Cong will have to face Badal: Akalis

CHANDIGARH, Nov 20: The Congress will have to face Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Parkash Singh Badal in all the 117 Assembly constituencies of Punjab, party secretary Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said today.

In a statement here, he said, "what to talk about Amarinder Singh Chief Minister and Jagmeet Singh Brar (AICC member) even Sonia Gandhi (Congress chief) cannot compete Badal in Punjab.

He said that the October 16 SAD-BJP rally in the city had reflected the mood of voters of Punjab and if still there was some confusion in the minds of Congress leaders, their doubts would be cleared in the proposed Moga rally of December eight.

Reacting to the "euphoria of Congress" due to Chief Minister’s Punjab Vikas Yatra, Cheema said, "this yatra had neither been able to control inflation nor did it provide any employment to lakhs of educated unemployed youths.

It had neither paid Rs 30 per quintal bonus on paddy overdue to farmers since 2001, nor did it give a MSP of Rs 1000 per quintal on wheat to the poor farmers of the state." "So how does it make any difference?", he asked.

He said that at this stage, the gimmicks played by the Chief Minister would not be able to change the minds of the public.

Instead of getting photographed while taking mineral water in a steel glass, the Chief Minister should have inquired about the total number of villages without safe drinking water, he said adding he should have visited schools without rooftops and locked rural health centers. (PTI)

Abhishek, Kaif get ‘Yash Bharti’ award

LUCKNOW, Nov 20: Bollywood heartthrob Abhishek Bachchan and cricketer Mohammad Kaif were among 11 personalities conferred the prestigious ‘Yash Bharti’ award by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav here today.

Other recepients of the award at a glittering function included Dr Viveki Rai (Teacher and Litterateur), Uday Pratap Singh (MP and Writer), Shitla Singh and Vijay Kumar (both Journalists), Dr Yogesh Praveen (Historian), Jagdish Kali Raman, Talukdar Yadav, Shaukildra Tomar (all Wrestlers) and Rajiv Tomar (Sportsman).

As Kaif could not make it to the function, the award was accepted by his father on his behalf.

The Yash Bharti Award comprising Rs 5 lakh and a citation was instituted in 1994-95 and 54 personalities have so far been conferred this award.

Speaking at the function, an elated Abhishek said,"I do not deserve the award...I have accepted it out of reverence for Mulayam Singhji."

Clad in a black suit, Bachchan said he would donate the award money for some social cause in the state.

Visibly happy that his son and Bollywood hearthrob Abhishek Bachchan had been given the prestigious ‘Yash Bharti’ award, matinee idol Amitabh Bachhan said he and his wife Jaya were guests (at the award-giving function) while Abhishek was the bridegroom.

He said he and his wife were ‘Baratis’ while his son was the ‘Dulha’, amidst peels of laughter among the audience.

He however quickly made it clear he was not referring to a real wedding. "Jo Aap Samajh Rahen Hain, Main Woh Barati Ki Baat Nahin Kar Raha Hoon (I am not referring to guest at a real wedding)," Amitabh said.

The senior Bachchan advised his son to draw inspiration from the award and work harder.

Both Amitabh and his father and noted Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan have been recepients of ‘Yash Bharti’ award.

Later, speaking at the function, Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh announced that Abhishek had decided to donate the award money to the state Hindi Sansthan. (PTI)

India to develop 7,603 kms of road links in North East

NEW DELHI, Nov 20: India today unveiled plans to develop 7,603 kms of road links to reach every nook and corner of the North East with the Government saying it was not to rival, but to strengthen links with country’s giant neighbour China.

"We are planning to reach every place in this strategic region," Minister of State for Defence M Pallam Raju told reporters after a full board meeting of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).

The North East comprises Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.

China recently inaugurated, what it claimed, was the world’s highest rail link connecting the Chinese mainland with Tibetan capital of Lhasa and has built multi-laned highways right upto the Sino-Indian border.

