascination for chairs into his industrial design work and is among the pioneers of ergonomic chairs. He might have had man’s first chair in mind while creating the ‘Potchim.’ With only two cuts and a pair of hinges, Kauffman transforms a block of tree trunk part of which is still covered with bark, into a folding chair. A similar trunk is cut into a long ‘s’ curve only once to become a pair of chairs, which easily blend in with the forest. One of the most intriguing and intresting work in the exhibition is Ami Drach and Dov Ganchrow’s ‘Ga-Mish’, that stretches the boundaries of our normal understanding of the shelving system. An empty frame of flexible plywood strips offers a solution to the common problem of shelves that designers have been asked to solve. Designer Raviv Lifshitz uses the umbrellight, a trendy alternative to the common and often ugly light fixture to pay tribute to the anonymous designer who designs mass produced objects popular in daily use, but goes without credit. A modular staircase that requires no support but comes with its own backbone, that grows as the stairs are assembled. The shape of the stairs imitates the gesture of mountain climbing, where each leg rests on a separate step. The stairs designed by Hagai Harduff, a recent graduate from Israel’s Bezalel Academy of Art and Design can be placed in the house after construction is completed. In ‘Lamp Table With Book Ends’ Sharon Peter shechter tries his hand at humour by incorporating the element of time in his furniture. Sharon cuts the Venner of Formica from the wood table surface and bends the protruding formica to form the stem of the lamp and book ends. "In Israeli households, there are numerous similar tables but all of them get the worn out look with age," says Nelson. To cope up with dense living spaces the urban middle classes who live in mini houses transform the local store as their refrigerator and the neighbourhood restaurant as their kitchen. For single-persons, designer adi marom creates pop-up environments that can be folded up like origami. Displayed on video, her works-chairs, tables, windows etc fold up into a nearly flat sheet and offer a playful look at the problem of space in the future. At first glance, the designs make absolutely no sense to the laymen but a harder look brings out varied possibilities which can make designing furniture enjoyable. Even though designing as a profession is still in its infancy in Israel, the world is taking notice of the country’s unusual designs. "Without any tradition to fall back upon, Israeli craftsmen were free to explore unknown possibilities and demonstrate their creativity," says Nerith Nelson, curator of the travelling exhibition that is aimed at audiences in east Asia and the Pacific. Any restaurant in Israel offers ‘fusion cusine’- an assortment of Arabic Salads, Italian main dish and a French desert combining the elements of various culinary traditions but does not fit into a special national category. Nerith says the same can be applied to Israeli designs too. "Due to unstable political situation and a limited economy, designers turned their attention to improvisations and quick-fix solutions instead of time-consuming complex designs. This gave rise to israeli design of `one-off’ around 20 years ago," explains Nelson. (PTI) |
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Shimoga bypoll an acid test for Bangarappa BANGALORE, Apr 15: For S Bangarappa, former Karnataka Chief Minister, the journey from saffron camp back to his socialist roots may have been difficult but he faces a tougher task in seeking re-election from his traditional Lok Sabha constituency Shimoga next month. Having began his political career as a socialist and a follower of Ram Manohar Lohia nearly three decades ago, the Shimoga bypoll will be an acid test for Bangrappa, the flamboyant leader of backward classes and a crowd-puller. It is not only because he will be up against three formidable challangers in ruling Congress, JDs and main opposition BJP, which he quit recently, but it will also have a bearing on his bid to get Samajwadi Party, his latest political address, a toe-hold in Karnataka. Bangarappa, who is known for surprise political moves be it joining a political outfit or quitting it, said "mistrust and refusal to honour assurances" forced him to end his brief honeymoon with BJP. Bangrappa had joined the BJP on the eve of 2004 general elections and was elected to Lok Sabha from Shimoga on its ticket. After quitting BJP, Bangarappa resigned his Lok Sabha seat also, necessitating the bypoll. "I will certainly contest as a SP nominee. I am trying to defeat Congress, BJP and JDs and all three parties are likely to join hands to defeat me," Bangarappa told PTI. It would certainly boost the morale of Bangarappa and the SP, if he managed to retain the Shimoga seat, as stakes are higher for him individually than to his new party. Bangarappa said Congress, JDs and BJP are rivals for SP