SIKKIM:Governor hails peaceful environment in Sikkim
Gangtok, Jan 26 (PTI) Sikkim Governor BP Singh today hailed the peaceful environment in the state and appealed to people to maintain law and order for all round socio-economic development.
"The peaceful environment and a low crime rate have made the state an oasis of peace and tranquillity ...The people of Sikkim should work together to maintain harmony in the society for economic development in the state," he said after unfurling the tricolour on the 60th Republic Day here.
The preservation and sustainable utilisation of its rich natural resources will form the core of the economic development agenda of the Pawan Kumar Chamling government, which is in its fourth consecutive term, Singh said.
"Our emphasis is on eco-friendly development in all aspects to build a nature-based economy," the Governor said.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
AP chamber wants Goods and Services Tax put off
Wants simultaneous launch of direct, indirect tax reforms.
“Implementing a radically new tax structure in the middle of a financial year is ill-advised.”
Even as the Union Government has decided to push the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) to October 1, the trade and industry feels that the Government should enforce the reforms to indirect tax regime along with the proposed revamp of Direct Tax Code to save time and effort.
TheDirect Tax Code would be operational from April 1, 2011.
“Synchronisation of these tax systems is very essential as businesses and industries plan their financials and businesses. Implementation of GST from October 2010 and direct taxes six months later will not gel well,” Mr Nitin Parekh, Chairman of Trade Committee of Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FAPCCI), told Business Line.
“Implementing a radically new tax structure in the middle of a financial year is ill-advised,” he said, commenting on the move to implement GST from October. It is very difficult for the trade and business to comply with two different tax structures in one financial year,” Mr Parekh said.
Changes to tax structures result in costs to businesses as it involve staff training, reorganisation of logistics and distribution, and restructuring of information technology infrastructure. “It involves a lot of management time to incorporate all these changes. One cannot go on spending time on these issues, as one needs to focus on their core businesses,” he pointed out.
“Most companies have operations in multiple locations in the country and abroad. They are required to fan out teams to different locations to train people and help them understand the issues. The Government should help different stakeholders, including the consumers, understand the salient features of the GST,” he said.
Lead time
The FAPCCI also felt that the Government give a lead time of at least six months after the relevant Act is enacted in Parliament. “Traders and businesses are just collection agents of taxes. If they falter (in calculating taxes), they lose heavily. They should be given enough time to understand the intricacies ,” he said.
Wants simultaneous launch of direct, indirect tax reforms.
“Implementing a radically new tax structure in the middle of a financial year is ill-advised.”
Even as the Union Government has decided to push the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) to October 1, the trade and industry feels that the Government should enforce the reforms to indirect tax regime along with the proposed revamp of Direct Tax Code to save time and effort.
TheDirect Tax Code would be operational from April 1, 2011.
“Synchronisation of these tax systems is very essential as businesses and industries plan their financials and businesses. Implementation of GST from October 2010 and direct taxes six months later will not gel well,” Mr Nitin Parekh, Chairman of Trade Committee of Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FAPCCI), told Business Line.
“Implementing a radically new tax structure in the middle of a financial year is ill-advised,” he said, commenting on the move to implement GST from October. It is very difficult for the trade and business to comply with two different tax structures in one financial year,” Mr Parekh said.
Changes to tax structures result in costs to businesses as it involve staff training, reorganisation of logistics and distribution, and restructuring of information technology infrastructure. “It involves a lot of management time to incorporate all these changes. One cannot go on spending time on these issues, as one needs to focus on their core businesses,” he pointed out.
“Most companies have operations in multiple locations in the country and abroad. They are required to fan out teams to different locations to train people and help them understand the issues. The Government should help different stakeholders, including the consumers, understand the salient features of the GST,” he said.
Lead time
The FAPCCI also felt that the Government give a lead time of at least six months after the relevant Act is enacted in Parliament. “Traders and businesses are just collection agents of taxes. If they falter (in calculating taxes), they lose heavily. They should be given enough time to understand the intricacies ,” he said.
GST: Centre, States differ on taxing alcohol, petro goods
New Delhi, Jan. 25
The Centre has rejected the States' suggestion that alcoholic beverages may be kept out of the purview of proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) system. The Revenue Department has taken a stance that alcoholic beverages should be brought under the purview of GST and that the State excise duty can be charged over and above GST.
Two-rate structure
The Centre has also rejected the States' proposed move to adopt a two-rate structure. There should be a single rate of SGST both for goods and services. There should be one CGST rate both for goods as well as services, the Revenue Department has said.
Another important area where the Centre and the States now have a differing stance is on the levy of GST on petroleum products. The first discussion paper of the States suggested that sales tax continue to be levied by the States on these products with prevailing floor rate. However, the Revenue Department in the Union Finance Ministry has said that petroleum products may be levied to GST and in select cases credit of GST paid on these items may be disallowed in order to minimise the possibility of misuse.
The Revenue Department's comments on the first discussion paper on GST were released here on Monday. It has noted that keeping crude petroleum and natural gas out of the GST net would imply that the credit on capital goods and input services going into exploration and extraction would not be available resulting in cascading.
The Finance Ministry also said that electricity duty, purchase tax, octroi and taxes levied by local bodies should also be subsumed under GST. The Centre does not want the compensation package, if agreed, to have any link to any particular tax being subsumed.
New Delhi, Jan. 25
The Centre has rejected the States' suggestion that alcoholic beverages may be kept out of the purview of proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) system. The Revenue Department has taken a stance that alcoholic beverages should be brought under the purview of GST and that the State excise duty can be charged over and above GST.
Two-rate structure
The Centre has also rejected the States' proposed move to adopt a two-rate structure. There should be a single rate of SGST both for goods and services. There should be one CGST rate both for goods as well as services, the Revenue Department has said.
Another important area where the Centre and the States now have a differing stance is on the levy of GST on petroleum products. The first discussion paper of the States suggested that sales tax continue to be levied by the States on these products with prevailing floor rate. However, the Revenue Department in the Union Finance Ministry has said that petroleum products may be levied to GST and in select cases credit of GST paid on these items may be disallowed in order to minimise the possibility of misuse.
The Revenue Department's comments on the first discussion paper on GST were released here on Monday. It has noted that keeping crude petroleum and natural gas out of the GST net would imply that the credit on capital goods and input services going into exploration and extraction would not be available resulting in cascading.
The Finance Ministry also said that electricity duty, purchase tax, octroi and taxes levied by local bodies should also be subsumed under GST. The Centre does not want the compensation package, if agreed, to have any link to any particular tax being subsumed.
Women need more sleep than men: Study
British researchers say women, given their multi-tasking abilities, need at least 20 minutes more sleep than men.
Women need more sleep than men — around 20 minutes of more sleep on an average — owing to their busy and multi-tasking brain, according to a new research by a British sleep expert.
“Women need 20 minutes more shut-eye than the average man. This is because women’s brains are wired differently from men’s and are more complex, so their sleep need is slightly greater,” said Professor Jim Horne, director of the Sleep Research Centre at Loughborough University in UK.
Pointing out that one of the major functions of sleep is to allow the brain to recover and repair itself, Horne said, “During deep sleep, the cortex — part of the brain responsible for thought memory, language and so on — disengages from the senses and goes into recovery mode. The more a person uses his brain during the day, the more sleep he needs at night to recover, Horne said adding, “Women tend to multi-task — they do lots at once and are flexible — and so they use more of their actual brain than men do. Because of that, their sleep need is greater.”
“A man who has a complex job that involves a lot of decision-making and lateral thinking may also need more sleep than the average male — though probably still not as much as a woman,” he told the Daily Mail.
British researchers say women, given their multi-tasking abilities, need at least 20 minutes more sleep than men.
Women need more sleep than men — around 20 minutes of more sleep on an average — owing to their busy and multi-tasking brain, according to a new research by a British sleep expert.
“Women need 20 minutes more shut-eye than the average man. This is because women’s brains are wired differently from men’s and are more complex, so their sleep need is slightly greater,” said Professor Jim Horne, director of the Sleep Research Centre at Loughborough University in UK.
Pointing out that one of the major functions of sleep is to allow the brain to recover and repair itself, Horne said, “During deep sleep, the cortex — part of the brain responsible for thought memory, language and so on — disengages from the senses and goes into recovery mode. The more a person uses his brain during the day, the more sleep he needs at night to recover, Horne said adding, “Women tend to multi-task — they do lots at once and are flexible — and so they use more of their actual brain than men do. Because of that, their sleep need is greater.”
“A man who has a complex job that involves a lot of decision-making and lateral thinking may also need more sleep than the average male — though probably still not as much as a woman,” he told the Daily Mail.
SC warned Gorkhland agitators to derecognise their parties if they blocked National Highway
January 25, 2010
FROM ALL INDIA RADIO
The Supreme Court today warned pro and anti-Gorkhaland agitators that blockade of National Highway, the economic lifeline for Sikkim, will bring serious consequences including de-recognition of political parties and arrest of their leaders.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices Deepak Verma and B S Chauhan said, any further obstruction or blockade of NH 31A will bring serious consequences.
It noted that the highway not only connects Sikkim to the rest of the country but also passes through several districts and hilly places like Siliguri, Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Cooch Bihar in West Bengal to ensure supply of essential goods to the hilly region.
Sikkim government had last month moved the apex court against frequent blockade of the highway seeking a direction for West Bengal to ensure smooth traffic and freight movement which has bore the brunt of pro and anti-Gorkhaland protests.
source: barun roy
January 25, 2010
FROM ALL INDIA RADIO
The Supreme Court today warned pro and anti-Gorkhaland agitators that blockade of National Highway, the economic lifeline for Sikkim, will bring serious consequences including de-recognition of political parties and arrest of their leaders.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices Deepak Verma and B S Chauhan said, any further obstruction or blockade of NH 31A will bring serious consequences.
It noted that the highway not only connects Sikkim to the rest of the country but also passes through several districts and hilly places like Siliguri, Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Cooch Bihar in West Bengal to ensure supply of essential goods to the hilly region.
Sikkim government had last month moved the apex court against frequent blockade of the highway seeking a direction for West Bengal to ensure smooth traffic and freight movement which has bore the brunt of pro and anti-Gorkhaland protests.
source: barun roy
THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA ADDRESSES NATION
H.E. the President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil to the Nation on the eve of the 61st Republic Day
The President, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, addressed the nation on the eve of the 61st Republic Day. Following is the text of the President’s address to the nation:
“My fellow citizens,
On the eve of our 61st Republic Day, I extend my warmest greetings to all of you across the country and also to those living abroad. To the members of our Armed Forces and Para-military forces who guard our frontiers and to our internal security forces, I extend my special greetings.
26th January, this year marks the completion of six decades of working, striving and, all along, being guided by the principles and objectives of the Constitution that was framed after careful deliberations and adopted in 1950. I often recall the speech of Mahatma Gandhi at the launch of the Quit India Movement on 8th August, 1942, where he said that power, when it comes, will belong to the people of India. The wish of the Father of the Nation found expression in the very opening words of the Constitution – We, the people of India. This was a strong affirmation that the impulses of the nation and its future would be guided by its people. They would reflect their aspirations and choices, through democratic means. They would also enjoy the fundamental rights that guarantee their freedoms and dignity. Today is a reminder that upholding the values, determining the direction and propelling the growth of our nation is a task that must be fulfilled by every citizen of the country.
In the first decade of the 21st century, India witnessed transformational changes. It also emerged as a force driving change in the world. Our achievements and experiences have, indeed, brought the nation to a definitional stage, where the promise of a bright future as a developed and progressive nation is for us to claim, as we all work together with conviction and commitment. However, as we overcome deficiencies and convert our strengths into an energetic force, we must remain deeply conscious of what we must preserve and what we must change.
Foremost amongst what we must continue with, is our democratic principles and way of life. We have ably demonstrated that we are a functioning democracy, by time and again, choosing our governments through the ballot and by taking democracy to the grassroots. Also, as we are aware, democracy is very much more demanding. It is the rule of law. It is the rule of reason. And, as India has shown to the world, it is the rule of non-violence. Democracy involves a pattern of behavior, in which every individual must act responsibly, show respect towards dissimilar opinions and address differences in a constructive and accommodative manner. This will build harmony and tolerance - values which are intrinsic to our philosophy; these form the bedrock of a society that embraces the diversity of language, religion and culture to create a composite whole. These values must be followed uninterruptedly in a nation that is, as vast and as varied as ours.
Secularism, our constitutionally chosen path, entails respect for all religions. Its place in our national life is unalterable. India is a land where followers of different religions have lived together for centuries. We must maintain social cohesion. Our tradition of living in accord with each other must continue to form an integral part of the rhythm of life of our future generations.
Belonging to a civilization that has deep reverence towards nature, we must also be sensitive inhabitants of the Planet, in which climate change has become a major challenge. We must judiciously use its resources, work to conserve its rich flora and fauna as well as adopt environment friendly approaches. Use of energy efficient technologies and renewable sources of energy, are some steps that can reduce the carbon footprint.
Dear Citizens,
Our nation has made significant strides. We are the fourth largest economy of the world in terms of purchasing power parity. Our target of achieving a double digit growth rate is plausible and realistic, given our impressive performance during the last decade and our resilience during the global economic downturn. We should continue with policies that promote growth, and also take growth patterns to the bottom of the pyramid and, to those currently outside its purview. Empowering the poor and the disadvantaged, enabling them to move up the economic ladder, to join the ranks of the prosperous, is a task that must be accomplished by all of us. Women need to be made full and equal partners. The inclusive growth strategy, which we have chosen, can make our growth process equitable and sustainable.
The roadmap to inclusive growth requires social justice that can be delivered through an effective social sector infrastructure. It should make quality education and good health facilities available to all citizens, along with social services and job opportunities. This, in turn, will create a human resource base which has the skills, knowledge and capacity to work productively. Hence, our attention must remain focused on this, especially as we have a young population. They must be nurtured and prepared for taking up their responsibilities. Future growth in all sectors will depend on knowledge workers and skilled workforces. They can make our economy dynamic, our service sector efficient and competitive, our manufacturing industries broad based and our agriculture and allied sectors strong. Furthermore, integrating and developing linkages between sectors, say agriculture and industry, will further reinforce growth. These linkages can be fortified by having connectivity at various levels. For a nation which is the seventh largest in geographical terms and the second largest in terms of population, our existing physical infrastructure is inadequate. This constrains and limits connectivity. We have to change this situation. The number of bridges, roads, harbours as well as our power generation capacity and transport facilities, among others, require extensive additions. But, do not forget that along with these structures of cement, steel and mortar, it is also important to bridge our differences, build roads to connect hearts and minds, harbour compassion, generate goodwill towards all and transport these feelings to strengthen the unity of the nation. We will also have to create an atmosphere for our citizens to exercise their rights and tell them to perform their duties as well. This is important to make the development of a democratic nation of over one billion people, participatory and sustainable. In the next decade, not only must we witness the speedy building up of infrastructure, but also a greater cohesiveness among citizens.
A bottleneck and an impediment in bringing about the desired results, for which policies and schemes have been formulated and huge allocation of funds made, is weak implementation and corruption in the system. The causes of the chronic ailment of tardy implementation have to be treated. There should be accountability for lack of implementation of projects, programmes and schemes. This is critical for bringing about positive change.
Public-Private Partnerships and SHGs, that is Self-Help Groups, are important mechanisms for outcome-oriented action and for creating a wide network of stakeholders for growth. There have been numerous examples of how women in urban and rural areas have been able to become financially self-reliant through the SHG route. A movement towards universalisation of SHGs, that brings within its ambit all eligible women, can be a powerful instrument for the economic empowerment of women and for inclusive growth. Facilitation of their formation and functioning will, thus, create a wave of progress and change.
Dear Citizens,
The world over, as also in our country, there is a rising demand for food-grains. This foretells the need for an intense focus on increasing agriculture productivity to ensure food availability, particularly of agricultural produces which are in short supply, to avoid spiraling food prices. To achieve this very important objective, I call for urgent steps towards a Second Green Revolution. There should be use of new technologies, better seeds, improved farming practices, effective water management techniques, as well as more intense frameworks for connecting the farmer with the scientific community, with lending institutions and with markets. Our farmers are ready and willing to work, earn and learn. We have to respond positively and do some “out of the box thinking”. Higher agriculture incomes will improve the living standards of the over 145 million rural households, in the over six lakh villages of the country. With higher income levels, the rural economy will generate demand and provide impetus for growth in other sectors. Recognizing this reality, we have to involve the agriculture economy more pro-actively into the growth process, both as a centre of production and as a generator of demand for various products and services. There are many complementarities that exist between farming communities and the corporate world because both are private enterprises. The possibilities of win-win partnerships between industry and agriculture should be explored. For example, the food processing industry when located close to agricultural areas can transform India's rural landscape. Currently, food processing in India is as low as 10 percent of production, as compared to 65 percent to 80 percent, generally seen in the developed countries. Other agro-based industries would be equally important as propellers of growth. The question is how to attract farmers into such partnerships, which do not adversely affect, but rather keep the interests of farmers in the forefront and take into account their various sensitivities, particularly about their land-holdings. This needs to be done in a farmer-friendly manner and by creating awareness in the farming community. Some Indian companies have understood that linking farmers to industrial units would be beneficial to both. They have developed interesting models of engagement with the farming community. We should study these experiences, as we look at viable options that suit Indian conditions for harnessing the potential of village economies.
