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Parliamentarians
pay tribute to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
NEW
DELHI, Nov 11: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee today paid floral
tributes to freedom fighter Maulana Abul Kalam
Azad on his 118th birth anniversary in the
Central Hall of Parliament.
Among the
other Parliamentarians who paid tribute to Azad
were Leader of Opposition L K Advani, Deputy
Chairman of Rajya Sabha K Rahman Khan and Union
Ministers Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi and B K Handique.
Yogendra
Narain, Secretary General of Rajya Sabha, was
also among those who paid homage to Azad. (PTI)
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620 children from
various states taking part in Anjali
ROURKELA,
ORISSA, Nov 11: Altogether 620 children from various
states are taking part in the Anjali national
children’s festival 2006 which commenced
here yesterday.
The five-day
festival was inaugurated by Orissa’s
Minister for Women and Child Welfare, Pramila
Mullick.
Besides the
children, 152 Guides are attending the event
jointly organised by Swabhiman, a voluntary
oranisation, the Sundargarh district
administration and Orissa State Disability
Network.
Mullick said the
Orissa government had taken various steps for the
uplift of the disabled and in recent years it was
decided to allot them plot and house under Indira
Awas Yojna.
It was also
decided to provide financial assistance to the
tune of Rs 5000 to Rs 10,000 for self-employment
of the disabled.
Sarada Prasad
Nayak, MLA, Rourkela, Kalandi Badjena, Chairman,
Rourkela Municipal Corporation, B.N.Singh,
Managing Director of Rourkela Steel Plant and
Sujata Karthikeyan, District Magistrate,
Sundargarh spoke on the occasion.
Dr Sruti
Mohapatra, Chief Executive, Swabhiman,
Bhubaneswar presided over the function.
A colourful
programme was organised by the participants from
various states. (PTI)
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Two women killed
MADURAI,
Nov 11: Two women were killed when the
balcony of their house collapsed and fell on them
at Sammattiyapuram near here yesterday, police
said.
Police said
80-year-old Vellayammal and her daughter-in-law
were washing the clothes under the balcony when
it collapsed.
While Vellayammal
died on the spot, her daughter-in-law succumbed
to injuries in hospital mid-night last night.
Police said the
balcony had collapsed due to heavy rains in the
area the past few days. (PTI)
Criminal wanted in
bank loot incident arrested
SONEPAT,
Nov 11: The police today claimed to have
arrested Sunil alias Sadhu a notorious criminal
in connection with the looting of a bank in this
city on July 9, 2004.
According to
police sources, the arrested criminal was
produced before Nazar Singh, Additional Cheif
Judicial Magistrate here today who remanded him
to police custody for three days for further
interrogation.
The arrest of the
criminal followed a secret information that the
culprit was at Rohtak.
The police swung
into action and conducted a raid at his hideout
and arrested him.
Police sources
said that three unidentified youths forced their
way into the Sahara bank on Bawa-Tarana road in
this city on July 9, 2004 and snatched the keys
at gun point from the managar and decamped with
Rs 1.60 lakh from the bank.
The police had
registered the case in this connection.
After three
months, an encounter between the Rohtak police
and the criminals near Kila Zaffargarh resulted
in the killing of one and arrest of the other.
The third culprit
Sunil escaped and was later declared as
proclaimed offender by the police. (PTI)
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Anti-Bush ISF turns
to culture
NEW
DELHI, Nov 11: United States President George W
Bush, MNCs and WTO may have become the punching
bag for its speakers, but tribal
dancers and
theatre activists at the India Social Forum (ISF)
are making it sure there is also focus on female
foeticide, communal violence and AIDS.
Street theatre and
folk dances have sprung up at the noisy venue of
the social forum which is seeking an alternative
world to the market-driven globe.
Performers of the
Sarthak Theatre Group from Jaipur kept a motley
crowd of onlookers immersed in their angry
outburst against communal riots in a country born
out of a million deaths during the partition.
Sarthak’s
‘Hathiyare’ was one of the street plays
performed at the ‘Stage Safdar’, one of
the two venues for street theatre, named after
theatre activist Safdar Hashmi who was brutally
murdered during a performance in Sahibabad near
the national capital.
Jasul Theatre
Group from Tamil Nadu made their audience take
notice of the acute water shortage across the
country where women still carry the weight of
water on their backs.
"There are a
variety of subjects dealt with by the street
theatre groups," says Shehla Hashmi,
coordinator of street theatre at ISF and sister
of Safdar Hashmi.
There was huge
enthusiasm from street theatre groups from around
the country when ISF sought online entries.
"We received 43 entries online from places
like Orissa, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and
Nagaland," says Hashmi.
ISF has named its
second street theatre venue after Panu Lal, the
legendary Indian People’s Theatre
Association activist.
"I may not be
able to understand the language the actors speak,
but I am getting the message," said Rajiv
Ranjan, a mass communication student from Patna
visiting the event.
Don Bosco school
students with their faces painted in white staged
a play seeking visitors’ attention on the
killing of unborn girls in their mothers’
wombs.
Tribal dancers
from Jharkhand wearing feather caps performed the
‘Karam Dhun’ to highlight their
disappearing traditional culture in the face of
foreign and domestic industrial giants making a
beeline to "steal" the mineral-rich
state’s precious natural resources.
"A lot of
MNCs are coming to Jharkhand to set up factories
which are stealing our resources," said
Ainul Ansari, a volunteer of the Jharkhand Social
Forum, an umbrella organisation of tribal
activists.
ISF had opened on
Thursday with speakers criticising the US
President for his Iraq war and the WTO for
treating farmers in the Third World unfairly.