and his party will have no truck with any of them in any of the elections. Not only Shimoga bypoll, the SP would fight the coming Zilla and Taluk Panchayat elections, scheduled to be held in June, on its own strength, he said. Going by the political history of Bangarappa, he has the ability to inflict damage on the party which he quit. In 1994, he quit Congress, floated Karnataka Congress Party (KCP) and in that election, Congress had lost the power to Janata Dal in Assembly elections. In 1999, Bangarappa was in Congress which fought the election under the leadership of S M Krishna and returned to power. In 2004, Bangarappa, bid adieu to Congress and joined BJP. Congress failed to win majority and BJP won more seats even though it could not form the Government in the state due to lack of allies. Bangarappa claims BJP could win 79 seats last time because of his presence in the party. At a time when political parties in Karnataka cannot bank on any individual with mass base and majority following, supporters of Bangarappa hope his ability as a crowd-puller can see him through in the days ahead. Asked why he has not chosen to float a new political party as he did earlier in forming in 1999, Bangarappa said "there are more parties already. Coalition era has come into place. Instead of forming a new party, I thought I should go with Mulayam Singh’s party and strengthen it in Karnataka". Bangarappa, in a show of his strength, held a convention of SP on March 10 in the city which was attended by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulyam Singh Yadav. Incidentally, the symbol of the KCP was "cycle" and the symbol of the SP now is also "cycle". Bangarappa admitted SP had no roots in Karnataka. But he would build the party to make it a political force. "Even if elections are not held in the near future and held on schedule four years away from how, I have the patience to build the party and wait for the polls," Bangarappa said, when his attention was drawn to poor prospects of an early election in the state. Defending his decision to join SP, he said since the socialist party had roots in the state at one time, he thought the name would appeal to people here. Bangarappa, who began his political career on socialist party platform way back in 1967, had a long innings in Congress which he quit thrice and re-joined as many times, describes his new "journey" with SP as only "return to the original party". Bangarappa was elected to the State Assembly for the first time in 1967 on the ticket of socialist party headed by Ram Manohar Lohia and again in 1972. But the party, whose symbol was "Banyan tree" disintegrated later after the death of Lohia and Gopala Gowda, the state socialist leader. (PTI) NEW DELHI, Apr 15: BJP Chief Ministers Babu Lal Gaur of Madhya Pradesh and Narendra Modi of Gujarat today met party president L K Advani and discussed the Narmada issue. The two Chief Ministers who are here to attend the conference of Chief Ministers on internal security and law and order also discussed various other issues at the meeting that lasted over 30 minutes, party sources said. The Dharaji tragedy in Madhya Pradesh in which the toll has risen to 64 also figured at the meeting, with Advani being informed of the measures being taken by the Government there, the sources said. Advani also discussed organisational matters with the Chief Ministers in the wake of growing demand in Gujarat to remove Modi while in Madhya Pradesh a section of the party favour return of Uma Bharti. In Gujarat, the dissidents have left the final decision on the Central leadership. (PTI) |
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Mukherjee asks defence PSUs not to depend on Govt support NEW DELHI, Apr 15: Asking the defence public sector units not to depend on the "crutches of Government support", Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said they should instead mobilise resources and pursue co-production and joint ventures with the private sector and foreign firms. The defence PSUs, which have done very well in different fields, should now pursue avenues of co-production and joint ventures with private partners and foreign companies, Mukherjee said after presenting the Raksha Mantri’s Awards for excellence for 2002-03. Maintaining that Government was "committed to ensuring regular flow of orders", he said "our priorities in the social sector cannot be ignored. Therefore, a (financial) shortfall can exist". He asked them to "raise your own resources" and grow "without the crutches of Government support". Calling for enhanced interaction and mutual trust between the production units and the services, Mukherjee said the defence PSUs should look towards the wider global market in order to take full advantage of the economies of scale. Observing that it was imperative for the armed forces to be equipped with the best of equipment, the Defence Minister said this should be backed by self-reliance so that the problems of