Dear Citizens,
Today, the optimum use of capital or labour or resources across the entire spectrum of our national activity is dependent on cutting-edge technologies and technological breakthroughs. We need technologies for more efficient and cleaner energy, for our industry and agriculture. India has to chalk out strategies that will promote research and development resulting in innovative methods and techniques. The quality of research in our country must be upgraded to build knowledge structures. I think the nation should take this up as an urgent calling. A knowledge economy requires an education system that encourages creativity and a capacity to think in a novel fashion. Also, our research institutions should join global knowledge networks to keep themselves abreast of worldwide advancements in research. Technology should reach a broader section of our society, and also the movement of grassroots innovations should receive encouragement.
A change which is required, and of which I have spoken often is the eradication of social malpractices in particular those related to discrimination against women. These pose a hindrance on our path to building a more progressive and equitable nation. We should follow a positive agenda for the empowerment of women. A change in our mindsets will be important to remove prejudices and create equal opportunities for all citizens. This is essential for our inclusive growth agenda and for tapping the full potential of our population.
In any mission, particularly one as complex and challenging as nation building, as has been said by our first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, “We have to labour, and to work, and to work hard, to give reality to our dreams.” For this, motivational levels have to be kept high.
Media can have an important influence on how people see the country. With relentless advances in technology, media is now an integral part of our daily lives. It can create awareness by bringing information to the people, getting them to reflect, and making them realize their responsibilities towards the nation. With a media that plays a constructive role, people would be inspired to take actions that would contribute to building the nation and also to learn about the benefits of positive actions.
For growth, an environment of security is essential. Government is committed to maintain high vigil and take appropriate measures to address internal security challenges. Our country has been a target of terrorism for more than two decades. Government has taken and will continue to take necessary steps to tackle threats emanating from terrorism. It will also continue to work with the international community to combat this menace.
As in the past, in the future also, the voice of India in the world would be a voice for peace, a voice for development, and a voice of hope. In the global arena, we will seek a change in the structure of multilateral institutions, so that they reflect contemporary realities. We will continue to cooperate with the international community to deal with global issues. We will seek to build friendly relations with countries in our region and those across the world.
As 2009 came to a close, there have been many analyses about what are the possible prospects of the next decade for India. Some refer to it as the deciding decade, the decade of reckoning. On reflection, I fully agree that it will be so. It must, therefore, mean a decade in which all Indians must do their work with a sense of responsibility, discipline, integrity of mind and purpose as well as with a spirit of cooperation. We will have to inspire our young generation so that they are virtuous, with good character and a sense of fellow feeling towards others. We must channelise all our efforts towards the goal of taking the country to a higher level of all round national development and not rest till we achieve our goal. We can then be proud that we have performed our duty and borne our responsibility well. It is said that, fortune is an outcome of good work and can slip away, if we are lax in our work. I am reminded of a few inspirational lines:-
With these words, I once again wish all fellow citizens peace, prosperity and progress on the occasion of our Republic Day.
JAI HIND”.
The President, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, addressed the nation on the eve of the 61st Republic Day. Following is the text of the President’s address to the nation:
“My fellow citizens,
On the eve of our 61st Republic Day, I extend my warmest greetings to all of you across the country and also to those living abroad. To the members of our Armed Forces and Para-military forces who guard our frontiers and to our internal security forces, I extend my special greetings.
26th January, this year marks the completion of six decades of working, striving and, all along, being guided by the principles and objectives of the Constitution that was framed after careful deliberations and adopted in 1950. I often recall the speech of Mahatma Gandhi at the launch of the Quit India Movement on 8th August, 1942, where he said that power, when it comes, will belong to the people of India. The wish of the Father of the Nation found expression in the very opening words of the Constitution – We, the people of India. This was a strong affirmation that the impulses of the nation and its future would be guided by its people. They would reflect their aspirations and choices, through democratic means. They would also enjoy the fundamental rights that guarantee their freedoms and dignity. Today is a reminder that upholding the values, determining the direction and propelling the growth of our nation is a task that must be fulfilled by every citizen of the country.
In the first decade of the 21st century, India witnessed transformational changes. It also emerged as a force driving change in the world. Our achievements and experiences have, indeed, brought the nation to a definitional stage, where the promise of a bright future as a developed and progressive nation is for us to claim, as we all work together with conviction and commitment. However, as we overcome deficiencies and convert our strengths into an energetic force, we must remain deeply conscious of what we must preserve and what we must change.
Foremost amongst what we must continue with, is our democratic principles and way of life. We have ably demonstrated that we are a functioning democracy, by time and again, choosing our governments through the ballot and by taking democracy to the grassroots. Also, as we are aware, democracy is very much more demanding. It is the rule of law. It is the rule of reason. And, as India has shown to the world, it is the rule of non-violence. Democracy involves a pattern of behavior, in which every individual must act responsibly, show respect towards dissimilar opinions and address differences in a constructive and accommodative manner. This will build harmony and tolerance - values which are intrinsic to our philosophy; these form the bedrock of a society that embraces the diversity of language, religion and culture to create a composite whole. These values must be followed uninterruptedly in a nation that is, as vast and as varied as ours.
Secularism, our constitutionally chosen path, entails respect for all religions. Its place in our national life is unalterable. India is a land where followers of different religions have lived together for centuries. We must maintain social cohesion. Our tradition of living in accord with each other must continue to form an integral part of the rhythm of life of our future generations.
Belonging to a civilization that has deep reverence towards nature, we must also be sensitive inhabitants of the Planet, in which climate change has become a major challenge. We must judiciously use its resources, work to conserve its rich flora and fauna as well as adopt environment friendly approaches. Use of energy efficient technologies and renewable sources of energy, are some steps that can reduce the carbon footprint.
Dear Citizens,
Our nation has made significant strides. We are the fourth largest economy of the world in terms of purchasing power parity. Our target of achieving a double digit growth rate is plausible and realistic, given our impressive performance during the last decade and our resilience during the global economic downturn. We should continue with policies that promote growth, and also take growth patterns to the bottom of the pyramid and, to those currently outside its purview. Empowering the poor and the disadvantaged, enabling them to move up the economic ladder, to join the ranks of the prosperous, is a task that must be accomplished by all of us. Women need to be made full and equal partners. The inclusive growth strategy, which we have chosen, can make our growth process equitable and sustainable.
The roadmap to inclusive growth requires social justice that can be delivered through an effective social sector infrastructure. It should make quality education and good health facilities available to all citizens, along with social services and job opportunities. This, in turn, will create a human resource base which has the skills, knowledge and capacity to work productively. Hence, our attention must remain focused on this, especially as we have a young population. They must be nurtured and prepared for taking up their responsibilities. Future growth in all sectors will depend on knowledge workers and skilled workforces. They can make our economy dynamic, our service sector efficient and competitive, our manufacturing industries broad based and our agriculture and allied sectors strong. Furthermore, integrating and developing linkages between sectors, say agriculture and industry, will further reinforce growth. These linkages can be fortified by having connectivity at various levels. For a nation which is the seventh largest in geographical terms and the second largest in terms of population, our existing physical infrastructure is inadequate. This constrains and limits connectivity. We have to change this situation. The number of bridges, roads, harbours as well as our power generation capacity and transport facilities, among others, require extensive additions. But, do not forget that along with these structures of cement, steel and mortar, it is also important to bridge our differences, build roads to connect hearts and minds, harbour compassion, generate goodwill towards all and transport these feelings to strengthen the unity of the nation. We will also have to create an atmosphere for our citizens to exercise their rights and tell them to perform their duties as well. This is important to make the development of a democratic nation of over one billion people, participatory and sustainable. In the next decade, not only must we witness the speedy building up of infrastructure, but also a greater cohesiveness among citizens.
A bottleneck and an impediment in bringing about the desired results, for which policies and schemes have been formulated and huge allocation of funds made, is weak implementation and corruption in the system. The causes of the chronic ailment of tardy implementation have to be treated. There should be accountability for lack of implementation of projects, programmes and schemes. This is critical for bringing about positive change.
Public-Private Partnerships and SHGs, that is Self-Help Groups, are important mechanisms for outcome-oriented action and for creating a wide network of stakeholders for growth. There have been numerous examples of how women in urban and rural areas have been able to become financially self-reliant through the SHG route. A movement towards universalisation of SHGs, that brings within its ambit all eligible women, can be a powerful instrument for the economic empowerment of women and for inclusive growth. Facilitation of their formation and functioning will, thus, create a wave of progress and change.
Dear Citizens,
The world over, as also in our country, there is a rising demand for food-grains. This foretells the need for an intense focus on increasing agriculture productivity to ensure food availability, particularly of agricultural produces which are in short supply, to avoid spiraling food prices. To achieve this very important objective, I call for urgent steps towards a Second Green Revolution. There should be use of new technologies, better seeds, improved farming practices, effective water management techniques, as well as more intense frameworks for connecting the farmer with the scientific community, with lending institutions and with markets. Our farmers are ready and willing to work, earn and learn. We have to respond positively and do some “out of the box thinking”. Higher agriculture incomes will improve the living standards of the over 145 million rural households, in the over six lakh villages of the country. With higher income levels, the rural economy will generate demand and provide impetus for growth in other sectors. Recognizing this reality, we have to involve the agriculture economy more pro-actively into the growth process, both as a centre of production and as a generator of demand for various products and services. There are many complementarities that exist between farming communities and the corporate world because both are private enterprises. The possibilities of win-win partnerships between industry and agriculture should be explored. For example, the food processing industry when located close to agricultural areas can transform India's rural landscape. Currently, food processing in India is as low as 10 percent of production, as compared to 65 percent to 80 percent, generally seen in the developed countries. Other agro-based industries would be equally important as propellers of growth. The question is how to attract farmers into such partnerships, which do not adversely affect, but rather keep the interests of farmers in the forefront and take into account their various sensitivities, particularly about their land-holdings. This needs to be done in a farmer-friendly manner and by creating awareness in the farming community. Some Indian companies have understood that linking farmers to industrial units would be beneficial to both. They have developed interesting models of engagement with the farming community. We should study these experiences, as we look at viable options that suit Indian conditions for harnessing the potential of village economies.
Dear Citizens,
Today, the optimum use of capital or labour or resources across the entire spectrum of our national activity is dependent on cutting-edge technologies and technological breakthroughs. We need technologies for more efficient and cleaner energy, for our industry and agriculture. India has to chalk out strategies that will promote research and development resulting in innovative methods and techniques. The quality of research in our country must be upgraded to build knowledge structures. I think the nation should take this up as an urgent calling. A knowledge economy requires an education system that encourages creativity and a capacity to think in a novel fashion. Also, our research institutions should join global knowledge networks to keep themselves abreast of worldwide advancements in research. Technology should reach a broader section of our society, and also the movement of grassroots innovations should receive encouragement.
A change which is required, and of which I have spoken often is the eradication of social malpractices in particular those related to discrimination against women. These pose a hindrance on our path to building a more progressive and equitable nation. We should follow a positive agenda for the empowerment of women. A change in our mindsets will be important to remove prejudices and create equal opportunities for all citizens. This is essential for our inclusive growth agenda and for tapping the full potential of our population.
In any mission, particularly one as complex and challenging as nation building, as has been said by our first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, “We have to labour, and to work, and to work hard, to give reality to our dreams.” For this, motivational levels have to be kept high.
Media can have an important influence on how people see the country. With relentless advances in technology, media is now an integral part of our daily lives. It can create awareness by bringing information to the people, getting them to reflect, and making them realize their responsibilities towards the nation. With a media that plays a constructive role, people would be inspired to take actions that would contribute to building the nation and also to learn about the benefits of positive actions.
For growth, an environment of security is essential. Government is committed to maintain high vigil and take appropriate measures to address internal security challenges. Our country has been a target of terrorism for more than two decades. Government has taken and will continue to take necessary steps to tackle threats emanating from terrorism. It will also continue to work with the international community to combat this menace.
As in the past, in the future also, the voice of India in the world would be a voice for peace, a voice for development, and a voice of hope. In the global arena, we will seek a change in the structure of multilateral institutions, so that they reflect contemporary realities. We will continue to cooperate with the international community to deal with global issues. We will seek to build friendly relations with countries in our region and those across the world.
As 2009 came to a close, there have been many analyses about what are the possible prospects of the next decade for India. Some refer to it as the deciding decade, the decade of reckoning. On reflection, I fully agree that it will be so. It must, therefore, mean a decade in which all Indians must do their work with a sense of responsibility, discipline, integrity of mind and purpose as well as with a spirit of cooperation. We will have to inspire our young generation so that they are virtuous, with good character and a sense of fellow feeling towards others. We must channelise all our efforts towards the goal of taking the country to a higher level of all round national development and not rest till we achieve our goal. We can then be proud that we have performed our duty and borne our responsibility well. It is said that, fortune is an outcome of good work and can slip away, if we are lax in our work. I am reminded of a few inspirational lines:-
With these words, I once again wish all fellow citizens peace, prosperity and progress on the occasion of our Republic Day.
JAI HIND”.
Hard men for tough jobs
Prabhu Chawla
January 25, 2010
When the going gets tough, the tough get going, goes the saying. The UPA government seems to have total and implicit faith in this adage. The appointment of the former national security advisor M.K. Narayanan as the new Governor of West Bengal, coming so soon after Narayan Dutt Tiwari was summarily packed off from Hyderabad for indulging in activities not generally associated with occupants of Raj Bhavans- least of all 86 year olds- leads me to just one conclusion.
This government is not going to allow governors to treat the Raj Bhavans as farmhouses in the city centre for fun and frolic and rest and recreation. For a change, it is telling them: take your jobs seriously, or here is the pink slip. In these columns a couple of weeks ago, I had written about how successive governments at the Centre had reserved the gubernatorial jobs for over-the-hill politicians who remained content being mere rubber stamps or agents of the ruling party at the Centre.
In the last fortnight, the government appointed or transferred eight governors.
Four of them took the oath of office on Friday and the rest are scheduled to do so soon after the Republic Day formalities are done with. Of the 28 incumbents, politicians with 16, not surprisingly form the majority. There are four retired IAS officers: former home secretary N.N. Vohra in Srinagar, retired defence secretary Shekhar Dutt in Chhattisgarh, former civil aviation secretary S.S. Sidhu in Goa, and former home secretary B.P. Singh in Sikkim. Two more are former army men: Retd General J.J. Singh and retd Lt Gen M.M. Lakhera. The rest are, you may have guessed, all retired police officers.
Never in history have six ex-police officers occupied the post of governors at the same time. And the fact that all six, whose efficiency is beyond question and integrity beyond reproach, are in charge of sensitive states is probably an indication that the government truly believes that when the going gets tough, you really have to get the tough going. Narayanan, an IPS officer, former chief of the Intelligence Bureau and the NSA, is now in West Bengal where Mamata Banerjee is not the only threat to law and order. When the Telangana strife began, the centre showed the door to N.D. Tiwari and asked E.S.L. Narasimhan, then governor of Chhattisgarh, to hold concurrent charge of Andhra Pradesh.
Narasimhan now has been confirmed as the governor of the state, his old post in Raipur going to retired IAS officer Shekhar Dutt. Narasimhan is a 1968 batch IPS officer and, hailing as he does, from the Andhra cadre, there is no one better suited than him to understand, evaluate and tackle the situation in the state which, if handled without some amount of Narasimhan deftness, could turn into an inferno.
Ex Army man J.J. Singh was Director General at the Military Operations Directorate. The Chinese fear none, but it still makes sense to have him as the governor of Arunachal Pradesh where Beijing loves to poke its nose. Nikhil Kumar, Gurbachan Jagat and R.S. Mooshahary have all had distinguished careers in police forces in different states and are posted in similarly crucial North east stations while the services of B.L. Joshi, who joined the police in 1957 and has had long stints working with Interpol, Narcotics and Internal Security is just what lawless Uttar Pradesh needs.
These are proven people in sensitive posts. Take them away and who are you left with? The old style politicians whose utility dates in that rough and tumble world is long expired and who are now being used as agents and political rubber stamps in states where the threat is not to the centre, but the ruling party at the centre.
This is not to suggest that none of the 16 political appointees deserve to be in their Raj Bhavans.
They were all posted as governors because they had reached the sunset of their political careers. As career politicians, they can at best play backroom politics to aid their benefactors at the centre. It is challenge that bring out the best in man. And as these increase by the day, I believe that this government - and those that follow- will think of men and women with proven administrative skills for the Raj Bhavan jobs. Governors should be made of such mettle.
source: India Today
Prabhu Chawla
January 25, 2010
When the going gets tough, the tough get going, goes the saying. The UPA government seems to have total and implicit faith in this adage. The appointment of the former national security advisor M.K. Narayanan as the new Governor of West Bengal, coming so soon after Narayan Dutt Tiwari was summarily packed off from Hyderabad for indulging in activities not generally associated with occupants of Raj Bhavans- least of all 86 year olds- leads me to just one conclusion.
This government is not going to allow governors to treat the Raj Bhavans as farmhouses in the city centre for fun and frolic and rest and recreation. For a change, it is telling them: take your jobs seriously, or here is the pink slip. In these columns a couple of weeks ago, I had written about how successive governments at the Centre had reserved the gubernatorial jobs for over-the-hill politicians who remained content being mere rubber stamps or agents of the ruling party at the Centre.
In the last fortnight, the government appointed or transferred eight governors.
Four of them took the oath of office on Friday and the rest are scheduled to do so soon after the Republic Day formalities are done with. Of the 28 incumbents, politicians with 16, not surprisingly form the majority. There are four retired IAS officers: former home secretary N.N. Vohra in Srinagar, retired defence secretary Shekhar Dutt in Chhattisgarh, former civil aviation secretary S.S. Sidhu in Goa, and former home secretary B.P. Singh in Sikkim. Two more are former army men: Retd General J.J. Singh and retd Lt Gen M.M. Lakhera. The rest are, you may have guessed, all retired police officers.