"It is not in response to China rapidly building rail and road infrastructure across the Himalayan heights in Tibet, but to strengthen ties with our neighbour," the minister said.

"The special accelerated road development would involve laying down of a total road link of upto 7,603 km and would be completed in the next six years at an estimated cost of a whopping Rs 12,123 crores," he said.

It is not only road links to Sino-India border, but the new plan envisages networking road connectivity to country’s other neighbours Bhutan and Myanmar as well within seven Naxal-affected states in the heartland and in Jammu and Kashmir.

To take up this major task, Raju said the Cabinet had recently given its nod to bolstering the rolls of the Border Roads personnel from the present 32,000 to 42,646 within the next three years.

On the BRO’s major highway project in Afghanistan to link the Delaram town on Iran-Afghan border with Zarranj by a 218 km highway, the minister said despite the growing Taliban activities in Southern Afghanistan, the project would be completed by 2008.

The highway would link the Iranian port of Bandaar-Abbas with Afghanistan main garland highway to provide India access to the landlocked country bypassing Pakistan.

"BRO is resolved to complete the project despite the highway cutting across Afghanistan’s main poppy cultivation area," the minister said adding that security net to the personnel working on the road had led to cost escalation.

Besides this, BRO would also be undertaking building of roads in Naxal-affected states, where the respective state Governments and para-military forces would be providing the security cover.

Revealing for the first time Border Roads’ involvement in Myanmar, Raju said this involved building some strategic border roads to give fillip to border trade as well as to strengthen internal security in terrorist infested areas.

Besides the minister, the board meeting was attended by top BRO brass, Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt and officials from Ministry of External Affairs and Cabinet Secretariat.

Elaborating on the six-year special accelerated plan, the Minister of State for Defence said in the first phase to be completed by 2009, a 1,310-km stretch would be built at a cost of Rs 4,618 crores.

Of this, border roads would build 492 kms and the rest would be undertaken by state Public Works and other agencies.

In the second phase to be completed by 2012, a 5,711-km stretch of road links would be laid down with BRO responsible for 3,400 kms and other agencies for 2,311 kms.

Asked whether BRO had completed rebuilding the Farkar military base in Tajikistan, the Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt said Border Roads had stepped in only after the other organisation had failed to meet the deadline.

"The project only involved strengthening the runway and building hangars and other radar facilities," he said.(PTI)

Splinter Akali groups harming interests
of Sikhs: Tarlochan

LUDHIANA, Nov 20: Former Chairman of National Commission for Minorities, Tarlochan Singh, today said different splinter groups of the Akali Dal were causing irreparable harm to the interests of the Sikhs instead of serving the community in a positive and constructive manner.

Instead of disseminating basic tenets of the Sikh religion, "they are only playing to the gallery or serving their vested interests or those of their political masters", he said here.

"Most of these self-styled Sikh leaders, who just want to remain in news, do not even know that they are striking hard at the very roots of the Sikh religion through irresponsible actions and statements," Singh alleged.

"What is required today is not any slogan but saving the Sikh youths from going astray and protecting them from social evils like drug adiction, alcohlism and smoking," he said.

Tarlochan Singh also criticised the education policy of the Punjab Government and said even though there was an increase in number of educational institutions, academic achievements had gone down in a big way.

This, he said, was reflected in decreasing number of Punjabi youths in Central Services Competition and colleges of excellence, both technical and non-technical, in the country.

"The State Government must pay serious attention to this aspect," he said. (PTI)

IT firms hiring big in India

NEW DELHI, Nov 20: Domestic IT firms are continuing their hiring juggernaut, but it is their bench strength or reserve employees that is growing at a higher rate than the overall pace of recruitments.

The total headcount of the fab-five club of Indian IT Space — TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Satyam Computer and HCL Technologies — has increased by nearly 38 per cent with addition of more than 75,000 employees in the past one year.

At the same time, the bench strength of the top five players has grown at a higher rate of 48.5 per cent with approximately 28,000 employees being added to their reserves during the same period.