sanctions or restrictions could be tackled. "There is an urgent need for research and development in the core areas of strategic defence requirements," he said and asked the production units to enhance interaction with the armed forces who were their main customers. Mukherjee said the scientists, engineers and technicians as well as the PSU managements should not "rest on past laurels" but continue their quest for excellence and strive to further improve on their products. He also asked the managements to have proper focus on training and improving the human resources available to them. Earlier, defence production secretary Shekhar Dutt asked the public sector units to create a diversified production base in the order to meet the new technological challenges. Defence Secretary Ajai Vikram Singh and other top officials of the ministry, the armed forces and the PSUs were present at the award function. Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) bagged the institutional award, while ordnance factory Ambajhari and HAL, Nasik, got the division/factory awards. Employees’ groups from HAL, Bangalore, Bharat Dynamics Limited, BEL and Mishra Dhatu Nigam bagged the award in the group/individual category. (PTI) |
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India to import 20 mt LNG from Qatar by 2015: Aiyar NEW DELHI, Apr 15: Qatar has agreed in-principle to hike the supply of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) from the current five million tonnes to 20 mt within the next ten years to India and both the countries were likely to sign an agreement to this effect by May this year. "We have agreed in principle to put in place a substantial agreement by May in which India could import 20 mt of LNG from Qatar by 2015. Accordingly, a high-level team of Indian officials would tour that country by the month end and sort out the nitty-gritties on the matter," Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar told reporters after meeting visiting deputy Prime Minister of Qatar Sheikh-Hamad Bin-Jassem-Bin-Jabor-al-Thani here today. Aiyar said after the tour of the Indian team, a Qatari delegation would visit India during which the agreement would be inked. "If we have 20 mt of LNG by 2015 from Qatar, then one-third of our LNG needs would be met by that country," he said. Aiyar said he had suggested to the Qatari leader that both the nations should also enter into an agreement on promoting engineering consultancy and general services. "We have a huge pool of technically-trained people and we need to think about them as well." The minister said the nation would provide required support to those Indian companies willing to invest in Qatar and informed that the Qatar Government would also cooperate with these companies. Aiyar said, apart from importing LNG, India was also concerned over ensuring the entire hydrocarbon value chain. He said, he has also invited Qatar to invest in sectors like petrolem and petro-products, including upstream and downstream projects, besides power and heavy engineering. However, Aiyar also lashed out at the previous nda government for its alleged failure to fructify such agreements with any west Asian nation during its tenure. "They dragged on their feet on such matters and wasted many opportunities." Later talking to reporters, the Qatar deputy Premier said a high-level committee would look into the matter and sort out various issues. In reply to a query, he said his nation was not comfortable with the present oil prices. (PTI) Looks sometimes help, says Mona Singh of ‘Jassi Jaisi...’ LUCKNOW, Apr 15: The transformation of Jassi from an "ugly duckling" to a gorgeous model proved that while looks don’t really matter, they are sometimes required to get ahead in life, according to actress Mona Singh of popular teleserial `Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi’. "I believe that looks do not really matter but if the situation demands you to use them to your advantage, you should go all out for it," Singh told PTI here. She said while Jassi has transformed, she has not changed as a person and her feelings were still the same for her family and friends. The make-over from bespectacled Jasmeet Walia to beautiful model Jessica Bedi was required to teach a lesson to characters Armaan Sir and Mallika Maa’m who had caused immense hurt to her, Singh pointed out. Singh said she was very nervous before the long-awaited transformation as her "original face" had never appeared before the camera. But the fear evaporated as she received a very enthusiastic response from the audience, she added. "The good thing was that the make-over did not happen over-night and was a gradual process making it look quite natural and justified after all the upheavels the character had faced," she said. On the possibility of her future acting career getting eclipsed under the shadow of Jassi, Singh said she would not like to come out of the image of Jassi even when she turns 50 as