Never in history have six ex-police officers occupied the post of governors at the same time. And the fact that all six, whose efficiency is beyond question and integrity beyond reproach, are in charge of sensitive states is probably an indication that the government truly believes that when the going gets tough, you really have to get the tough going. Narayanan, an IPS officer, former chief of the Intelligence Bureau and the NSA, is now in West Bengal where Mamata Banerjee is not the only threat to law and order. When the Telangana strife began, the centre showed the door to N.D. Tiwari and asked E.S.L. Narasimhan, then governor of Chhattisgarh, to hold concurrent charge of Andhra Pradesh.
Narasimhan now has been confirmed as the governor of the state, his old post in Raipur going to retired IAS officer Shekhar Dutt. Narasimhan is a 1968 batch IPS officer and, hailing as he does, from the Andhra cadre, there is no one better suited than him to understand, evaluate and tackle the situation in the state which, if handled without some amount of Narasimhan deftness, could turn into an inferno.
Ex Army man J.J. Singh was Director General at the Military Operations Directorate. The Chinese fear none, but it still makes sense to have him as the governor of Arunachal Pradesh where Beijing loves to poke its nose. Nikhil Kumar, Gurbachan Jagat and R.S. Mooshahary have all had distinguished careers in police forces in different states and are posted in similarly crucial North east stations while the services of B.L. Joshi, who joined the police in 1957 and has had long stints working with Interpol, Narcotics and Internal Security is just what lawless Uttar Pradesh needs.
These are proven people in sensitive posts. Take them away and who are you left with? The old style politicians whose utility dates in that rough and tumble world is long expired and who are now being used as agents and political rubber stamps in states where the threat is not to the centre, but the ruling party at the centre.
This is not to suggest that none of the 16 political appointees deserve to be in their Raj Bhavans.
They were all posted as governors because they had reached the sunset of their political careers. As career politicians, they can at best play backroom politics to aid their benefactors at the centre. It is challenge that bring out the best in man. And as these increase by the day, I believe that this government - and those that follow- will think of men and women with proven administrative skills for the Raj Bhavan jobs. Governors should be made of such mettle.
source: India Today
Monday, January 25, 2010
Inflation is a tax on the poor as it results in an indirect transfer of resources from the poor to the rich. Inflation shrinks the real incomes
Inflation Paradox
By Paranjoy Guha Thakurta
The single biggest failure of the second UPA government on the economic front has been its inability to control food prices.
At least three kinds of pulses (tur, arhar and moong dal) cost a record Rs 100 a kilogram (kg). Sugar prices have jumped nearly threefold over the past fifteen months. Butter went missing from shops in many parts of the National Capital Region (NCR) over the first fortnight of November in anticipation of a price hike. Potato prices have doubled over the last year. Non-seasonal fruits and vegetables have become a luxury not just for the aam admi in whose name the Congress-led coalition government won an electoral victory in April-May but even for large sections of the country’s middle class.
Inflation has returned to haunt India. Soaring prices of vegetables like potatoes and onions had pushed the annual rate of inflation for food articles to 19.05 per cent for the week ended November 28. Food inflation was 17.47 per cent for the previous week ended November 21. Official data released on December 10, 2009, indicated that over a year, prices of like cereals had gone up by 12.7 per cent (rice by 11.75 per cent, wheat 12.6 per cent and all categories of pulses by 42 per cent), fruits were expensive by 13 per cent while milk became costly by 11.36 per cent.
Yet, for the month of October, the overall rate of inflation as measured by the wholesale price index (WPI) stood at only 1.34 per cent against 11.06 per cent in the corresponding month a year ago. In the period between June and August, the WPI had remained in negative territory for 13 weeks. The apparent paradox is explained by the nature of the WPI which is an economy-wide index covering as many as 435 commodities. The true picture emerges only when one looks at the disaggregated figures. Within the WPI, prices of all primary food articles jumped by almost 20 per cent while prices of all vegetables shot up by a huge 50 per cent.
Many argue that the relatively slow growth of farm productivity (which is on account of many years of neglect of public investments in agriculture) is an important reason for the current spurt in food inflation. Another factor is the haphazard way in which the country has exported and imported food products over the recent past.
A few examples would suffice: in the course of calendar 2006, exports of onions surged by over 60 per cent while retail prices at home shot up by around 150 per cent. In the first half of 2009, 4.8 million tonnes of sugar were exported at Rs 12 a kg but the country will now be importing 7 million tonnes at a landed price that is more than double the price at which sugar was exported.
The government’s recent track record in managing food supplies, calibrating exports and imports and coordinating the activities of three ministries (Agriculture, Commerce and Finance) has not been particularly creditable.
Add corruption to the scenario. The outcome of the official inquiry into the rice export scam is awaited. During 2008, at a time when there was a ban on its exports, consignments of non-basmati rice from Indian found their way to a clutch of African countries — ostensibly as “humanitarian aid” — through a selected group of exporting firms. Curiously, some of these consignments were diverted through Europe.
Inflation is a tax on the poor as it results in an indirect transfer of resources from the poor to the rich. Inflation shrinks the real incomes of the underprivileged faster than the incomes of the affluent. When inflation is driven by high food prices, it becomes a double tax on the poor because the poor spend a relatively much higher proportion of their total incomes on food unlike the rich. Unfortunately for the majority of people in the country, food prices are expected to continue to rise in the coming months.
(The writer is an educator and a journalist with 30 years’ experience)
By Paranjoy Guha Thakurta
The single biggest failure of the second UPA government on the economic front has been its inability to control food prices.
At least three kinds of pulses (tur, arhar and moong dal) cost a record Rs 100 a kilogram (kg). Sugar prices have jumped nearly threefold over the past fifteen months. Butter went missing from shops in many parts of the National Capital Region (NCR) over the first fortnight of November in anticipation of a price hike. Potato prices have doubled over the last year. Non-seasonal fruits and vegetables have become a luxury not just for the aam admi in whose name the Congress-led coalition government won an electoral victory in April-May but even for large sections of the country’s middle class.
Inflation has returned to haunt India. Soaring prices of vegetables like potatoes and onions had pushed the annual rate of inflation for food articles to 19.05 per cent for the week ended November 28. Food inflation was 17.47 per cent for the previous week ended November 21. Official data released on December 10, 2009, indicated that over a year, prices of like cereals had gone up by 12.7 per cent (rice by 11.75 per cent, wheat 12.6 per cent and all categories of pulses by 42 per cent), fruits were expensive by 13 per cent while milk became costly by 11.36 per cent.
Yet, for the month of October, the overall rate of inflation as measured by the wholesale price index (WPI) stood at only 1.34 per cent against 11.06 per cent in the corresponding month a year ago. In the period between June and August, the WPI had remained in negative territory for 13 weeks. The apparent paradox is explained by the nature of the WPI which is an economy-wide index covering as many as 435 commodities. The true picture emerges only when one looks at the disaggregated figures. Within the WPI, prices of all primary food articles jumped by almost 20 per cent while prices of all vegetables shot up by a huge 50 per cent.
Many argue that the relatively slow growth of farm productivity (which is on account of many years of neglect of public investments in agriculture) is an important reason for the current spurt in food inflation. Another factor is the haphazard way in which the country has exported and imported food products over the recent past.
A few examples would suffice: in the course of calendar 2006, exports of onions surged by over 60 per cent while retail prices at home shot up by around 150 per cent. In the first half of 2009, 4.8 million tonnes of sugar were exported at Rs 12 a kg but the country will now be importing 7 million tonnes at a landed price that is more than double the price at which sugar was exported.
The government’s recent track record in managing food supplies, calibrating exports and imports and coordinating the activities of three ministries (Agriculture, Commerce and Finance) has not been particularly creditable.
Add corruption to the scenario. The outcome of the official inquiry into the rice export scam is awaited. During 2008, at a time when there was a ban on its exports, consignments of non-basmati rice from Indian found their way to a clutch of African countries — ostensibly as “humanitarian aid” — through a selected group of exporting firms. Curiously, some of these consignments were diverted through Europe.
Inflation is a tax on the poor as it results in an indirect transfer of resources from the poor to the rich. Inflation shrinks the real incomes of the underprivileged faster than the incomes of the affluent. When inflation is driven by high food prices, it becomes a double tax on the poor because the poor spend a relatively much higher proportion of their total incomes on food unlike the rich. Unfortunately for the majority of people in the country, food prices are expected to continue to rise in the coming months.
(The writer is an educator and a journalist with 30 years’ experience)
JAI HIND JAI HIND JAI HIND
Republic Day 2010 – a curtain raiser
25.1.2010
A strong and resurgent India will be celebrating its 61st Republic Day tomorrow. This year’s parade will highlight the nation’s achievements in various fields, the military prowess, scintillating display of air power as also country’s rich and diverse cultural heritage.
The highlight of this year’s Parade will be the MBT Arjun, Smerch Multiple Launch Rocket System, Armoured Engineer Recce Vehicle, Sarvatra Bridge, Electronic Warfare System, Samyukta, ICV BMP-II Sarath, Ambulance Tracked and ALH Dhruv. Also on view will be the indigenous systems being developed by the DRDO including the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, Agni-III Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile, Shourya Surface-to-Surface Strategic Missile and the Rohini Radar.
In the year of the Commonwealth Games being hosted by New Delhi, a bevy of sportspersons including boxer Vijender Singh, wrestler Sushil Kumar, weightlifter K Malleshwari, athlete PT Usha, hockey player, Zafar Iqbal, shooter Samresh Jung, Badminton player Gopichand Pullela, India’s former Hockey captains AjitPal Singh and Zafar Iqbal, swimmer Khajan Singh and veteran Olympian Milkha Singh will be the star attractions of the parade accompanying the tableau of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
The parade ceremony will commence at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate where the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will lead the nation in paying homage to the martyrs by laying wreath. An eternal flame burns at the Amar Jawan Jyoti to commemorate the indomitable courage of our Armed Forces personnel who have made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the motherland. The Amar Jawan, the immortal soldier, is symbolised by a reversed rifle topped by a helmet.
As per tradition, after unfurling of the National Flag, the National Anthem will be played. Thereafter President Smt Pratibha Devisingh Patil will confer the Ashok Chakra on Major D. Sreeram Kumar of 39 Assam Rifles, Major Mohit Sharma (posthumous) of 1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (Special Forces) and Havildar Rajesh Kumar (posthumous) of 11th Battalion, The Rajputana Rifles.
The parade will then commence and the President will take the salute. This year’s Chief Guest in the parade will be Mr. Lee Myung-bak, President of Republic of Korea.
The parade will be commanded by Lt. General Kanwal Jeet Singh Oberoi, General Officer Commanding, Delhi Area. Brig Kuldip Singh will be the parade Second-in-Command. Param Vir Chakra winners Subedar Major (Honorary captain) Bana Singh (retd), Havildar Sanjay Kumar, 13 JAK RIF and Havildar Yogendra Singh Yadav, 18 Grenadiers and Ashok Chakra Winners Lt Col Jas Ram Singh (retd), Brigadier CA Pithawalla, Cdr, HQ 3 Sect Rashtriya Rifles and Hony Naib subedar Chhering Mutup (retd) will follow the Deputy Parade Commander on Jeeps.
The marching contingents of Army will include the horse-mounted columns of the 61st Cavalry, the Brigade of the Guards, Madras Regiment, Jat Regiment, Sikh Regiment, Dogra Regiment, Bihar Regiment, Gorkha Regiment and the Territorial Army. The marching contingents of Navy comprising 144 men will be led by Lt. Commander Ajay Verma and the Air Force contingent comprising 148 men will be led by Sq. Ldr. R. Katoch.
The marching contingents of paramilitary and other auxiliary civil forces will include contingents from the Border Security Force, Assam Rifles, Coast Guard, Central Reserve Police Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Central Industrial Security Force, Sashastra Seema Bal, Railway Protection Force, Delhi Police, National Cadet Corps and National Service Scheme. The Camel-mounted band of the BSF will be another attraction.
Tableaux from 21 states and Central Ministries and Departments will present the varied historical, architectural and cultural heritage of the country. They will also showcase country’s progress in different fields.
Nineteen of the 21 children selected for the National Bravery Award – 2009 will also participate in the parade. Two children have got the award posthumously.
In the children’s pageant section, 750 boys and girls drawn from Kamal Model Senior Secondary School, Mohan Garden, Vandana International School, Dwarka, Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya Yamuna Vihar, Government Girls’ Senior Secondary School, Maujpur, Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya Samlaka, Delhi and North-East Zone Cultural Centre, Dimapur different school of Delhi and regional cultural zones will present dances and other programmes.
Jaanbaz, the motorcycle display by the Border Security Force will be a major attraction of the parade. It will consist of 178 riders on 34 motorcycles performing Border Man Salute, Back Riding, Ladder Balancing, Guldasta, Operation Tawar, Seema Chowki Buland, Seema Prahari and Flag March under the leadership of Inspector Gurpreet Singh. They will perform breathtaking stunts in a synchronised and synergetic display of mind, body and machine coordination.
The grand finale of the parade will be a spectacular flypast by the IAF, with the AWACS participating in the Parade for the first time. One IL-78, flanked by two AN-32 and two Dornier, flying in Big Boy formation, will lead the flypast. This will be followed by one AWACS, flanked by two Su-30 MKI, flying in Sentry formation. Five Jaguars followed by five MiG-29 will fly in Arrowhead formation. The breathtaking Trishul formation comprising three Su-30 MKI would fly over the Rajpath and once in front of the saluting dais the Su-30MKI aircraft at the centre would carry out a Vertical Charlie manoeuvre.
The ceremony will culminate with the National Anthem and release of balloons.
25.1.2010
A strong and resurgent India will be celebrating its 61st Republic Day tomorrow. This year’s parade will highlight the nation’s achievements in various fields, the military prowess, scintillating display of air power as also country’s rich and diverse cultural heritage.
The highlight of this year’s Parade will be the MBT Arjun, Smerch Multiple Launch Rocket System, Armoured Engineer Recce Vehicle, Sarvatra Bridge, Electronic Warfare System, Samyukta, ICV BMP-II Sarath, Ambulance Tracked and ALH Dhruv. Also on view will be the indigenous systems being developed by the DRDO including the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, Agni-III Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile, Shourya Surface-to-Surface Strategic Missile and the Rohini Radar.
In the year of the Commonwealth Games being hosted by New Delhi, a bevy of sportspersons including boxer Vijender Singh, wrestler Sushil Kumar, weightlifter K Malleshwari, athlete PT Usha, hockey player, Zafar Iqbal, shooter Samresh Jung, Badminton player Gopichand Pullela, India’s former Hockey captains AjitPal Singh and Zafar Iqbal, swimmer Khajan Singh and veteran Olympian Milkha Singh will be the star attractions of the parade accompanying the tableau of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
The parade ceremony will commence at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate where the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will lead the nation in paying homage to the martyrs by laying wreath. An eternal flame burns at the Amar Jawan Jyoti to commemorate the indomitable courage of our Armed Forces personnel who have made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the motherland. The Amar Jawan, the immortal soldier, is symbolised by a reversed rifle topped by a helmet.
As per tradition, after unfurling of the National Flag, the National Anthem will be played. Thereafter President Smt Pratibha Devisingh Patil will confer the Ashok Chakra on Major D. Sreeram Kumar of 39 Assam Rifles, Major Mohit Sharma (posthumous) of 1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (Special Forces) and Havildar Rajesh Kumar (posthumous) of 11th Battalion, The Rajputana Rifles.
The parade will then commence and the President will take the salute. This year’s Chief Guest in the parade will be Mr. Lee Myung-bak, President of Republic of Korea.
The parade will be commanded by Lt. General Kanwal Jeet Singh Oberoi, General Officer Commanding, Delhi Area. Brig Kuldip Singh will be the parade Second-in-Command. Param Vir Chakra winners Subedar Major (Honorary captain) Bana Singh (retd), Havildar Sanjay Kumar, 13 JAK RIF and Havildar Yogendra Singh Yadav, 18 Grenadiers and Ashok Chakra Winners Lt Col Jas Ram Singh (retd), Brigadier CA Pithawalla, Cdr, HQ 3 Sect Rashtriya Rifles and Hony Naib subedar Chhering Mutup (retd) will follow the Deputy Parade Commander on Jeeps.
The marching contingents of Army will include the horse-mounted columns of the 61st Cavalry, the Brigade of the Guards, Madras Regiment, Jat Regiment, Sikh Regiment, Dogra Regiment, Bihar Regiment, Gorkha Regiment and the Territorial Army. The marching contingents of Navy comprising 144 men will be led by Lt. Commander Ajay Verma and the Air Force contingent comprising 148 men will be led by Sq. Ldr. R. Katoch.
The marching contingents of paramilitary and other auxiliary civil forces will include contingents from the Border Security Force, Assam Rifles, Coast Guard, Central Reserve Police Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Central Industrial Security Force, Sashastra Seema Bal, Railway Protection Force, Delhi Police, National Cadet Corps and National Service Scheme. The Camel-mounted band of the BSF will be another attraction.
Tableaux from 21 states and Central Ministries and Departments will present the varied historical, architectural and cultural heritage of the country. They will also showcase country’s progress in different fields.
Nineteen of the 21 children selected for the National Bravery Award – 2009 will also participate in the parade. Two children have got the award posthumously.
In the children’s pageant section, 750 boys and girls drawn from Kamal Model Senior Secondary School, Mohan Garden, Vandana International School, Dwarka, Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya Yamuna Vihar, Government Girls’ Senior Secondary School, Maujpur, Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya Samlaka, Delhi and North-East Zone Cultural Centre, Dimapur different school of Delhi and regional cultural zones will present dances and other programmes.