(UNI)
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Device to save
electricity consumption launched
JAIPUR,
Nov 11: A device based on German technology
to decrease domestic power consmption was
launched here today.
The product named
Boomerang Power Saver has been certified by
Regional Electronic Laboratary.
It would decrease
power consumption ranging from 20 per cent to 35
per cent, Rohit Salwan of the company that
developed it told the media.
The device would
harmonise electric current, stablise voltage and
protect electrical appliances from damage, Salwan
claimed. (PTI)
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Exhibition on
energy-efficient products
HYDERABAD,
Nov 11: A three-day exhibition on
energy-efficient products and technologies, aimed
at bringing essential concepts under a single
platform, began here today.
The "Save
Energy Exhibition 2006", being organised by
the Energy Conservation Mission (ECM) and The
Institute of Engineers would also deliberate on
products and services that highlight and enhance
awareness about energy efficiency and its
conservation.
It was important
not only to save but also to generate energy
through ways like solar, wind and pedal energy, J
Rama Rao, Chairman, ECM said in a release.
This exhibition
provides a platform for the discerning public to
view energy efficient products and technologies,
he added. (PTI)
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Wide range of
ethnic handicrafts on show
CHENNAI,
Nov 11: Endless vibrant hues of timeless
Indian craftsmanship that embody unmatched
perfection, ethnic grandeur and impeccable
quality are showcased in a National Art and Craft
Fair being held here.
The fair,
inaugurated by well-known film actress Oorvasi
today, is aimed at popularising the traditional
handicrafts development and help artisans to
improve their earnings, Mr Ashok Sharma of Art
Collection and Artisans, organisers of the event
said.
"About 100
artisans pertaining to various crafts and
representing different states are exhibiting
their products", he said.
The incredible
range of exhbitis included heritage collection of
textiles inlaid panel, black metal, brass idols,
stone paitning, radium, marble stone statue, wood
carvings, whitewood, choli, sarees, filk paining,
white metal, rosewood, stone jewellery, famous
churidars from Rajasthan and Gujarat, leather,
palm leaf engravings, terracotta, Zari work, jute
bags, fancy bags, gold plating pooja stones,
Rajasthani jewellery, bangles, Muradabad brass
articles, Chettinad antique items and Kashmiri
walnut furniture among others.(UNI)
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Objectionable
remarks against Jats yet to be deleted: BJP..
ROHTAK,
Nov 11: Claiming that remarks against the
Jat community in books of National Council of
Educational Research and Training (NCERT) have
not yet been deleted, the BJP submitted a
memorandum to the Prime Minister demanding its
immediate removal.
Despite Union
Human Resource Minister’s directive the
objectionable portions are yet to be deleted, BJP
leader and former Haryana minister Krishan Murti
Hooda said adding that he submitted a memorandum
in this regard to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
in New Delhi yesterday.
The NCERT history
book of Class XII, Modern India written by Prof
Bipan Chandra, had contained alleged
objectionable remarks against the Jat community.
After strong
objection by the members of Jat community, Union
HRD Minister had ordered to remove the
objectionable reference from the book. (PTI)
Scientific
establishments unable to attract young talent:
Kalam..
AHMEDABAD,
Nov 11: Expressing concern over dearth of
young talent in Indian scientific establishments,
President APJ Abdul Kalam today stressed the need
for attractive salary structure in the field.
"We are
unable to attract enough young scientists to our
scientific establishments and this is an
important area of concern for the nation",
Kalam said here.
"More young
scientists could be attracted if we give them
assured carreers and attractive salaries",
Kalam said adding that he was taking up the issue
of developing a scientific cadre with the Union
Government.
The President was
speaking at a function to celebrate the diamond
jubilee celebrations of Physical Research
Laboratory (PRL), where he himself had worked as
a rocket engineer during 1960s.
Explaining how
young scientists could be encouraged to take up
research as a career option, Kalam said, "We
should be able to offer attractive salaries and
every year be able to get 400 Science
Post-Graduates and 200 PhD students into
organisations like the CSIR, Department of Earth
Sciences, Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO), Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO) and others." (PTI)
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Property dealer
arrested for selling land on fake documents
SONEPAT,
Nov 11: A property dealer of Gurgaon has
been arrested on charge of selling land for
construction to a leading Delhi-based developer
by using fake documents in Raipur village of this
district, on March 10 last year.
Superintendent of
police Yoginder Nehra today said accused Shamsher
Singh Ahlawat had masterminded the forgery.
Earlier, the
police had arrested six persons in this
connection, he said.
He said all the
accused had prepared "fake documents"
of about four-and-a-half acres of land in the
name of one Ramesh of Raipur village and sold it
to the owners of Messrs Parsvnath buliders for a
whopping Rs 1.65 crore.
In the process,
the property dealer received 2 per cent
commission from the company.
Police said the
case came to light when the sarpanch informed the
company that no such land existed. (PTI)
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Wangala dance
festival in Meghalaya’s Garo hills
SHILLONG,
Nov 11: Wangala, the biggest and most
important festival of Meghalaya’s Garo
community was celebrated in the Garo hills region
today with Chief Minister J D Rymbai and some of
his cabinet colleagues joining in.
Wangala, a
post-harvest dance, is held in honour of Misi
Saljong, the deity of agriculture who blesses the
dutiful and industrious jhum cultivators and
involves a series of rites starting from the
offering of gourds of rice beer to the gods in
the jhum field.
The main festival
was organised at Asanang, Rongram block
headquarters, 19 km from Tura, where 10 villages
participated with 10 drummers each whose beats
resounded in the hills, reports from the district
said.
The festivities
continued for several days during which dances by
men and women attired in their traditional
outfits was the main attraction. (PTI)
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