The high levels of attrition and job-poaching prevalent in the technology sector has always forced companies to maintain a strong bench staff team with them — which enables them to cope up with any sudden outgo of employees as well as in the times of any major contract win that requires a bigger talent pool.

However, the trend has been further shifting toward maintaining a bigger bench strength in the recent past, an analysis of total hiring patterns of the country’s top five it firms over the past one year shows. (PTI)

Women empowerment a must for faster
development, says Kalam

NEW DELHI, Nov 20: Pitching for greater empowerment of women, President A P J Abdul Kalam today said their way of working and value systems would lead to "a good society and ultimately a good nation".

"Women’s thoughts, their way of working and value systems will lead to faster development of a good family, good society and ultimately a good nation," he said addressing `Summit of the Powerless’ organised by `Tehelka’ newspaper.

He said the need of the nation was development politics instead of "political politics".

"The nations important need is development politics. Hence, it is essential to concentrate on the key developments and progress at the grass root level in different parts of the country," he said.

Kalam said employment generation coupled with skill oriented education training was the first step to empower the people of the nation.

"To empower the people, the first and foremost event has to take place in our country is through employment generation coupled with skill oriented education and training," he said.

The President said creating a system for equal opportunities was important for development of the nation.

Kalam said the PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) projects in various parts of the country could lead to faster development of the society.

"For faster development of our society, it is essential build over 7000 PURAs in the whole country. Each PURA calls for providing connectivities for 15 to 20 villages with 50,000 population," he said.

He said PURA projects, which provide physical, electronic and knowledge connectivities leading to economic connectivity and provision for infrastructural facilities like electric power, could result in greater economic independence for people.

Kalam said the Central Government is planning to launch two PURA clusters in each of the districts during the 11th Plan period.

Recalling his experience of visiting all the States and Union Territories, he said seven hundred million people are living in 6 lakh villages equivalent to 2 lakh panchayats.

"What is that ambience? I call that ambience as, `a scene of sweat’. It is the farmers in the agricultural field, it is the fishermen in the rough seas, it is the worker in the industries, knowledge workers in the laboratories, knowledge and pharma industries, health workers removing the pain at all times in healthcare institutions and many other people, who have to be always remembered by the people of the nation.

Kalam also administered ‘Seven Point oath’ to the students present at the function.

Addressing the opening session on ‘Two Indias, one Future’, Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh said 60 years of post Independence ups and downs have led to the the urban-rural divide.

Singh said we need to work tirelessly so that reality of "Two Indias" can be reconciled.

"We have to address the urban, rural divide with all honesty. Growth with equity has to be essence of our development," Singh said.

He said the nation needs to invest in the youth so that India can become a powerful nation.

Addressing the session, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said the nation will have to invest in its youth as 54 per cent of the population is below 25 years of age.

"Human resource is a huge asset for India. We must invest on it so that it translate us to super power," he said.

The Left leader said the gap between the rich and the poor must be bridged.

Social activist Anna Hazare and Aruna Roy also addressed the two-day "summit".(PTI)

Chhattisgarh Assembly pays tributes to Bismillah Khan

RAIPUR, Nov 20: Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha today paid eloquent tributes to Shehnai maestro and Bharat Ratna Ustad Bismillah Khan and former State Assembly Speaker Rajendra Prasad Shukla, recalling their contribution in their respective fields.

As soon as the House assembled for the winter session, Speaker Prem Prakash Pandey made obituary references of Congress veteran Rajendra Prasad Shukla, former Speaker of undivided Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha and later of Chhattisgarh Assembly, and Shehnai mastero Ustad Bismillah Khan, who died during the inter session period.

Chief Minister Raman Singh recalled that Mr Shukla, who had served as Speaker of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, had joined the ‘Bhudan Andolan’ at a young age. He was an active Parliamentarian during his four decades of political life.

Paying rich tributes to Ustad Bismillah Khan, Mr Singh said the music maestro had taken ‘Shehnai’ from marriage ceremonies to the national and international level, establishing it as a form of classical music.