Jaanbaz, the motorcycle display by the Border Security Force will be a major attraction of the parade. It will consist of 178 riders on 34 motorcycles performing Border Man Salute, Back Riding, Ladder Balancing, Guldasta, Operation Tawar, Seema Chowki Buland, Seema Prahari and Flag March under the leadership of Inspector Gurpreet Singh. They will perform breathtaking stunts in a synchronised and synergetic display of mind, body and machine coordination.
The grand finale of the parade will be a spectacular flypast by the IAF, with the AWACS participating in the Parade for the first time. One IL-78, flanked by two AN-32 and two Dornier, flying in Big Boy formation, will lead the flypast. This will be followed by one AWACS, flanked by two Su-30 MKI, flying in Sentry formation. Five Jaguars followed by five MiG-29 will fly in Arrowhead formation. The breathtaking Trishul formation comprising three Su-30 MKI would fly over the Rajpath and once in front of the saluting dais the Su-30MKI aircraft at the centre would carry out a Vertical Charlie manoeuvre.
The ceremony will culminate with the National Anthem and release of balloons.
Innovation can leverage change, says Gates
The needs of the poor are greater than the money available to help them, but that’s not enough to discourage Bill Gates in his work as co-chair of the world’s largest charitable foundation.
The needs of the poor are greater than the money available to help them, but that’s not enough to discourage Bill Gates in his work as co-chair of the world’s largest charitable foundation.
In his second annual letter, issued on Monday, Mr. Gates says investment in science and technology can leverage those dollars and make more of a difference than charity and government aid alone.
In his 19-page letter, Mr. Gates says the foundation currently is backing 30 areas of innovation including online learning, teacher improvement, malaria vaccine development, HIV prevention, and genetically modified seeds.
The Seattle-based foundation focuses most of its donations on global health, agriculture development and education. Since 1994, the foundation has committed to $21.3 billion in grants. As of Sept. 30, 2009, its endowment totalled $34.17 billion.
Mr. Gates said his and his wife’s experience at Microsoft Corp. is not the only reason they are so taken with technology.
“Melinda and I see our foundation’s key role as investing in innovations that would not otherwise be funded,” he wrote. “This draws not only on our backgrounds in technology but also on the foundation’s size and ability to take a long-term view and take large risks on new approaches”.
Gates begins his letter by talking about how much fun he’s having at his new job: 2009 was the first year he worked full-time as co-chair of the foundation, after a decade of part-time work as he led Microsoft full-time.
He talks about enjoyable visits around the world to talk to scientists, politicians, teachers, farmers and people doing the work of the foundation.
“Seeing the work firsthand reminds me of how urgent the needs are as well as how challenging it is to get all the right pieces to come together,” Mr. Gates wrote. “I love my new job and feel lucky to get to focus my time on these problems.”
He talked about the way he and Melinda work as partners at the foundation, each focusing on problems that interest them and then sharing what they’ve learned and making decisions together on what the foundation should do.
Nearly seven pages of the letter focus on the foundation’s work in global health and repeatedly he admits the work to reach the foundation’s ambitious goals is harder than they expected.
Vaccine development is progressing, but the cost to provide those vaccines to the poor is still a problem. It’s going to be difficult to meet a six-year goal to get the retrovirus vaccine to more than half the kids who need it.
Bed nets are helping decrease malaria deaths over Africa, but “malaria is a particularly tricky disease,” Gates acknowledges. The foundation has resorted to a very expensive scattershot approaches to meeting Bill and Melinda’s goal of eradicating malaria, with many researchers pursuing a lot of different ideas.
Despite having one vaccine in a Phase III trial, an effective malaria vaccine is still 8 to 15 years away, he said.
The letter ends with Gates’ explanation about why the foundation hasn’t gotten involved in working to fight climate change, despite its potential impact on the poorest nations.
He said he believes developing electricity that is cheaper than coal and emits no greenhouse gasses is the most important innovation to help fight climate change, but the foundation has not yet found a way it can play a unique role in this area. He added, however, that outside of the foundation he personally is investing in energy research.
“I am surprised that the climate debate hasn’t focused more on encouraging R&D since it is critical to getting to zero emissions,” said the man who admits to spending some of his spare time watching online MIT lectures on physics and chemistry.
The needs of the poor are greater than the money available to help them, but that’s not enough to discourage Bill Gates in his work as co-chair of the world’s largest charitable foundation.
The needs of the poor are greater than the money available to help them, but that’s not enough to discourage Bill Gates in his work as co-chair of the world’s largest charitable foundation.
In his second annual letter, issued on Monday, Mr. Gates says investment in science and technology can leverage those dollars and make more of a difference than charity and government aid alone.
In his 19-page letter, Mr. Gates says the foundation currently is backing 30 areas of innovation including online learning, teacher improvement, malaria vaccine development, HIV prevention, and genetically modified seeds.
The Seattle-based foundation focuses most of its donations on global health, agriculture development and education. Since 1994, the foundation has committed to $21.3 billion in grants. As of Sept. 30, 2009, its endowment totalled $34.17 billion.
Mr. Gates said his and his wife’s experience at Microsoft Corp. is not the only reason they are so taken with technology.
“Melinda and I see our foundation’s key role as investing in innovations that would not otherwise be funded,” he wrote. “This draws not only on our backgrounds in technology but also on the foundation’s size and ability to take a long-term view and take large risks on new approaches”.
Gates begins his letter by talking about how much fun he’s having at his new job: 2009 was the first year he worked full-time as co-chair of the foundation, after a decade of part-time work as he led Microsoft full-time.
He talks about enjoyable visits around the world to talk to scientists, politicians, teachers, farmers and people doing the work of the foundation.
“Seeing the work firsthand reminds me of how urgent the needs are as well as how challenging it is to get all the right pieces to come together,” Mr. Gates wrote. “I love my new job and feel lucky to get to focus my time on these problems.”
He talked about the way he and Melinda work as partners at the foundation, each focusing on problems that interest them and then sharing what they’ve learned and making decisions together on what the foundation should do.
Nearly seven pages of the letter focus on the foundation’s work in global health and repeatedly he admits the work to reach the foundation’s ambitious goals is harder than they expected.
Vaccine development is progressing, but the cost to provide those vaccines to the poor is still a problem. It’s going to be difficult to meet a six-year goal to get the retrovirus vaccine to more than half the kids who need it.
Bed nets are helping decrease malaria deaths over Africa, but “malaria is a particularly tricky disease,” Gates acknowledges. The foundation has resorted to a very expensive scattershot approaches to meeting Bill and Melinda’s goal of eradicating malaria, with many researchers pursuing a lot of different ideas.
Despite having one vaccine in a Phase III trial, an effective malaria vaccine is still 8 to 15 years away, he said.
The letter ends with Gates’ explanation about why the foundation hasn’t gotten involved in working to fight climate change, despite its potential impact on the poorest nations.
He said he believes developing electricity that is cheaper than coal and emits no greenhouse gasses is the most important innovation to help fight climate change, but the foundation has not yet found a way it can play a unique role in this area. He added, however, that outside of the foundation he personally is investing in energy research.
“I am surprised that the climate debate hasn’t focused more on encouraging R&D since it is critical to getting to zero emissions,” said the man who admits to spending some of his spare time watching online MIT lectures on physics and chemistry.
From Choombi to Lhassa is fifteen days’ long journeys those days
SERIES: HIMALAYAN JOURNALS by Joseph Dalton Hooker – Episode 58 Vol II
THIS SERIES WAS MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH THE CONTRIBUTION OF ABDUL KALAM EZANI
SOURCE:THE HIMALAYAN BEACON [BEACON ONLINE] EXCLUSIVE
HIMALAYAN JOURNALS
JOSEPH DALTON HOOKER, M.D., R.N., F.R.S.
LACHEEPIA
From Choombi to Lhassa is fifteen days’ long journeys for a man mounted on a stout mule; all the rice passing through Phari is monopolised there for the Chinese troops at Lhassa. The grazing for yaks and small cattle is excellent in Choombi, and the _Pinus excelsa_ is said to grow abundantly there, though unknown in Sikkim, but I have not heard of any other peculiarity in its productions.
Very few plants grew amongst the stones at the top of the Tunkra pass, and those few were mostly quite different from those of Palung and Kongra Lama. A pink-flowered _Arenaria,_ two kinds of _Corydalis,_ the cottony _Saussurea,_ and diminutive primroses, were the most conspicuous.* [The only others were _Leontopodium, Sedum,_ Saxifrage, _Ramunculus hyperboreus, Ligularia,_ two species of _Polygonum,_ a _Trichostomum, Stereocaulon,_ and _Lecidea geographica,_ not one grass or sedge.] The wind was variable, blowing alternately up both valleys, bringing much snow when it blew from the Teesta, though deflected to a north-west breeze; when, on the contrary, it blew from Tibet, it was, though southerly, dry.
Clouds obscured all distant view. The temperature varied between noon and 1.30 p.m. from 39 degrees to 40.5 degrees, the air being extremely damp. R eturning to the foot of the glacier, I took up my quarters for two days under an enormous rock overlooking the broad flat valley in which I had spent the previous night, and directly fronting Tunkra mountain, which bore north about five miles distant. This rock was sixty to eighty feet high, and 15,250 feet above the sea; it was of gneiss, and was placed on the top of a bleak ridge, facing the north; no shrub or bush being near it. The gentle slope outwards of the rock afforded the only shelter, and a more utterly desolate place than Lacheepia, as it is called, I never laid my unhoused head in.
It commanded an incomparable view due west across the Lachoong and Lachen valleys, of the whole group of Kinchinjunga snows, from Tibet southwards, and as such was a most valuable position for geographical purposes.
The night was misty, and though the temperature was 35 degrees, I was miserably cold; for my blankets being laid on the bare ground, the chill seemed to strike from the rock to the very marrow of my bones.
In the morning the fog hung till sunrise, when it rose majestically from all the mountain-tops; but the view obtained was transient, for in less than an hour the dense woolly banks of fog which choked the valleys ascended like a curtain to the warmed atmosphere above, and slowly threw a veil over the landscape. I waited till the last streak of snow was shut out from my view, when I descended, to breakfast on Himalayan grouse (_Tetrao-perdix nivicola_), a small gregarious bird which inhabits the loftiest stony mountains, and utters a short cry of “Quiok, quiok;” in character and appearance it is intermediate between grouse and partridge, and is good eating, though tough.
Hoping to obtain another view, which might enable me to correct the bearings taken that morning, I was tempted to spend a second night in the open air at Lacheepia, passing the day botanizing* [Scarcely a grass, and no _Astragali,_ grow on these stony and snowy slopes: and the smallest heath-like _Andromeda,_ a still smaller _Menziesia_ (an erotic genus, previously unknown in the Himalaya) and a prostrate willow, are the only woody-stemmed plants above 15,000 feet.] in the vicinity, and taking observations of the barometer and wet-bulb: I also boiled three thermometers by turns, noting the grave errors likely to attend observations of this instrument for elevation.*
[These will be more particularly alluded to in the Appendix, where will be found a comparison of elevations, deduced from boiling point and from barometric observations. The height of Lacheepia is 14,912 feet by boiling-point, and 15,262 feet by barometer.]
Little rain fell during the day, but it was heavy at night, though there was fortunately no wind; and I made a more comfortable bed with tufts of juniper brought up from below. Our fire was principally of wet rhododendron wood, with masses of the aromatic dwarf species, which, being full of resinous glands, blazed with fury. Next day, after a very transient glimpse of the Kinchinjunga snows, I descended to Lachoong, where I remained for some days botanizing.
During my stay I was several times awakened by all the noises and accompaniments of a night-attack or alarm; screaming voices, groans, shouts, and ejaculations, the beating of drums and firing of guns, and flambeaux of pine-wood gleaming amongst the trees, and flitting from house to house. The cause, I was informed, was the, presence of a demon, who required exorcisement, and who generally managed to make the villagers remember his visit, by their missing various articles after the turmoil made to drive him away. The custom of driving out demons in the above manner is constantly practised by the Lamas in Tibet: MM. Huc and Gabet give a graphic account of such an operation during their stay at Kounboum.
THIS SERIES WAS MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH THE CONTRIBUTION OF ABDUL KALAM EZANI
SOURCE:THE HIMALAYAN BEACON [BEACON ONLINE] EXCLUSIVE
HIMALAYAN JOURNALS
JOSEPH DALTON HOOKER, M.D., R.N., F.R.S.
LACHEEPIA
From Choombi to Lhassa is fifteen days’ long journeys for a man mounted on a stout mule; all the rice passing through Phari is monopolised there for the Chinese troops at Lhassa. The grazing for yaks and small cattle is excellent in Choombi, and the _Pinus excelsa_ is said to grow abundantly there, though unknown in Sikkim, but I have not heard of any other peculiarity in its productions.
Very few plants grew amongst the stones at the top of the Tunkra pass, and those few were mostly quite different from those of Palung and Kongra Lama. A pink-flowered _Arenaria,_ two kinds of _Corydalis,_ the cottony _Saussurea,_ and diminutive primroses, were the most conspicuous.* [The only others were _Leontopodium, Sedum,_ Saxifrage, _Ramunculus hyperboreus, Ligularia,_ two species of _Polygonum,_ a _Trichostomum, Stereocaulon,_ and _Lecidea geographica,_ not one grass or sedge.] The wind was variable, blowing alternately up both valleys, bringing much snow when it blew from the Teesta, though deflected to a north-west breeze; when, on the contrary, it blew from Tibet, it was, though southerly, dry.
Clouds obscured all distant view. The temperature varied between noon and 1.30 p.m. from 39 degrees to 40.5 degrees, the air being extremely damp. R eturning to the foot of the glacier, I took up my quarters for two days under an enormous rock overlooking the broad flat valley in which I had spent the previous night, and directly fronting Tunkra mountain, which bore north about five miles distant. This rock was sixty to eighty feet high, and 15,250 feet above the sea; it was of gneiss, and was placed on the top of a bleak ridge, facing the north; no shrub or bush being near it. The gentle slope outwards of the rock afforded the only shelter, and a more utterly desolate place than Lacheepia, as it is called, I never laid my unhoused head in.
It commanded an incomparable view due west across the Lachoong and Lachen valleys, of the whole group of Kinchinjunga snows, from Tibet southwards, and as such was a most valuable position for geographical purposes.
The night was misty, and though the temperature was 35 degrees, I was miserably cold; for my blankets being laid on the bare ground, the chill seemed to strike from the rock to the very marrow of my bones.
In the morning the fog hung till sunrise, when it rose majestically from all the mountain-tops; but the view obtained was transient, for in less than an hour the dense woolly banks of fog which choked the valleys ascended like a curtain to the warmed atmosphere above, and slowly threw a veil over the landscape. I waited till the last streak of snow was shut out from my view, when I descended, to breakfast on Himalayan grouse (_Tetrao-perdix nivicola_), a small gregarious bird which inhabits the loftiest stony mountains, and utters a short cry of “Quiok, quiok;” in character and appearance it is intermediate between grouse and partridge, and is good eating, though tough.
Hoping to obtain another view, which might enable me to correct the bearings taken that morning, I was tempted to spend a second night in the open air at Lacheepia, passing the day botanizing* [Scarcely a grass, and no _Astragali,_ grow on these stony and snowy slopes: and the smallest heath-like _Andromeda,_ a still smaller _Menziesia_ (an erotic genus, previously unknown in the Himalaya) and a prostrate willow, are the only woody-stemmed plants above 15,000 feet.] in the vicinity, and taking observations of the barometer and wet-bulb: I also boiled three thermometers by turns, noting the grave errors likely to attend observations of this instrument for elevation.*
[These will be more particularly alluded to in the Appendix, where will be found a comparison of elevations, deduced from boiling point and from barometric observations. The height of Lacheepia is 14,912 feet by boiling-point, and 15,262 feet by barometer.]
Little rain fell during the day, but it was heavy at night, though there was fortunately no wind; and I made a more comfortable bed with tufts of juniper brought up from below. Our fire was principally of wet rhododendron wood, with masses of the aromatic dwarf species, which, being full of resinous glands, blazed with fury. Next day, after a very transient glimpse of the Kinchinjunga snows, I descended to Lachoong, where I remained for some days botanizing.
During my stay I was several times awakened by all the noises and accompaniments of a night-attack or alarm; screaming voices, groans, shouts, and ejaculations, the beating of drums and firing of guns, and flambeaux of pine-wood gleaming amongst the trees, and flitting from house to house. The cause, I was informed, was the, presence of a demon, who required exorcisement, and who generally managed to make the villagers remember his visit, by their missing various articles after the turmoil made to drive him away. The custom of driving out demons in the above manner is constantly practised by the Lamas in Tibet: MM. Huc and Gabet give a graphic account of such an operation during their stay at Kounboum.
INDIA:Speech by her excellency the President of India, Shrimati Pratibha Devisingh Patil, at the 60th Anniversary of the Election Commission of India
25.1.2010 13:13 IST
“Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am very happy to be here on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the Election Commission of India, just a day before when we will be celebrating our Republic Day. Today’s gathering, in which a wide spectrum of our political leadership is participating, affirms our deep faith in democracy. I understand that representatives of electoral bodies of other countries are also here. I warmly welcome them to our country.
The Election Commission has been a part of the journey of our Republic since its very inception. It has been working with great responsibility from election to election and contributing to taking the nation forward step by step, from one destination to another, from strength to strength and bringing stability to our democratic system. We can be justifiably proud that free and fair elections have been held with regularity in our country in the last six decades. India and democracy have become intertwined concepts and it is hard to imagine one without the other. Democracy, the very essence of our Constitution, has become our nation’s identity.