it was this character which made her a TV icon and gave the tremendous popularity. "I am very proud of the character and would never like to break its image, no matter what the repurcussions are," she said. Singh said at present she was only interested in the television medium as it provided strong women-centric roles and a relatively easier chance to become successful. However, she was not averse to feature films and would consider an offer if it was challenging enough. "If I get the chance to work with my favourite actor Shahrukh Khan, I would not think twice," chuckled Singh. The actress denied there was any casting couch in the television industry and said that it was talent alone which counted in the journey to sucesss. "While the small-town girls may prove to be gullible in such situations, the larger picture is extremely clean," she added. While it was not clear how long would ‘Jassi’ run on the idiot box, Producer-Director of the serial Tony and Diya Singh have already thought about signing Mona Singh for their next television serial which was still in the conceptual stage. (PTI) NGOs bringing in self-regulation, transparency NEW DELHI, Apr 15: There are over a lakh listed voluntary organisations in India but hardly an adequate law to regulate them. Faced with such a scenario, these NGOs have taken upon themselves the task of bringing in transparency in the sector. "With increased pressure from funding agencies and the fear of strict Government regulations, the non-profit sector, as it is called, is stepping up efforts to adopt self-regulatory measures for transparency in financial matters," says Noshir H Dadrawala, executive secretary, Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy. The NGOs play a very impotant role in India and in the last few years their proportion has grown manifold. But the reality prevails that there is no adequate law or consolidated body to govern it, resulting in reports of exploitation and misuse of funds, says Dadrawala. "Thus, the whole idea of transparency has got a boost in the last few years with a number of initiatives taken by the sector," he says, adding "credibility alliance, a group of 200 ngos has recommended certain "minimum norms" for enhancing the credibility of the NGO sector. Some NGOs have already started implementing these norms and guidelines, though compliance is strictly voluntary. Sanjay Aggarwal, a chartered accountant, working in the sector says "though the legal procedures for the NGOs in India are very simple at present, they may not remain so for long." Already the Planning Commission is working with the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) for validation of voluntary organisations," says Dadrawala. Recently the minister of Health and Family Welfare has asked the Society for Services to Voluntary Agencies (SOSVA) to carry out a feasibility study for creating a National Evaluation and Monitoring Agency (NEMA) for the voluntary sector. It is proposed that NEMA would evaluate NGOs with the objective of certifying their genuineness based on certain minimum norms. "Fear of strict Government regulation is forcing many NGOs to adopt these self-regulatory measures. In the near future NGOs may face tightening of fiscal and finance restrictions in the wake of misuse of funds," says Aggarwal. Fear of money flowing to terrorists through charity channels is also a cause of worry, he says. However, Dadrawala says transparency has become necessary for ngos more because of compulsion than any other reason. No ngo today gets funding from any donor if it does not maintain transparency in financial matters. "One of the strongest arguments in favour of good self-governance is enhanced public credibility, which usually translates into greater public support. The greater the transparency, the greater is confidence and support," he says. (PTI) India to suggest more CBMs to Pakistan NEW DELHI, Apr 15: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will have a "business-like" meeting with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf tomorrow and discuss a series of "concrete" proposals to convert the Line of Control (LoC) into a soft border. Top on the agenda for the "free-wheeling" discussions to take place soon after the General’s arrival here to watch the India-Pakistan cricket match is the security of the passengers of the just-launched Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service. The two leaders will also discuss firms steps to enable greater people-to-people contact across the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir. According to official sources, since the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service had eased travel between the two sides plying of more such buses and trains could create soft borders. Both the Governments have agreed to start an Amritsar-Lahore bus service and a train link between Munabao in Rajasthan and Kokrapar in the Sindh province of Pakistan. The train