Leader of the opposition Mahendra Karma and Legislative Affairs Minister Ajay Chandrakar also paid tributes to them before the House observed two minutes silence and later adjourned for the day as a mark of respect towards the departed souls. (UNI)

Tibetans march in Delhi to protest Hu visit

NEW DELHI, Nov 20: A large number of Tibetans holding their ‘national flag’ along with Buddhist Monks dressed in maroon and yellow robes today took out a march here to protest the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Hours before the arrival of the Chinese dignitary, the protestors assembled at Jantar Mantar in the heart of the city, where they shouted slogans against China for its "occupation of Tibet", burnt an effigy of Hu, unfurled the Tibetan flag and sang what they called their National Anthem.

The Tibetan activists, with their faces painted in the colours of their ‘National Flag’, took out a march on Parliament Street starting from Jantar Mantar amidst heavy police deployment.

The protestors were holding their ‘National Flag’ and placards that read "Hu Jintao go back", "long live the Dalai Lama", "we want justice" and "we want freedom".

The activists, who were singing patriotic songs to the beats of traditional Tibetan drums, also shouted slogans like "China, China, China, out, out, out" and "stop genocide in Tibet".

Among the protestors were Buddhist Monks dressed in maroon and yellow robes, a large number of Indians and some foreigners.

Members of the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) are on hunger strike since Saturday to protest Hu’s visit.

TYC representative Tsultrim Dorjee said India should take a tougher stand on the Tibetan issue. "If the two countries (India and China) are discussing border issues, they should ask Tibetans to participate as historically, the Macmohan border was drawn between India and Tibet and not between India and China."

"We don’t want war. We want to get back our land peacefully. We want genuine autonomy in culture, religion and politics. Even the Dalai Lama has asked for it," said Lhandon Tethongla, representative of Tibetan students.

Tsering Deckyi Raputsang, spokesperson of Tibetan Women’s Association, said the Dalai Lama should be respected as the leader of Tibet by China and that its claim on Arunachal Pradesh was a distortion of facts.

"We must take the lead in ensuring that the social, political and religious freedom in tibet is restored by China," she said.

A number of Tibetan activists had descended here from Dharamsala, the seat of Tibet’s Government-in-exile, to take part in the protests, a routine affair during visits of top Chinese dignitaries to India.

Poet-activist Tenzin Tsundue has been prohibited from leaving his home at Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh and about 20 policemen are keeping a close watch on him. (PTI)

Reliance keen to take over Dabhol power plant

MUMBAI, Nov 20: Reliance Industries Ltd, India’s largest private firm, is keen to take over the Dabhol Power Plant to fulfill its long planned ambition of having an LNG import facility on the west coast, an industry official said.

The Government is presently trying to revive the 2,184 mw Dabhol Power Plant and the adjacent LNG terminal through NTPC and GAIL. But if attempts to source fuel for the power plant on a long-term basis fail, it may consider either hiving-off the LNG terminal and selling it to a company capable of sourcing fuel or selling off the entire plant itself.

An industry official said that RIL would be keen to take over the LNG facility and even the power plant if offered by the Government.

"RIL had originally planned to construct a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) import facility at Jamnagar in Gujarat. But after BP PLC of UK walked out of the project and the company finding huge gas reserves in Krishna Godavari basin off East Coast, the plans were put on hold," he said.

However, when contacted, company officials declined to comment on the issue.

The official said Dabhol Terminal would offer RIL an opportunity to balance its gas source on the East Coast.

"RIL plans to pipe gas from kg-d6 field to Maharashtra and Gujarat through Kakinada-Baruch pipeline and to south through Kakinada-Chennai-Coimbatore- Bangalore line. It will also be taken to eastern India through the Kakinada-Haldia pipeline. But the company needs imported fuel to balance the indigenous source," the official said.