Framed by men and women of remarkable intelligence, foresight and values, our Constitution bears a profound imprint of the high ideals of our freedom struggle. In choosing democracy and by elaborating in detail the Fundamental Rights, the framers of our Constitution deeply embedded in our national ethos, the importance of the dignity of every individual. A natural extension of this basic approach was the inclusion of universal adult franchise in our Constitution, that gave from the very beginning, the right to vote to every citizen of India – man or woman, rich or poor, no matter to which caste or creed or religion he or she belonged - they were all brought together on one platform. The age-old inequalities were done away with and political equality was established throughout the length and breadth of the country. This was an enlightened vision, particularly if we recall that in many countries different groups, especially women, had to struggle to get their voting rights.
Our Constitution also set up independent and neutral institutions to ensure the continued existence of a democratic framework in the country. The Election Commission of India is one such very important constitutional body created under Article 324 of our Constitution. It has been entrusted with a range of responsibilities for the conduct of elections in the country. Members of the State Legislative Assemblies, Members of Parliament, the Vice-President and I myself, have come through an election process which has been conducted by the Commission. It is important that the independence of the Election Commission is upheld at all times.
Elections are the foundation stone of any democracy. The conduct of free, fair and impartial elections depends much upon the performance of the three stakeholders. They are – an independent and impartial electoral machinery; political parties and candidates; and the electorate. All of them must act responsibly. The Indian election process has the Model Code of Conduct, that lays down the norms of behaviour and actions which, parties and contesting candidates shall adhere to, at the time of elections. As it should, the Commission has been making every effort to create a level playing field between various candidates and has earned the reputation of strictly and impartially monitoring activities of candidates in constituencies through its Election Observers. The Commission has always been willing to use technology for modernization and for the better conduct of elections. In this context, over the years, several measures have been taken such as - computerization of electoral rolls and Photo Identity Cards for voters.
Elections are not a ritual, but a pathway on which the people move with enthusiasm, expressing their aspirations, hopes and desire, as they take forward this great nation to peace and prosperity. With the size of our electorate increasing from 176 million in the first General Elections in the country in 1951-52, to 716 million in the 15th General Elections held last year, the task of the Election Commission has increased manifold. Today, our electorate is almost equal to the combined population of the European Union and of the United States. To organize elections for such a large voting population and in such a vast and difficult geographical area, requires exceptional management and co-ordination. The General Elections conducted in May last year meant the setting up of 8 lakh polling booths and the involvement of close to 5 million polling staff. So meticulous were the arrangements, that a polling booth was set-up even where there was only one voter. Another polling booth was established at a height of 15,300 feet. The election process, in a country of more than one billion people, was followed, the world over, with great interest and admiration. Thus, not only, has the Election Commission helped strengthen democracy at home, but also helped to enhance the prestige of India’s institutional mechanisms. It is for these reasons that the Election Commission of India has been called upon often, to share its experiences about the conduct of elections with other countries.
India has impressive democratic credentials, but yet has the challenge of becoming a “role model” for other countries. This requires that we should be aware of the impediments, the lacunae and malpractices in the electoral process. These would have to be removed with determination, to make our democracy cleaner, healthier and stronger.
As we carry on with our work, we should not forget that we swear by the Constitution, and therefore, we must adhere to its values, spirit and principles. Democracy adorns our Constitution. We have to see that the power of voting vested in the people makes them powerful enough to change their own destiny through democracy and therefore, the importance of making democracy fully participatory. There have been constant attempts and I am confident that these will continue to be made, to increasingly involve people in governance. Through the Panchayati Raj Institutions and Local Urban Bodies, we have sought to deepen the reach of democracy. Their role and responsibility for executing programmes and schemes, particularly social and welfare schemes must increase. I am glad that the Election Commission has chosen the theme, “Greater participation for a stronger democracy”, for its Diamond Jubilee Year. I hope that discussions under the rubric of this theme would be fruitful.
In the end, I once again extend my felicitations to the Election Commission of India, for their achievements in the 60 years of their existence. I am confident that the electoral process and democracy in India will continue to be strong and vibrant.
Thank you.”
****
25.1.2010 13:13 IST
“Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am very happy to be here on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the Election Commission of India, just a day before when we will be celebrating our Republic Day. Today’s gathering, in which a wide spectrum of our political leadership is participating, affirms our deep faith in democracy. I understand that representatives of electoral bodies of other countries are also here. I warmly welcome them to our country.
The Election Commission has been a part of the journey of our Republic since its very inception. It has been working with great responsibility from election to election and contributing to taking the nation forward step by step, from one destination to another, from strength to strength and bringing stability to our democratic system. We can be justifiably proud that free and fair elections have been held with regularity in our country in the last six decades. India and democracy have become intertwined concepts and it is hard to imagine one without the other. Democracy, the very essence of our Constitution, has become our nation’s identity.
Framed by men and women of remarkable intelligence, foresight and values, our Constitution bears a profound imprint of the high ideals of our freedom struggle. In choosing democracy and by elaborating in detail the Fundamental Rights, the framers of our Constitution deeply embedded in our national ethos, the importance of the dignity of every individual. A natural extension of this basic approach was the inclusion of universal adult franchise in our Constitution, that gave from the very beginning, the right to vote to every citizen of India – man or woman, rich or poor, no matter to which caste or creed or religion he or she belonged - they were all brought together on one platform. The age-old inequalities were done away with and political equality was established throughout the length and breadth of the country. This was an enlightened vision, particularly if we recall that in many countries different groups, especially women, had to struggle to get their voting rights.
Our Constitution also set up independent and neutral institutions to ensure the continued existence of a democratic framework in the country. The Election Commission of India is one such very important constitutional body created under Article 324 of our Constitution. It has been entrusted with a range of responsibilities for the conduct of elections in the country. Members of the State Legislative Assemblies, Members of Parliament, the Vice-President and I myself, have come through an election process which has been conducted by the Commission. It is important that the independence of the Election Commission is upheld at all times.
Elections are the foundation stone of any democracy. The conduct of free, fair and impartial elections depends much upon the performance of the three stakeholders. They are – an independent and impartial electoral machinery; political parties and candidates; and the electorate. All of them must act responsibly. The Indian election process has the Model Code of Conduct, that lays down the norms of behaviour and actions which, parties and contesting candidates shall adhere to, at the time of elections. As it should, the Commission has been making every effort to create a level playing field between various candidates and has earned the reputation of strictly and impartially monitoring activities of candidates in constituencies through its Election Observers. The Commission has always been willing to use technology for modernization and for the better conduct of elections. In this context, over the years, several measures have been taken such as - computerization of electoral rolls and Photo Identity Cards for voters.
Elections are not a ritual, but a pathway on which the people move with enthusiasm, expressing their aspirations, hopes and desire, as they take forward this great nation to peace and prosperity. With the size of our electorate increasing from 176 million in the first General Elections in the country in 1951-52, to 716 million in the 15th General Elections held last year, the task of the Election Commission has increased manifold. Today, our electorate is almost equal to the combined population of the European Union and of the United States. To organize elections for such a large voting population and in such a vast and difficult geographical area, requires exceptional management and co-ordination. The General Elections conducted in May last year meant the setting up of 8 lakh polling booths and the involvement of close to 5 million polling staff. So meticulous were the arrangements, that a polling booth was set-up even where there was only one voter. Another polling booth was established at a height of 15,300 feet. The election process, in a country of more than one billion people, was followed, the world over, with great interest and admiration. Thus, not only, has the Election Commission helped strengthen democracy at home, but also helped to enhance the prestige of India’s institutional mechanisms. It is for these reasons that the Election Commission of India has been called upon often, to share its experiences about the conduct of elections with other countries.
India has impressive democratic credentials, but yet has the challenge of becoming a “role model” for other countries. This requires that we should be aware of the impediments, the lacunae and malpractices in the electoral process. These would have to be removed with determination, to make our democracy cleaner, healthier and stronger.
As we carry on with our work, we should not forget that we swear by the Constitution, and therefore, we must adhere to its values, spirit and principles. Democracy adorns our Constitution. We have to see that the power of voting vested in the people makes them powerful enough to change their own destiny through democracy and therefore, the importance of making democracy fully participatory. There have been constant attempts and I am confident that these will continue to be made, to increasingly involve people in governance. Through the Panchayati Raj Institutions and Local Urban Bodies, we have sought to deepen the reach of democracy. Their role and responsibility for executing programmes and schemes, particularly social and welfare schemes must increase. I am glad that the Election Commission has chosen the theme, “Greater participation for a stronger democracy”, for its Diamond Jubilee Year. I hope that discussions under the rubric of this theme would be fruitful.
In the end, I once again extend my felicitations to the Election Commission of India, for their achievements in the 60 years of their existence. I am confident that the electoral process and democracy in India will continue to be strong and vibrant.
Thank you.”
****
Health:Indian eatery in U.K. healthiest, says BBC
An eatery set up by an Indian entrepreneur here, which does not use butter, cream or ghee in its preparations and serves fibre-rich meals to its customers, has been adjudged the healthiest U.K. restaurant by the BBC’s food channel.
“Indali Lounge, London, is the healthiest curry house in the United Kingdom. They don’t use butter, cream or ghee and the naans are made with flour, oats and barley to maximise fibre and minimise starch. Meals are slow-cooked to retain nutrients,” the BBC said.
“The upmarket cocktail bar atmosphere, with lilac flourishes and slick surfaces adds a contemporary touch to this evolved British Indian cooking,” it added.
Bordeaux Quay (Bristol), has been judged number two followed by Saf (London), Heart Buchanan (Glasgow), Pearl Liang (London), New Samsi (Manchester), The Harwood Arms (London), Restaurant Sat Bains (Nottingham), Comptoir Libanais (London) and Terre A Terre (Brighton).
The Indali Lounge is frequented by many celebrities, including cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, Hindi actor-director Dev Anand and the former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and his wife Cherie Blair.
An eatery set up by an Indian entrepreneur here, which does not use butter, cream or ghee in its preparations and serves fibre-rich meals to its customers, has been adjudged the healthiest U.K. restaurant by the BBC’s food channel.
“Indali Lounge, London, is the healthiest curry house in the United Kingdom. They don’t use butter, cream or ghee and the naans are made with flour, oats and barley to maximise fibre and minimise starch. Meals are slow-cooked to retain nutrients,” the BBC said.
“The upmarket cocktail bar atmosphere, with lilac flourishes and slick surfaces adds a contemporary touch to this evolved British Indian cooking,” it added.
Bordeaux Quay (Bristol), has been judged number two followed by Saf (London), Heart Buchanan (Glasgow), Pearl Liang (London), New Samsi (Manchester), The Harwood Arms (London), Restaurant Sat Bains (Nottingham), Comptoir Libanais (London) and Terre A Terre (Brighton).
The Indali Lounge is frequented by many celebrities, including cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, Hindi actor-director Dev Anand and the former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and his wife Cherie Blair.
TOURIST INFLOWS - Worst hit by downturn, hotel industry shows signs of revival
A strong growth in foreign tourist arrivals (up 21% year-on-year, or y-o-y, in December), which makes up for 65-70% of the demand for premium rooms, heralds the beginning of a revival in the hotel industry that was the worst hit by the economic crisis in 2009.
This is corroborated by the robust uptrend in occupancies and average room rates across properties. We estimate that the supply deficiency in the Indian market will further support the revenue per average room in the coming years. Supply growth has also abated considerably over the past couple of years, tilting the demand-supply equation in favour of the incumbents.
Profitability of operators, such as Indian Hotels Co. Ltd (IH) and East India Hotels Ltd (EIH), which took a big hit over FY09-10, is likely to jump sharply in FY11-12. A pick up in the pace of recovery in the Indian and global economies will add momentum to this turnaround.
Indian Hotels IH is the largest hotel company in India with a total inventory of 11,546 rooms (March). A part of the Tata group, Indian Hotels owns iconic properties such as the Taj Mahal and Palace, Mumbai. IH is the only Indian company that straddles all the value segments and has significant presence in international markets.
IH operates via brands such as Taj (premium luxury), Vivaanta (upper upscale), Gateway (midpriced), and Ginger (economy).
TajSATS Air Catering Ltd, a subsidiary, is engaged in the airline catering business.
IH has a presence in all value segments in India and has a wide footprint in international markets (about 25% of revenues) further de-risks its profile. Aggressive room expansion will widen IH's lead over peers in the coming years. IH will benefit from a broad recovery in the Indian economy.
Growth momentum will be supported by the opening of The Pierre, New York and heritage wing of Taj Mahal, Mumbai in FY10, lower losses in its US portfolio, recovery in the US and UK markets, and strong pipeline of management contracts lined up over FY11-12. Strong revenue momentum will drive a sharp turnaround in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization in the second quarter of FY11 (up 430 basis points y-o-y). We initiate with a buy and a target price of of Rs138.
East India Hotels EIH is the third largest hotel chain in the country, which is part of the Oberoi Group. EIH operates through two brands-Oberoi (super premium luxury 5D) and Trident (premium business hotel) and manages 1,696 rooms. It is also the manager of 878 rooms of its associate company, EIH Associated, along with 352 rooms in Egypt, Indonesia, Mauritius, and Saudi Arabia. EIH is also engaged in flight catering, managing airport restaurants, travel and tour services, corporate air charter services, etc.
Its presence is restricted to the super premium and premium segment in the domestic market and some management contracts in international markets. We expect EIH's profitability to reverse in FY11 due to its large exposure (approximately 85%) to metros that are experiencing a strong demand.
The re-opening of its flagship property, Oberoi Mumbai, will be an added boost. We believe EIH will grow earnings at 83% compounded annual growth rate of over FY10-12. We initiate with an add with a target price of Rs156.
A strong growth in foreign tourist arrivals (up 21% year-on-year, or y-o-y, in December), which makes up for 65-70% of the demand for premium rooms, heralds the beginning of a revival in the hotel industry that was the worst hit by the economic crisis in 2009.
This is corroborated by the robust uptrend in occupancies and average room rates across properties. We estimate that the supply deficiency in the Indian market will further support the revenue per average room in the coming years. Supply growth has also abated considerably over the past couple of years, tilting the demand-supply equation in favour of the incumbents.
Profitability of operators, such as Indian Hotels Co. Ltd (IH) and East India Hotels Ltd (EIH), which took a big hit over FY09-10, is likely to jump sharply in FY11-12. A pick up in the pace of recovery in the Indian and global economies will add momentum to this turnaround.
Indian Hotels IH is the largest hotel company in India with a total inventory of 11,546 rooms (March). A part of the Tata group, Indian Hotels owns iconic properties such as the Taj Mahal and Palace, Mumbai. IH is the only Indian company that straddles all the value segments and has significant presence in international markets.
IH operates via brands such as Taj (premium luxury), Vivaanta (upper upscale), Gateway (midpriced), and Ginger (economy).
TajSATS Air Catering Ltd, a subsidiary, is engaged in the airline catering business.
IH has a presence in all value segments in India and has a wide footprint in international markets (about 25% of revenues) further de-risks its profile. Aggressive room expansion will widen IH's lead over peers in the coming years. IH will benefit from a broad recovery in the Indian economy.
Growth momentum will be supported by the opening of The Pierre, New York and heritage wing of Taj Mahal, Mumbai in FY10, lower losses in its US portfolio, recovery in the US and UK markets, and strong pipeline of management contracts lined up over FY11-12. Strong revenue momentum will drive a sharp turnaround in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization in the second quarter of FY11 (up 430 basis points y-o-y). We initiate with a buy and a target price of of Rs138.
East India Hotels EIH is the third largest hotel chain in the country, which is part of the Oberoi Group. EIH operates through two brands-Oberoi (super premium luxury 5D) and Trident (premium business hotel) and manages 1,696 rooms. It is also the manager of 878 rooms of its associate company, EIH Associated, along with 352 rooms in Egypt, Indonesia, Mauritius, and Saudi Arabia. EIH is also engaged in flight catering, managing airport restaurants, travel and tour services, corporate air charter services, etc.
Its presence is restricted to the super premium and premium segment in the domestic market and some management contracts in international markets. We expect EIH's profitability to reverse in FY11 due to its large exposure (approximately 85%) to metros that are experiencing a strong demand.
The re-opening of its flagship property, Oberoi Mumbai, will be an added boost. We believe EIH will grow earnings at 83% compounded annual growth rate of over FY10-12. We initiate with an add with a target price of Rs156.
Health:Now, reverse onset of diabetes in 15 minutes
The new method is going to be very attractive to patients because they won’t have to worry of going through a surgery.
In what could revolutionise healthcare for the rising diabetes population worldwide, scientists claimed to have developed a 15-minute non-surgical treatment that could lead to drastic weight loss and reverse the onset of the disease.
The breakthrough treatment, considered a cheap and safe alternative to surgery, involves a device called EndoBarrier — a plastic sleeve that is inserted into the intestine of a patient to prevent food being absorbed into the body.
The device, developed by a US-based company, is fed through the mouth using an instrument called an endoscope while the patient is awake, the Daily Express reported.
“Obesity surgery can be risky simply because of the patient’s weight and the fact that you are giving them a general anaesthetic. That’s why it’s so good to have a non-surgical approach,” said Dr Keith Gersin, head of obesity surgery at Carolinas Medical Centre in Charlotte, North Carolina, which has been trialling the EndoBarrier sleeve for 18 months.
“It is so quick to fit that you can get lots more patients treated. The patients loved it so much they didn’t want us to remove it at the end of the trial period. We had no significant side effects and it was easily removed.”
Extensive tests of EndoBarrier have been carried out in the U.S. and Europe and last week the new device was given a licence for use on European patients.
In a 12-week trial in the Netherlands, patients fitted with the EndoBarrier lost an average of two-and-a-half stone compared with a control group of patients who dieted and lost just 12 pounds (more than 5 kg).