service is slated to be launched in October this year. The two leaders will also discuss steps to promote people-to-people contacts to bring together the divided families living on either side. India had suggested in December five points along the LoC where such people could gather and meet their relatives. It is felt that more and more bus and train services would facilitate greater people-to-people contacts, promoting tourism and economic growth. Dr Singh today emphasised the importance of such services and said it was the joint responsibility of the two Governments to work together for providing full security cover to the passengers. Among the other issues that might come up at the two rounds of talks are Wullar barrage, Siachen, the Baglihar dam project and troops pull-out. The Prime Minister has made it clear that he was ready to discuss with the Pakistan President all outstanding issues, including Kashmir. "Although sky is the limit" for the discussions, India would stick to the three "bottomlines" — that Pakistan should honour its commitment made on January 6 last year to stopping cross-border terrorism and that there cannot be any redrawing of borders or a second communal partition. The initiative for Gen Musharraf’s visit was taken by Dr Singh as he felt that a positive atmosphere prevailed in Indo-Pak relations. India is also not averse to considering "out-of-box" solutions to outstanding issues as suggested by Pakistan. Though the visit of Gen Musharraf is described as informal, it has acquired all the dimensions of a formal state visit, with President A P J Abdul Kalam hosting a lunch in his honour on April 17 and Dr Singh holding a banquet at Ashoka Hotel tomorrow. The banquet would be preceded by delegation level talks which would be attended by top officials of the two countries, including National Security Adviser M K Narayanan. Gen Musharraf is expected to hold a second round of talks with Dr Singh on the morning of April 15 which will be followed by a joint statement, before the Pakistani leader departs for the Phillipines. The Pakistan President would arrive in Jaipur tomorrow afternoon from where he would go to the Ajmer Dargah, which he could not visit when he was here for the Agra summit in July 2001. He would reach New Delhi in the evening following which External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi would call on him separately. On Sunday, he will watch the cricket match along with Dr Singh for about two hours and then will have meetings with BJP leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayaee and L K Advani. In the evening, he will meet Hurriyat leaders and attend a reception hosted by the Pakistani High Commissioner. This would be the second meeting between Gen Musharraf and Dr Singh who had last met in New York in September on the margins of the UN General Assembly session. The President would be heading a 50-member delegation which also includes his wife Sehba. Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, Information Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed and some other senior ministers will be part of the Pakistani delegation. More than 30 journalists are also accompanying the Pakistan President. Pakistan National Security Adviser and Gen Musharraf’s close confidant Tariq Aziz has already held discussions with Indian Government’s representative on Pakistan S K Lambah, on the agenda for talks between their leaders. Meanwhile, Pakistan High Commissioner to India Aziz Ahmad Khan has said all issues, including Kashmir, would be discussed during talks between the leaders of India and Pakistan. Asked if the dialogue would be Kashmir-centric or a whole "basket of issues" would be discussed, the Pakistan High Commissioner said, "when leaders meet, all issues are discussed. There is no fixed agenda. Obviously Kashmir is the most important issue." Mr Khan said, "we should realise that the principal and the main problem between the two countries, which has bedeviled relations during the past 57 years, has been the non-resolution of this long outstanding dispute." "Special attention is required to be given to this (Kashmir issue) and it is good that both sides are discussing it," he said. Asked if Pakistan was "running out of patience," Mr Khan said, "nobody is running out of patience. We know that patience is required for the resolution of this difficult issue but at the same time we also know that special focus is required (to address this difficult problem)." The Pakistani President will be staying at the five-star Taj Mansingh Hotel in the heart of the Indian capital. Fool-proof security arrangements have been made in and around the hotel to ensure the safety of the visiting dignitary, who faces threat to his life from various ‘Jehadi’ groups. Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, during his visit to New Delhi in November, had also stayed in the same hotel. (UNI) |
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