Reliance, which has exploration blocks in Yemen and Oman, can convert gas found in those fields into LNG and ship it to Dabhol. Similarly, its partner Chevron can also bring LNG from its project in Australia.

The industry official said RIL would have to balance its indigenous production of natural gas with imported fuel to arrive at the right mix and price.

"RIL cannot build an LNG terminal at Jamnagar as the port will have no capacity to handle LNG carriers after its new refinery comes up," the official said.

Reliance Petroleum Ltd, a subsidiary of RIL, is building a 29 million tonnes per annum refinery adjacent to the existing 33 MTPA Refinery at Jamnagar. All the crude required for the two refineries would be imported.

The official said Reliance was in talks with state-run GAIL (India) Ltd for connecting the Kakinada-Haldia pipeline to Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh. GAIL’s HVJ pipeline runs from Hazira to Vijaipur to Jagdishpur.(PTI)

Shankararaman case hearing posted to Dec six

PUDUCHERRY, Nov 20: A local court today posted the hearing in Sankararaman murder case, in which Kanchi Seers Jayendra Saraswati and Vijayendra Saraswati are the main accused, to December six.

The Second Additonal District and Sessions Judge of Puducherry, Annamalai today posted the hearing as a special leave petition by the defence counsel was pending with the Supreme Court.

The defence counsel had challenged the appearance of Tamil Nadu Public Prosecutor for the trial held here.

Only six out of 24 accused were present for today’s hearing. Among those who did not turn up included the two Seers.

The case pertains to the murder of Shankararaman, an official of Varadarajaperumal Temple at Kanchipuram in 2004. (PTI)

Class 11 girl commits suicide due to harassment

VARANASI, Nov 20: Troubled due to constant harassment by a youth in her locality, a Class 11 girl has allegedly committed suicide by hanging in neighbouring Chandauli town, police said today.

The student hailing from Jharkhand was found hanging from a ceiling fan at her sister’s house in Manas Nagar locality of the town late last evening, police said here today.

A note was found in the house in which the 16-year-old cited persistent harassment by a local youth for months as the reason for her taking the extreme step, they said.

It, however, did not name anyone and police were making inquiries in order to identify him.

The body was sent for post-mortem, they said.

In a similar incident in Ramjanki Dham Colony, a college student yesterday allegedly committed suicide by hanging, police said.

The BSc second year student of UP college apparently took the step as he had failed to clear the regular and supplementary examinations held earlier this year, they added. (PTI)

Haryana to strengthen women university

CHANDIGARH, Nov 20: Haryana Government has decided to spend a sum of Rs 14.70 crore for strengthening the infrastructure of the women university, Bhagat Phool Singh Mahila Vishwavidyalaya, Khanpur Kalan in Sonepat district.

Giving this information here today, Haryana Education Minister Phool Chand Mullana said that the State Government had also sanctioned the posts of 171 non-teaching and 70 teaching staff for the university for imparting quality education to the students.

He said that Haryana was the first state in the entire northern India to set up such a university for women which would also focus on their professional and advanced studies.

He said that the university would definitely empower the women with adequate modern infrastructure, eminent faculty, experienced non-teaching staff, sound researchers and promising students.

The minister said that the university would offer professional and job oriented courses such as it computer education, medical sciences, biotechnology environmental studies and management studies.

He said that all the affairs of the university would be handled by the women only except ex-officio appointees. He said that Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Revenue Promila Issar had been appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of the University and the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Sonepat Anita Yadav as its registrar.

He said that the university spread over an area 200 acres and have bpsm girls college, BPS College of Education, BPS Mahila Polytechnic, Kanya Gurukul Senior Secondary School, MSM Mahila Ayurvedic College, PSD Girls Law College Khanpur Kalan and Tig Bhainswal Kalan Institutions in its campus.

He said that at present the university had 12 academic buildings, 8 hostels with the capacity of 3,000 girls and 128 residential accommodations for staff. The university also have an ultra modern library with 50,000 books and 220 journals, he added. (PTI)