According to its developers, the treatment, which costs around 2,000 pound, is about half the cost of the cheapest obesity operation.
“The patients who used it have continued to lose weight. It gave them the incentive to diet and eat sensibly,” said Dr Gersin.
The EndoBarrier device is fitted to the first two feet of the small intestine where most food is absorbed. During trials the sleeve was able to reverse Type 2 diabetes within weeks by reducing patients’ blood sugar levels so they no longer needed to take drugs.
Professor Nadey Hakim, a leading U.K. consultant in weight loss surgery, said: “I would love to be able to cure a patient’s obesity with a 15-minute procedure. It’s a very clever idea. It’s going to be very attractive to patients because they won’t have the worry of having surgery. We make obesity operations as safe as we can but if you can avoid surgery it would be better.”
The new method is going to be very attractive to patients because they won’t have to worry of going through a surgery.
In what could revolutionise healthcare for the rising diabetes population worldwide, scientists claimed to have developed a 15-minute non-surgical treatment that could lead to drastic weight loss and reverse the onset of the disease.
The breakthrough treatment, considered a cheap and safe alternative to surgery, involves a device called EndoBarrier — a plastic sleeve that is inserted into the intestine of a patient to prevent food being absorbed into the body.
The device, developed by a US-based company, is fed through the mouth using an instrument called an endoscope while the patient is awake, the Daily Express reported.
“Obesity surgery can be risky simply because of the patient’s weight and the fact that you are giving them a general anaesthetic. That’s why it’s so good to have a non-surgical approach,” said Dr Keith Gersin, head of obesity surgery at Carolinas Medical Centre in Charlotte, North Carolina, which has been trialling the EndoBarrier sleeve for 18 months.
“It is so quick to fit that you can get lots more patients treated. The patients loved it so much they didn’t want us to remove it at the end of the trial period. We had no significant side effects and it was easily removed.”
Extensive tests of EndoBarrier have been carried out in the U.S. and Europe and last week the new device was given a licence for use on European patients.
In a 12-week trial in the Netherlands, patients fitted with the EndoBarrier lost an average of two-and-a-half stone compared with a control group of patients who dieted and lost just 12 pounds (more than 5 kg).
According to its developers, the treatment, which costs around 2,000 pound, is about half the cost of the cheapest obesity operation.
“The patients who used it have continued to lose weight. It gave them the incentive to diet and eat sensibly,” said Dr Gersin.
The EndoBarrier device is fitted to the first two feet of the small intestine where most food is absorbed. During trials the sleeve was able to reverse Type 2 diabetes within weeks by reducing patients’ blood sugar levels so they no longer needed to take drugs.
Professor Nadey Hakim, a leading U.K. consultant in weight loss surgery, said: “I would love to be able to cure a patient’s obesity with a 15-minute procedure. It’s a very clever idea. It’s going to be very attractive to patients because they won’t have the worry of having surgery. We make obesity operations as safe as we can but if you can avoid surgery it would be better.”
Sunday, January 24, 2010
'You have a right to action...Not to the fruits there of' -What does this mean?
Description : To act in life "WITHOUT ANY EXPECTATION OF RESULTS" would seem to be an almost impossible method.
This fundamental truth, very well known and easily com¬prehended by all, is, in the language of the Geeta, a simple statement: "If success you seek, then never strive with a mind dissipated with anxieties and fears for the fruits." In this connection it is very interesting to dissect carefully and discover exactly what the Shastra means when it says: "Fruits-of-action."
In fact, the reward of an action, when we understand it properly, is not anything different from the action itself. An action in the PRESENT, when conditioned by a FUTURE-time, itself, appears as the fruit-of-the-action.
In fact, the action ends, or fulfils itself, only in its reaction, and the reaction is not anything different from the action; an action in the present, defined in terms of a future moment, is its reaction.
Therefore, to worry over and get ourselves pre-occupied with the anxieties for the rewards-of-actions is to escape from the dynamic PRESENT and to live in a FUTURE that is not yet born! Wrong imaginations are the banes of life, and all failures in life can be directly traced to have risen from an impoverished mental equanimity, generally created by unintelligent entertainment of fears regarding possible failures.
Almost all of us refuse to undertake great activities, being afraid of failures, and even those who dare to undertake noble endeavors, invariably become nervous ere they finish them, again, due to their inward dissipation. To avoid such wasteful expenditure of mental energy and work with the best that is in us, dedicated to the noble cause of the work undertaken, is the secret prescription for the noblest creative inspi¬ration; and, such work must always end in brilliant success. This is the eternal law of activity in the world.
The future is always carved out in the present. To¬morrow's harvest depends upon today's ploughing and sowing. If one becomes unhealthy and inefficient in the present certainly he has no reason to hope for a greater future.
In short, the Lord's advice here is a call to man not to waste his present moment in fruitless dreams and fears, but to bring his best—all the best in him—to the PRESENT and vitally live every moment, the promise being, that the future shall take care of itself, and shall provide the Karma-Yogin with the achievements divine and accomplishments supreme.
By:Swami Chinmayananda- Founder- Chinmaya Mission Worldwide
This fundamental truth, very well known and easily com¬prehended by all, is, in the language of the Geeta, a simple statement: "If success you seek, then never strive with a mind dissipated with anxieties and fears for the fruits." In this connection it is very interesting to dissect carefully and discover exactly what the Shastra means when it says: "Fruits-of-action."
In fact, the reward of an action, when we understand it properly, is not anything different from the action itself. An action in the PRESENT, when conditioned by a FUTURE-time, itself, appears as the fruit-of-the-action.
In fact, the action ends, or fulfils itself, only in its reaction, and the reaction is not anything different from the action; an action in the present, defined in terms of a future moment, is its reaction.
Therefore, to worry over and get ourselves pre-occupied with the anxieties for the rewards-of-actions is to escape from the dynamic PRESENT and to live in a FUTURE that is not yet born! Wrong imaginations are the banes of life, and all failures in life can be directly traced to have risen from an impoverished mental equanimity, generally created by unintelligent entertainment of fears regarding possible failures.
Almost all of us refuse to undertake great activities, being afraid of failures, and even those who dare to undertake noble endeavors, invariably become nervous ere they finish them, again, due to their inward dissipation. To avoid such wasteful expenditure of mental energy and work with the best that is in us, dedicated to the noble cause of the work undertaken, is the secret prescription for the noblest creative inspi¬ration; and, such work must always end in brilliant success. This is the eternal law of activity in the world.
The future is always carved out in the present. To¬morrow's harvest depends upon today's ploughing and sowing. If one becomes unhealthy and inefficient in the present certainly he has no reason to hope for a greater future.
In short, the Lord's advice here is a call to man not to waste his present moment in fruitless dreams and fears, but to bring his best—all the best in him—to the PRESENT and vitally live every moment, the promise being, that the future shall take care of itself, and shall provide the Karma-Yogin with the achievements divine and accomplishments supreme.
By:Swami Chinmayananda- Founder- Chinmaya Mission Worldwide
INDIA: President of India to address the nation on 25th Jan 2010 on the eve of Republic Day
24.1.2010 16:57 IST
The President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, will address the nation tomorrow on the eve of the 61st Republic Day. The address will be telecast over all channels of Doordarshan in Hindi followed by English from 7 P.M. onwards. The address will also be broadcast over all channels of All India Radio (AIR) in Hindi followed by English from 7 P.M. onwards. In addition, AIR will broadcast the regional language versions of the address over its regional channels from 9.30 P.M. onwards.
**************
24.1.2010 16:57 IST
The President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, will address the nation tomorrow on the eve of the 61st Republic Day. The address will be telecast over all channels of Doordarshan in Hindi followed by English from 7 P.M. onwards. The address will also be broadcast over all channels of All India Radio (AIR) in Hindi followed by English from 7 P.M. onwards. In addition, AIR will broadcast the regional language versions of the address over its regional channels from 9.30 P.M. onwards.
**************
'Human brain can’t handle more than 150 Facebook friends'
The study finds you could have 1,500 friends but when you actually look at traffic on sites, people maintain the same inner circle of around 150 people
No matter how many friends you have on social networking websites like ‘Facebook’ or ‘Orkut’, the human brain is capable of handling up to a maximum of 150 pals only, a new study has claimed.
Researchers at Oxford University have found that while popular social networking sites allow people to maintain more relationships, the number of meaningful friendships is more or less the same as it has been throughout history.
The researchers, led by led by Robin Dunbar, have developed a theory known as “Dunbar’s number” in the nineties which claimed that the size of our neocortex — the part of the brain used for conscious thought and language — limits us to managing social circles of around 150 friends.
They derived the limit from studying social groupings in a variety of societies — from neolithic villages to modern office environments, and found people tended to self-organise in groups of 150 as social cohesion begins to deteriorate as groups become larger, The Sunday Times reported.
The researchers are now studying the social networking websites to see if the Facebook effect has stretched the size of social groupings. Preliminary results suggest it has not.
“The interesting thing is that you can have 1,500 friends but when you actually look at traffic on sites, you see people maintain the same inner circle of around 150 people that we observe in the real world. People obviously like the kudos of having hundreds of friends but the reality is that they’re unlikely to be bigger than anyone else’s. There is a big sex difference though, girls are much better at maintaining relationships just by talking to each other. Boys need to do physical stuff together,” Mr. Dunbar said.
The study finds you could have 1,500 friends but when you actually look at traffic on sites, people maintain the same inner circle of around 150 people
No matter how many friends you have on social networking websites like ‘Facebook’ or ‘Orkut’, the human brain is capable of handling up to a maximum of 150 pals only, a new study has claimed.
Researchers at Oxford University have found that while popular social networking sites allow people to maintain more relationships, the number of meaningful friendships is more or less the same as it has been throughout history.
The researchers, led by led by Robin Dunbar, have developed a theory known as “Dunbar’s number” in the nineties which claimed that the size of our neocortex — the part of the brain used for conscious thought and language — limits us to managing social circles of around 150 friends.
They derived the limit from studying social groupings in a variety of societies — from neolithic villages to modern office environments, and found people tended to self-organise in groups of 150 as social cohesion begins to deteriorate as groups become larger, The Sunday Times reported.
The researchers are now studying the social networking websites to see if the Facebook effect has stretched the size of social groupings. Preliminary results suggest it has not.
“The interesting thing is that you can have 1,500 friends but when you actually look at traffic on sites, you see people maintain the same inner circle of around 150 people that we observe in the real world. People obviously like the kudos of having hundreds of friends but the reality is that they’re unlikely to be bigger than anyone else’s. There is a big sex difference though, girls are much better at maintaining relationships just by talking to each other. Boys need to do physical stuff together,” Mr. Dunbar said.
Nepal: Maoists Mount a Vicious Campaign Against India
Nepal: Maoists Mount a Vicious Campaign Against India
by Dr S.Chandrasekharan,
C3S Paper No.429 dated January 11, 2010
It is now official. The fourth phase of the Maoist campaign for civil supremacy will be directed against India. Civil supremacy is not the priority anymore.
Nationalism and Anti Indianism:
In the just concluded Politburo meeting of the UCPN (M), the party on receiving the political report of Prachanda, has decided to take up the issue of nationalism as central to the political strategy to be followed henceforth.
The issue of nationalism is unfortunately equated with anti Indianism and this is understood by all the political circles in Nepal. This is nothing new and has been the official approach from the Panchayat days
The slogan for the fourth phase that has threatened total strike from 24th of this month- is ìDialogue and Struggle with the Indian State and Solidarity with the Indian peopleî
This crude attempt to separate the Govt. of India with the people of India on their campaign against India may not sell in India but could whip up strong anti Indianism and protests in Nepal.
A decision has been taken to send the five top leaders to five different ìdisputed border locationsî- the Kalapani, Susta, Pashupathi Nagar, Laxmanpur and Khurdalautan. There are plans to publicly burn copies of Indo Nepal Treaty of 1950 as well as other agreements (Sugauli treaty?) and hold demonstrations in front of the Indian Embassy at Kathmandu. The top leaders are hoping to inspect the small dams constructed within the Indian side to investigate whether the construction works on the Indian side have any adverse effect on Nepali side.
While inspection from the Nepali side should be welcomed, I hope the Govt. of India will be firm to ensure that visitors from the other side are allowed to inspect the structures only on an official request from Govt. Of Nepal and prior permission taken.
Dinanath Sharma, one of the top leaders of the Maoists and said to be close to Prachanda described the theme of the fourth phase of their agitation as follows. ìIt is our conclusion that we cannot become free citizens without liberation from national self capitulation. Hence the need for keeping nationalism and independence as the centre of our movement.î
The focus on civil supremacy is now shifted to preservation of nationalism (read anti Indianism)
Narrow Nationalist Posturing!
One analyst, Anil Bhattarai has called this move as ìnarrow nationalist posturing.î He pointed out, in his brilliant essay how India comes in for help when portions of the country are facing total famine. In view of the famine conditions prevailing in Karnali Region, in the districts of Humla, Jumla, Mugu and Kalikot, all the families including elders and children have started moving towards India!
The point is, both countries need each other for the regional stability.
The Maoists do not seem to be concerned about major problems facing the country on food, clean water, health care, public transportation, housing, restoration of degraded landscape and many more. Power cut in Kathmandu is going to increase from 8 hours to 12 hours a day and may go even up to 18 hours! The country is producing less than 700 megawatts when total realisable power is above 80,000 megawatts!
Maoists believe that mobilising masses should be part of their ultimate strategy to capture power rather than suggesting or helping the common people on the many day to day problems facing them! To whip up the masses they have found anti Indianism as the best weapon. But this may go awry.
Targeting India:
Consider the following statements of the Maoist leaders in the last three weeks
Narayan Kaji Shrestha on 21st December said that the fourth phase of the agitation will be on ìprotection of national independenceî and against foreign interference in NepalÃs internal affairs. He charged that regional hegemony prevailed in NepalÃs internal affairs and all nationalist forces should unite to fight against foreign interference.
Kiran said on 27th- ìWhat we have perceived is that the civilian supremacy was abducted not only from within the country but foreign powers are also responsible for it. He hinted at changing the focus of the agitation to preserving nationalism from civilian supremacy.
This change has been effected since they have by now realised that they can get nothing more out of the civilian supremacy issue. He was more specific earlier on the 26th when he said that the focus will be on the issue of national sovereignty and fighting ìIndian expansionismî Strangely he suggested that even the PresidentÃs move in cancelling the sacking order of Army Chief had the backing of India!
Prachanda on 30th December accused foreign powers of attempting to stop the changes in Nepal. Earlier he said that the Indian Army ChiefÃs statement that the Maoist combatants should not be integrated en masse, during the visit of Nepal ArmyÃs Chief as ìnaked interference in Nepali Internal Affairsî!
Baburam Bhattarai on 27th December claimed that foreign interference is on the rise in Nepal.
Official Indian reaction on the systematic condemnation of India is not known. The Indian Army ChiefÃs comment on PLA integration, if true was unfortunate. But I see a bigger design of the Maoists in condemning India by all the top leaders of the party. But they should also know that India will be concerned if destabilsing forces continue to run riot in a neighbouring country having an open border with free flow of people to either side.
PMÃs Visit to China
Prime Minister Madhav NepalÃs visit to China was considered a success. He met the top leaders of China including Hu Jintao and Wen JiaPao. The visit included a trip to Xian and Shanghai.
Prime Minster Madhav Nepal is said to have briefed the Chinese leaders about the latest political developments in Nepal including the ongoing peace and constitution making process. Hu Jintao is said to have told the Prime Minister that he wants to see peace, stability and development in Nepal. President Hu did not touch on the present ongoing phased agitation of the Maoists on the issue of civilian supremacy or on the national independence.
Chinese help has been assured in improving land and air connections, development of districts of Nepal bordering China, support in hydro power construction, infrastructure development, health, education, human resource development, promotion of trade ties and human resource development. Construction of the road to Tibet through Rasuwa pass will be completed by this October.
The successful visit of Madhav Nepal is considered to be an indicator of Chinese support to the government which has been condemned by the Maoists as an illegitimate one. The message is more to the Maoists.
PrachandaÃs Mysterious Visit to Hongkong:
Prachanda made a mysterious one day visit to Hongkong along with his close confidante Krishna Bahadur Mahara on the 7th of this month ostensibly to attend an NRN function. It is reported from Hongkong that Prachanda was not available for three hours and no one knew (except the Chinese authorities) where he went and whom he met.
Positive Developments:
Some positive developments have also taken place and the Maoists have relented on some issues. This is interesting and there has to be some reason for the Maoists to change their line. These include
1. The Special Committee on the integration and rehabilitation of UCPN Maoist combatants headed by the Prime Minister, approved the action plan made out by the PM. The plan envisages completion of integration within 112 days. The UCPN (M) has formally agreed in principle to the plan. But they have demanded that there should be an agreement first on the number of ex combatants to be integrated with the National Army.
There are 19602 combatants waiting to be integrated/rehabilitated that includes 15756 males and 3846 females. A number of 5000 to be integrated into the regular army is being talked about and this figure was the one that was privately supposed to have been accepted by G.P. Koirala when the latter was the Prime Minister. There has been no confirmation yet on the figure and G.P. has not so far openly confirmed or contested. Perhaps his then Home Minister K.P. Sitaula could throw some light on it.
2. Discharge of disqualified combatants has begun from 7th of this month. There are 4008 in number to be discharged. The first batch of over 200 left Dudhouli camp in the presence of UNMIN representative and Pasang of PLA. Each discharged person was given a sum of Rs 22000- (10,000 from UNMIN and another 12,000 from the PLA personnel in the camp). It was a moving farewell and Pasang told those discharged to stay committed to the peace process.
3. There was a general agreement that constitution making and the PLA integration should go on simultaneously and that the new constitution will be implemented only after the integration is completed The Government is planning to request the extension of UNMIN to May 15 of this year.
4. The UCPN (M) has also agreed to assist in the procedure for the 7th amendment of the interim constitution to pave the way for oath taking in oneÃs mother tongue by the President and the Vice President. This would result in activating the post of Vice President once again by a joint resolution in the House tosolve the impasse created by the then Vice President in not taking the oath in Nepali.
These moves show that the Maoists have realised the folly of continuing their agitation that comes in the way of completing the peace process and at the same time continue the agitation at a higher level to mobilise the masses to be directed against India under the cover of preserving oneÃs national independence.
( Courtesy: www.southasiaanalysis.org.The writer, Dr S.Chandrasekharan, is Director, South Asia Analysis Group, New Delhi,India.Email: south@southasiaanalysis.org)
source:c3sindia.org
by Dr S.Chandrasekharan,
C3S Paper No.429 dated January 11, 2010
It is now official. The fourth phase of the Maoist campaign for civil supremacy will be directed against India. Civil supremacy is not the priority anymore.
Nationalism and Anti Indianism:
In the just concluded Politburo meeting of the UCPN (M), the party on receiving the political report of Prachanda, has decided to take up the issue of nationalism as central to the political strategy to be followed henceforth.
The issue of nationalism is unfortunately equated with anti Indianism and this is understood by all the political circles in Nepal. This is nothing new and has been the official approach from the Panchayat days
The slogan for the fourth phase that has threatened total strike from 24th of this month- is ìDialogue and Struggle with the Indian State and Solidarity with the Indian peopleî
This crude attempt to separate the Govt. of India with the people of India on their campaign against India may not sell in India but could whip up strong anti Indianism and protests in Nepal.
A decision has been taken to send the five top leaders to five different ìdisputed border locationsî- the Kalapani, Susta, Pashupathi Nagar, Laxmanpur and Khurdalautan. There are plans to publicly burn copies of Indo Nepal Treaty of 1950 as well as other agreements (Sugauli treaty?) and hold demonstrations in front of the Indian Embassy at Kathmandu. The top leaders are hoping to inspect the small dams constructed within the Indian side to investigate whether the construction works on the Indian side have any adverse effect on Nepali side.
While inspection from the Nepali side should be welcomed, I hope the Govt. of India will be firm to ensure that visitors from the other side are allowed to inspect the structures only on an official request from Govt. Of Nepal and prior permission taken.
Dinanath Sharma, one of the top leaders of the Maoists and said to be close to Prachanda described the theme of the fourth phase of their agitation as follows. ìIt is our conclusion that we cannot become free citizens without liberation from national self capitulation. Hence the need for keeping nationalism and independence as the centre of our movement.î
The focus on civil supremacy is now shifted to preservation of nationalism (read anti Indianism)
Narrow Nationalist Posturing!
One analyst, Anil Bhattarai has called this move as ìnarrow nationalist posturing.î He pointed out, in his brilliant essay how India comes in for help when portions of the country are facing total famine. In view of the famine conditions prevailing in Karnali Region, in the districts of Humla, Jumla, Mugu and Kalikot, all the families including elders and children have started moving towards India!
The point is, both countries need each other for the regional stability.
The Maoists do not seem to be concerned about major problems facing the country on food, clean water, health care, public transportation, housing, restoration of degraded landscape and many more. Power cut in Kathmandu is going to increase from 8 hours to 12 hours a day and may go even up to 18 hours! The country is producing less than 700 megawatts when total realisable power is above 80,000 megawatts!
Maoists believe that mobilising masses should be part of their ultimate strategy to capture power rather than suggesting or helping the common people on the many day to day problems facing them! To whip up the masses they have found anti Indianism as the best weapon. But this may go awry.
Targeting India:
Consider the following statements of the Maoist leaders in the last three weeks
Narayan Kaji Shrestha on 21st December said that the fourth phase of the agitation will be on ìprotection of national independenceî and against foreign interference in NepalÃs internal affairs. He charged that regional hegemony prevailed in NepalÃs internal affairs and all nationalist forces should unite to fight against foreign interference.
Kiran said on 27th- ìWhat we have perceived is that the civilian supremacy was abducted not only from within the country but foreign powers are also responsible for it. He hinted at changing the focus of the agitation to preserving nationalism from civilian supremacy.
This change has been effected since they have by now realised that they can get nothing more out of the civilian supremacy issue. He was more specific earlier on the 26th when he said that the focus will be on the issue of national sovereignty and fighting ìIndian expansionismî Strangely he suggested that even the PresidentÃs move in cancelling the sacking order of Army Chief had the backing of India!
Prachanda on 30th December accused foreign powers of attempting to stop the changes in Nepal. Earlier he said that the Indian Army ChiefÃs statement that the Maoist combatants should not be integrated en masse, during the visit of Nepal ArmyÃs Chief as ìnaked interference in Nepali Internal Affairsî!
Baburam Bhattarai on 27th December claimed that foreign interference is on the rise in Nepal.
Official Indian reaction on the systematic condemnation of India is not known. The Indian Army ChiefÃs comment on PLA integration, if true was unfortunate. But I see a bigger design of the Maoists in condemning India by all the top leaders of the party. But they should also know that India will be concerned if destabilsing forces continue to run riot in a neighbouring country having an open border with free flow of people to either side.
PMÃs Visit to China
Prime Minister Madhav NepalÃs visit to China was considered a success. He met the top leaders of China including Hu Jintao and Wen JiaPao. The visit included a trip to Xian and Shanghai.
Prime Minster Madhav Nepal is said to have briefed the Chinese leaders about the latest political developments in Nepal including the ongoing peace and constitution making process. Hu Jintao is said to have told the Prime Minister that he wants to see peace, stability and development in Nepal. President Hu did not touch on the present ongoing phased agitation of the Maoists on the issue of civilian supremacy or on the national independence.
Chinese help has been assured in improving land and air connections, development of districts of Nepal bordering China, support in hydro power construction, infrastructure development, health, education, human resource development, promotion of trade ties and human resource development. Construction of the road to Tibet through Rasuwa pass will be completed by this October.
The successful visit of Madhav Nepal is considered to be an indicator of Chinese support to the government which has been condemned by the Maoists as an illegitimate one. The message is more to the Maoists.
PrachandaÃs Mysterious Visit to Hongkong:
Prachanda made a mysterious one day visit to Hongkong along with his close confidante Krishna Bahadur Mahara on the 7th of this month ostensibly to attend an NRN function. It is reported from Hongkong that Prachanda was not available for three hours and no one knew (except the Chinese authorities) where he went and whom he met.
Positive Developments:
Some positive developments have also taken place and the Maoists have relented on some issues. This is interesting and there has to be some reason for the Maoists to change their line. These include
1. The Special Committee on the integration and rehabilitation of UCPN Maoist combatants headed by the Prime Minister, approved the action plan made out by the PM. The plan envisages completion of integration within 112 days. The UCPN (M) has formally agreed in principle to the plan. But they have demanded that there should be an agreement first on the number of ex combatants to be integrated with the National Army.
There are 19602 combatants waiting to be integrated/rehabilitated that includes 15756 males and 3846 females. A number of 5000 to be integrated into the regular army is being talked about and this figure was the one that was privately supposed to have been accepted by G.P. Koirala when the latter was the Prime Minister. There has been no confirmation yet on the figure and G.P. has not so far openly confirmed or contested. Perhaps his then Home Minister K.P. Sitaula could throw some light on it.
2. Discharge of disqualified combatants has begun from 7th of this month. There are 4008 in number to be discharged. The first batch of over 200 left Dudhouli camp in the presence of UNMIN representative and Pasang of PLA. Each discharged person was given a sum of Rs 22000- (10,000 from UNMIN and another 12,000 from the PLA personnel in the camp). It was a moving farewell and Pasang told those discharged to stay committed to the peace process.
3. There was a general agreement that constitution making and the PLA integration should go on simultaneously and that the new constitution will be implemented only after the integration is completed The Government is planning to request the extension of UNMIN to May 15 of this year.
4. The UCPN (M) has also agreed to assist in the procedure for the 7th amendment of the interim constitution to pave the way for oath taking in oneÃs mother tongue by the President and the Vice President. This would result in activating the post of Vice President once again by a joint resolution in the House tosolve the impasse created by the then Vice President in not taking the oath in Nepali.
These moves show that the Maoists have realised the folly of continuing their agitation that comes in the way of completing the peace process and at the same time continue the agitation at a higher level to mobilise the masses to be directed against India under the cover of preserving oneÃs national independence.
( Courtesy: www.southasiaanalysis.org.The writer, Dr S.Chandrasekharan, is Director, South Asia Analysis Group, New Delhi,India.Email: south@southasiaanalysis.org)
source:c3sindia.org
Our army way behind China’s: Indian general
Arun Joshi, Hindustan Times
Jammu, January 23, 2010
The Indian Army lags far behind China in military infrastructure along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
“We lag far behind in infrastructure development,” General Officer Commanding, Northern Command, Lieutenant General BS Jaswal, told Hindustan Times.
China has built all-weather metalled roads leading right up to its border posts facing Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh and Demchok and Fukche in Ladakh. It can, thus, move troops and material very easily to the border.
Indian troops, on the other hand, often have to march miles to the front. Roads, where they exist, are dotted with potholes, with long stretches of boulders and slush, leading to accidents that slow down movement.
Better connectivity allows the Chinese to cover 400 km a day. The Indian army finds it difficult to cover more than 200 km a day in the forward areas.
The Indian armed forces have activated three airfields at Daulat Beg Oldi, Fukche and Nyoma, about 220-250 km east of Leh since May 31, 2008. But only AN 32 transport planes can land there. “They have little operational value,” another senior army officer said.
The only airfield near the China border from where India can deploy warplanes is at Tezpur in Assam, where it has stationed its frontline Sukhoi 30 planes.
Chinese military aircraft, however, can reach Shimla, Chandigarh and Leh within five minutes and New Delhi within 20 minutes of taking off from their forward base in Gar Gunsa, across the border, from Demchok in Tibet.
It has five such airfields in Tibet where it has stationed warplanes.
After the 1962 India-China war, India pursued a policy not to develop infrastructure, especially roads, near the Line of Actual Control.
Reason: in the event of Chinese troops breaking through Indian defences, they would be greeted by hostile roads and infrastructure.
This strategy was reversed in 2005.
Accordingly, the government of India woke up to the need to build infrastructure along the 4,057-km LAC from Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir (north) to Himachal Pradesh (west), Uttarakhand (middle region) and Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim (east) sectors of the border with China.
Twenty-seven projects for construction of roads were sanctioned, but only six of them have been commissioned.
Each kilometer of road in the mountainous areas along the Line of Actual Control costs Rs 15 crore.
“The Indian Army is improving its infrastructure and capacity building on a massive scale and we are prepared to meet any eventuality if the need arises,” the Northern Command chief said
source:HT
Arun Joshi, Hindustan Times
Jammu, January 23, 2010
The Indian Army lags far behind China in military infrastructure along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
“We lag far behind in infrastructure development,” General Officer Commanding, Northern Command, Lieutenant General BS Jaswal, told Hindustan Times.
China has built all-weather metalled roads leading right up to its border posts facing Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh and Demchok and Fukche in Ladakh. It can, thus, move troops and material very easily to the border.
Indian troops, on the other hand, often have to march miles to the front. Roads, where they exist, are dotted with potholes, with long stretches of boulders and slush, leading to accidents that slow down movement.
Better connectivity allows the Chinese to cover 400 km a day. The Indian army finds it difficult to cover more than 200 km a day in the forward areas.
The Indian armed forces have activated three airfields at Daulat Beg Oldi, Fukche and Nyoma, about 220-250 km east of Leh since May 31, 2008. But only AN 32 transport planes can land there. “They have little operational value,” another senior army officer said.
The only airfield near the China border from where India can deploy warplanes is at Tezpur in Assam, where it has stationed its frontline Sukhoi 30 planes.
Chinese military aircraft, however, can reach Shimla, Chandigarh and Leh within five minutes and New Delhi within 20 minutes of taking off from their forward base in Gar Gunsa, across the border, from Demchok in Tibet.
It has five such airfields in Tibet where it has stationed warplanes.
After the 1962 India-China war, India pursued a policy not to develop infrastructure, especially roads, near the Line of Actual Control.
Reason: in the event of Chinese troops breaking through Indian defences, they would be greeted by hostile roads and infrastructure.
This strategy was reversed in 2005.
Accordingly, the government of India woke up to the need to build infrastructure along the 4,057-km LAC from Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir (north) to Himachal Pradesh (west), Uttarakhand (middle region) and Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim (east) sectors of the border with China.
Twenty-seven projects for construction of roads were sanctioned, but only six of them have been commissioned.
Each kilometer of road in the mountainous areas along the Line of Actual Control costs Rs 15 crore.
“The Indian Army is improving its infrastructure and capacity building on a massive scale and we are prepared to meet any eventuality if the need arises,” the Northern Command chief said
source:HT
Sikkim with SKYWALK
The Sikkim chief minister Mr Pawan Chamling said that his government was keen to present the state with a skywalk at Bhaleydhunga. The project is expected to propel Sikkim into the international tourism map besides becoming a landmark of its own in the Himalayan state. An international consultancy firm has in its pre-feasibility report pegged the estimated cost for the proposed skywalk at Rs 1200 crore approximately.
The lump sum cost involves construction of three finger-shaped glass skywalks connected through a tunnel in the rocky spur of Bhaleydunga cliff at an elevation of 10,102 feet.
Mr Chamling has been interested in the realization of the tourism project atop a mountain cliff on the lines of the Grand Canyon Skywalk.
In this regard, the state government had engaged the services of Grant Thornton, an international consultancy firm to draft a feasibility study on the project.
The skywalk would cost around Rs 500 crore while the rest amount would be spent on allied supporting infrastructures like cable car, tourist complex, accommodation centre, nature and spiritual complex and other tourism amenities.
The proposed glassy skywalk at Bhaleydunga would be a three-fingered fork at an elevation of 10,102 feet and a ropeway from the nearby hamlet of Yangang would connect to it. (SNS)
The Sikkim chief minister Mr Pawan Chamling said that his government was keen to present the state with a skywalk at Bhaleydhunga. The project is expected to propel Sikkim into the international tourism map besides becoming a landmark of its own in the Himalayan state. An international consultancy firm has in its pre-feasibility report pegged the estimated cost for the proposed skywalk at Rs 1200 crore approximately.
The lump sum cost involves construction of three finger-shaped glass skywalks connected through a tunnel in the rocky spur of Bhaleydunga cliff at an elevation of 10,102 feet.
Mr Chamling has been interested in the realization of the tourism project atop a mountain cliff on the lines of the Grand Canyon Skywalk.
In this regard, the state government had engaged the services of Grant Thornton, an international consultancy firm to draft a feasibility study on the project.
The skywalk would cost around Rs 500 crore while the rest amount would be spent on allied supporting infrastructures like cable car, tourist complex, accommodation centre, nature and spiritual complex and other tourism amenities.
The proposed glassy skywalk at Bhaleydunga would be a three-fingered fork at an elevation of 10,102 feet and a ropeway from the nearby hamlet of Yangang would connect to it. (SNS)
Maruti to invest Rs 1,700 cr on second line at Manesar
New Delhi, Jan. 23
The country's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, announced on Saturday that it would invest Rs 1,700 crore in a second line at its Manesar factory. The new line would start operations by April 2012.
The second line, which would have a capacity of around 2.5 lakh units a year, is expected to take the total capacity of the Manesar plant to 5.5 lakh units a year. The company's other plant at Gurgaon has an installed capacity of seven lakh units a year.
Mr R. C. Bhargava, Chairman of Maruti Suzuki, said the new line would mainly focus on compact cars, for which the demand is exceedingly high.
"
New Delhi, Jan. 23
The country's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, announced on Saturday that it would invest Rs 1,700 crore in a second line at its Manesar factory. The new line would start operations by April 2012.
The second line, which would have a capacity of around 2.5 lakh units a year, is expected to take the total capacity of the Manesar plant to 5.5 lakh units a year. The company's other plant at Gurgaon has an installed capacity of seven lakh units a year.
Mr R. C. Bhargava, Chairman of Maruti Suzuki, said the new line would mainly focus on compact cars, for which the demand is exceedingly high.
"
RESERVE BANK OF INDIA IN GANGTOK FROM Jan 25
t
GANGTOK, January 23 (IPR): Sikkim had joined the mainstream in the year 1975 and since than a number of nationalized banks has opened up their branches all over Sikkim excepting Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
It may be mentioned here that RBI had its annual general meeting at Gangtok on October 1, 2009. As a part of their Platinum Jubilee Celebration last year, RBI is trying to reach out and cover all the remote areas in the country especially at the local level.
The State Government has been pursuing with the Government of India to have branch office of RBI at Gangtok, capital of Sikkim.
Finally, RBI has decided to have a branch office at Gangtok, which will be inaugurated on January 25. The RBI will have its branch office located at NH 31A opposite to Bansilal petrol pump.
RC Chakraborty, Deputy General, Reserve Bank of India will be present on the occasion.
t
GANGTOK, January 23 (IPR): Sikkim had joined the mainstream in the year 1975 and since than a number of nationalized banks has opened up their branches all over Sikkim excepting Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
It may be mentioned here that RBI had its annual general meeting at Gangtok on October 1, 2009. As a part of their Platinum Jubilee Celebration last year, RBI is trying to reach out and cover all the remote areas in the country especially at the local level.
The State Government has been pursuing with the Government of India to have branch office of RBI at Gangtok, capital of Sikkim.
Finally, RBI has decided to have a branch office at Gangtok, which will be inaugurated on January 25. The RBI will have its branch office located at NH 31A opposite to Bansilal petrol pump.
RC Chakraborty, Deputy General, Reserve Bank of India will be present on the occasion.
SIKKIM: Cabinet nod for bhavan purchase in New Delhi
GANGTOK, January 23: The ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) party today issued a press statement informing that the State cabinet during its meeting held on January 13 has passed a proposal for purchasing an existing building worth Rs. 32.2 crores at Green Park Extension, New Delhi for providing a resting place for Sikkimese persons referred for treatment at the nation’s capital.
The release informs that the cabinet has sanctioned a sum of an initial amount of Rs. 3 crores for purchasing the above mentioned building and has handed the responsibility for the smooth transaction to Resident Commissioner, Sikkim House, New Delhi and secretary, Buildings & Housing department.
The said building has 18 rooms and eight common rooms.
The SDF also informed that the cabinet also sanctioned Rs. 1.6 crores for construction of a bridge at Ghanti Khola, Legship-Geyzing-Tashiding road.
SOURCE; sIKKIM EXPRESS
GANGTOK, January 23: The ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) party today issued a press statement informing that the State cabinet during its meeting held on January 13 has passed a proposal for purchasing an existing building worth Rs. 32.2 crores at Green Park Extension, New Delhi for providing a resting place for Sikkimese persons referred for treatment at the nation’s capital.
The release informs that the cabinet has sanctioned a sum of an initial amount of Rs. 3 crores for purchasing the above mentioned building and has handed the responsibility for the smooth transaction to Resident Commissioner, Sikkim House, New Delhi and secretary, Buildings & Housing department.
The said building has 18 rooms and eight common rooms.
The SDF also informed that the cabinet also sanctioned Rs. 1.6 crores for construction of a bridge at Ghanti Khola, Legship-Geyzing-Tashiding road.
SOURCE; sIKKIM EXPRESS
Health: How obesity ups cancer risk
In the study, scientists showed that liver cancer is fostered by the chronic inflammatory state that goes with obesity, and two well known inflammatory factors in particular.
Obesity increases risk of developing cancer. And now, a mice study has confirmed that obesity does indeed act as a “bona fide tumour promoter.” Published in the January 22nd issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, scientists also have good evidence to explain how that happens.
“Doctors always worry about our weight, but the focus is often on cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, both of which can be managed pretty well with existing drugs,” said Michael Karin of the University of California, San Diego. “However, we should also worry about elevated cancer risk. If we can reduce cancer deaths by as many as 90,000 per year, that’s a lot of people - a lot of lives.”
In the study, Karin’s team showed that liver cancer is fostered by the chronic inflammatory state that goes with obesity, and two well known inflammatory factors in particular. To reach the conclusion, Karin’s team investigated mice prone to develop hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The mice are typically given HCC either by exposure to a chemical carcinogen, known as DEN, when they are two weeks old, or by exposure to that same carcinogen at three months of age followed by the tumor-promoting chemical phenobarbitol.
In the new study, the researchers gave two-week-old mice DEN and then divided them into two groups - one fed a normal, relatively low-fat food and the other fed on high-fat chow. “It was clear that the mice on the high fat diet developed more liver cancer,” Karin said.
To further confirm the link, they gave DEN to two-week-old mice that were fed a normal diet but carried a gene that made them obesity-prone. Those mice, too, developed more liver cancers, evidence that it wasn’t the high-fat diet that led to cancer, but rather something about the animal’s obese state
source; The Hindu
In the study, scientists showed that liver cancer is fostered by the chronic inflammatory state that goes with obesity, and two well known inflammatory factors in particular.
Obesity increases risk of developing cancer. And now, a mice study has confirmed that obesity does indeed act as a “bona fide tumour promoter.” Published in the January 22nd issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, scientists also have good evidence to explain how that happens.
“Doctors always worry about our weight, but the focus is often on cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, both of which can be managed pretty well with existing drugs,” said Michael Karin of the University of California, San Diego. “However, we should also worry about elevated cancer risk. If we can reduce cancer deaths by as many as 90,000 per year, that’s a lot of people - a lot of lives.”
In the study, Karin’s team showed that liver cancer is fostered by the chronic inflammatory state that goes with obesity, and two well known inflammatory factors in particular. To reach the conclusion, Karin’s team investigated mice prone to develop hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The mice are typically given HCC either by exposure to a chemical carcinogen, known as DEN, when they are two weeks old, or by exposure to that same carcinogen at three months of age followed by the tumor-promoting chemical phenobarbitol.
In the new study, the researchers gave two-week-old mice DEN and then divided them into two groups - one fed a normal, relatively low-fat food and the other fed on high-fat chow. “It was clear that the mice on the high fat diet developed more liver cancer,” Karin said.
To further confirm the link, they gave DEN to two-week-old mice that were fed a normal diet but carried a gene that made them obesity-prone. Those mice, too, developed more liver cancers, evidence that it wasn’t the high-fat diet that led to cancer, but rather something about the animal’s obese state
source; The Hindu
HEALTH: Stop the pain in its track
The pain of arthritis first begins in the fingers.
Early diagnosis of polyarthritis helps stop the spread of the disease
The pain will usually start in the fingers and toes. They hurt early in the morning and the joints feel hot and swollen. Movement is difficult. Exhaustion and a lack of energy are also common. The pain typically occurs symmetrically. “It hurts in both hands and/or feet at the same spot,” explains Erica Gromnica-Ihle, a Berlin-based rheumatologist, describing the typical symptoms of polyarthritis, a kind of rheumatoid arthritis. It is chronic and irreversible, but manageable if arrested early enough.
“Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common and worst of the inflammatory diseases of the joints,” says Gerd-Ruediger Burmester, a rheumatologist at Berlin's Charite University Clinic. The majority of sufferers are women. Many seem to be about 50 when the disease strikes, though it can strike anyone anywhere. “Whether you're a child, a teen or a retiree, the disease is not a question of age.”
There are serious problems if the disease is left untreated. “The joint infections spread, attacking, for example, the elbows, knees, jaw or neck,” explains Gromnica-Ihle. Internal organs might also be affected, with rheumatic knots building up in the heart or lungs. In the long run, joints will be destroyed. In earlier times, patients would reach a point where they simply could not move any more and become invalids.
Diagnosis
“Generally, we can prevent that today,” says Burmester. The earlier the problem is diagnosed, the higher the chances of arresting the disease. “If the symptoms last for more than six weeks then make sure you get to a rheumatologist.”
Diagnoses are difficult. “There are other diseases that have similar symptoms,” says Ulf Mueller-Ladner of the German Association for Rheumatology. A blood test usually helps because it shows factors associated with rheumatism. New tests for special antibodies should provide even more precise results.
Beginning treatment as early as possible can render a patient nearly symptom-free and stop the disease's spread. ‘‘We've already had a few patients upon whom, by virtue of early treatment, we've been able to stop the medicinal treatments,” says Burmester. At the same time, there are no long-term studies on the disease available. “The malady is chronic and the current scientific understanding indicates that it cannot be healed, meaning it could break out again at any time.”
Methotrexat (MTX) is the most common therapy for polyarthritis. “The anti-rheumatoid reduces inflammation and regulates the immune system,” explains Burmester. That's important, because the disease is caused by cells incorrectly guided to the joints, where they begin to produce inflammatory agents. “Why that happens, we don't know,” says Mueller-Ladner. But genetics seems to play a role.
Treatment
Whatever the reason, the problem attacks the joints. “The process is similar to the destructive ability of cancer cells.” Since MTX takes about six weeks to reach its full potential, initial therapy is usually supported with cortisone. “We use it as a bridge to take some pain away.” Other alternatives include treatment with biopharmaceuticals or natural antibodies. ‘‘They fight the inflammatory agents that the rheumatism takes further into the body,” explains Gromnica-Ihle.
But the treatment is expensive and comes with multiple side effects. Along with medicinal therapies, which can usually be given on an outpatient basis, movement and physical therapy are also important.
To prevent a stiffening of the joints, Mueller Ladner recommends physical therapy. Swelling is best treated with cooling and light massage. “Anyone who already has joint problems should use ergotherapy to learn relief strategies for everyday life,” recommends Gromnica-Ihle.
SOURCE; the hindu
The pain of arthritis first begins in the fingers.
Early diagnosis of polyarthritis helps stop the spread of the disease
The pain will usually start in the fingers and toes. They hurt early in the morning and the joints feel hot and swollen. Movement is difficult. Exhaustion and a lack of energy are also common. The pain typically occurs symmetrically. “It hurts in both hands and/or feet at the same spot,” explains Erica Gromnica-Ihle, a Berlin-based rheumatologist, describing the typical symptoms of polyarthritis, a kind of rheumatoid arthritis. It is chronic and irreversible, but manageable if arrested early enough.
“Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common and worst of the inflammatory diseases of the joints,” says Gerd-Ruediger Burmester, a rheumatologist at Berlin's Charite University Clinic. The majority of sufferers are women. Many seem to be about 50 when the disease strikes, though it can strike anyone anywhere. “Whether you're a child, a teen or a retiree, the disease is not a question of age.”
There are serious problems if the disease is left untreated. “The joint infections spread, attacking, for example, the elbows, knees, jaw or neck,” explains Gromnica-Ihle. Internal organs might also be affected, with rheumatic knots building up in the heart or lungs. In the long run, joints will be destroyed. In earlier times, patients would reach a point where they simply could not move any more and become invalids.
Diagnosis
“Generally, we can prevent that today,” says Burmester. The earlier the problem is diagnosed, the higher the chances of arresting the disease. “If the symptoms last for more than six weeks then make sure you get to a rheumatologist.”
Diagnoses are difficult. “There are other diseases that have similar symptoms,” says Ulf Mueller-Ladner of the German Association for Rheumatology. A blood test usually helps because it shows factors associated with rheumatism. New tests for special antibodies should provide even more precise results.
Beginning treatment as early as possible can render a patient nearly symptom-free and stop the disease's spread. ‘‘We've already had a few patients upon whom, by virtue of early treatment, we've been able to stop the medicinal treatments,” says Burmester. At the same time, there are no long-term studies on the disease available. “The malady is chronic and the current scientific understanding indicates that it cannot be healed, meaning it could break out again at any time.”
Methotrexat (MTX) is the most common therapy for polyarthritis. “The anti-rheumatoid reduces inflammation and regulates the immune system,” explains Burmester. That's important, because the disease is caused by cells incorrectly guided to the joints, where they begin to produce inflammatory agents. “Why that happens, we don't know,” says Mueller-Ladner. But genetics seems to play a role.
Treatment
Whatever the reason, the problem attacks the joints. “The process is similar to the destructive ability of cancer cells.” Since MTX takes about six weeks to reach its full potential, initial therapy is usually supported with cortisone. “We use it as a bridge to take some pain away.” Other alternatives include treatment with biopharmaceuticals or natural antibodies. ‘‘They fight the inflammatory agents that the rheumatism takes further into the body,” explains Gromnica-Ihle.
But the treatment is expensive and comes with multiple side effects. Along with medicinal therapies, which can usually be given on an outpatient basis, movement and physical therapy are also important.
To prevent a stiffening of the joints, Mueller Ladner recommends physical therapy. Swelling is best treated with cooling and light massage. “Anyone who already has joint problems should use ergotherapy to learn relief strategies for everyday life,” recommends Gromnica-Ihle.
SOURCE; the hindu
Haiti toll at 111,000
The Haitian government declared the search-and-rescue phase over Saturday as the first official estimate put the toll from the devastating earthquake at more than 111,000 people.
Yet even as the search slowed and the emphasis turned to relief operations, television broadcaster CNN reported a young man was found alive under the rubble of Hotel Napoli in Port-au-Prince, 11 days after the earthquake left much of the Haitian capital in ruins.
French, Greek and US rescue teams were on the scene.
International search teams recorded 132 people rescued since the magnitude-7 quake struck the impoverished Caribbean nation Jan 12, the UN said. Untold more were pulled out by fellow Haitians digging mostly with their hands.
A massive international effort underway in Haiti now refocuses entirely helping survivors, though there could still be some limited efforts to look for people in the rubble.
To date, the Haitian government counted 111,481 confirmed deaths across the country, which was already the poorest in the Western hemisphere.
Earlier Saturday, about 1,000 people gathered outside the National Cathedral in Port-au-Prince for the funeral of Haiti’s archbishop Joseph Serge Miot, which became a ceremony for all those Haitians who had no means to properly mourn their lost relatives and friends. Most of the dead have gone into mass graves.
“We ask God that for all those that encountered death with this earthquake, that you console their families, who in many cases could not offer a dignified burial to their loved ones,” Louis Kebreau, head of Haiti’s conference of bishops, offered in prayer during the funeral mass.
President Rene Preval, seated with his wife, Elizabeth, was among the mourners in a rare public appearance since the earthquake. Some people followed Preval after the ceremony, protesting and even chanting the name of former president Jean Bertrand Aristide, who was ousted from power in 2004.
Mourners also paid tribute to Charles Benoit, vicar general of the Port-au-Prince diocese, whose body was also found in the ruins of the Notre-Dame de l’Assomption cathedral. His white casket stood alongside that of Miot.
People with means, meanwhile, were being encouraged to seek accommodations beyond the capital. According to UN estimates, about 1 million people might be fleeing the city for the countryside.
Shelter for Haiti’s more than 600,000 homeless was a primary concern for the UN, along with an “overwhelming” number of people with untreated injuries.
Now that the initial emergency has passed, staff with Doctors Without Borders said survivors of the earthquake were in desperate need of medical specialists, such as physical therapists and especially psychologists.
“The whole situation is still very chaotic,” Anja Wolz, an emergency coordinator for German staff with Doctors Without Borders, told the DPA.
“We have treated about 5,500 patients so far and performed about 1,000 operations.”
Most patients her group has helped remain traumatized after the disaster, and sanitary issues in overcrowded camps remain a problem, she said.
Doctors Without Borders warned of increasing tensions and a rise in the number of wounded from gunshots and machete attacks in some slums, which were plagued by violence even prior to the earthquake.
Meanwhile, the UN reported improvements in the massive effort to get aid to those in need, including food and medicine.
The Port-au-Prince airport was pulsing with US Navy helicopters in a non-stop airlift of food and other aid across the country as international officials started considering how best to rebuild the flattened capital.
Officials from 20 nations were set to meet Monday in Montreal to lay plans for coordinating aid to quake-stricken Haiti and set the groundwork for a possible March donor’s conference for long-term rebuilding.
Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua have announced plans to boycott the meeting, saying they oppose the heavy US military presence in the Caribbean.
The US has sent massive amounts of resources including troops into the country, coordinating relief efforts with the UN and other relief agencies.
The Haitian government declared the search-and-rescue phase over Saturday as the first official estimate put the toll from the devastating earthquake at more than 111,000 people.
Yet even as the search slowed and the emphasis turned to relief operations, television broadcaster CNN reported a young man was found alive under the rubble of Hotel Napoli in Port-au-Prince, 11 days after the earthquake left much of the Haitian capital in ruins.
French, Greek and US rescue teams were on the scene.
International search teams recorded 132 people rescued since the magnitude-7 quake struck the impoverished Caribbean nation Jan 12, the UN said. Untold more were pulled out by fellow Haitians digging mostly with their hands.
A massive international effort underway in Haiti now refocuses entirely helping survivors, though there could still be some limited efforts to look for people in the rubble.
To date, the Haitian government counted 111,481 confirmed deaths across the country, which was already the poorest in the Western hemisphere.
Earlier Saturday, about 1,000 people gathered outside the National Cathedral in Port-au-Prince for the funeral of Haiti’s archbishop Joseph Serge Miot, which became a ceremony for all those Haitians who had no means to properly mourn their lost relatives and friends. Most of the dead have gone into mass graves.
“We ask God that for all those that encountered death with this earthquake, that you console their families, who in many cases could not offer a dignified burial to their loved ones,” Louis Kebreau, head of Haiti’s conference of bishops, offered in prayer during the funeral mass.
President Rene Preval, seated with his wife, Elizabeth, was among the mourners in a rare public appearance since the earthquake. Some people followed Preval after the ceremony, protesting and even chanting the name of former president Jean Bertrand Aristide, who was ousted from power in 2004.
Mourners also paid tribute to Charles Benoit, vicar general of the Port-au-Prince diocese, whose body was also found in the ruins of the Notre-Dame de l’Assomption cathedral. His white casket stood alongside that of Miot.
People with means, meanwhile, were being encouraged to seek accommodations beyond the capital. According to UN estimates, about 1 million people might be fleeing the city for the countryside.
Shelter for Haiti’s more than 600,000 homeless was a primary concern for the UN, along with an “overwhelming” number of people with untreated injuries.
Now that the initial emergency has passed, staff with Doctors Without Borders said survivors of the earthquake were in desperate need of medical specialists, such as physical therapists and especially psychologists.
“The whole situation is still very chaotic,” Anja Wolz, an emergency coordinator for German staff with Doctors Without Borders, told the DPA.
“We have treated about 5,500 patients so far and performed about 1,000 operations.”
Most patients her group has helped remain traumatized after the disaster, and sanitary issues in overcrowded camps remain a problem, she said.
Doctors Without Borders warned of increasing tensions and a rise in the number of wounded from gunshots and machete attacks in some slums, which were plagued by violence even prior to the earthquake.
Meanwhile, the UN reported improvements in the massive effort to get aid to those in need, including food and medicine.
The Port-au-Prince airport was pulsing with US Navy helicopters in a non-stop airlift of food and other aid across the country as international officials started considering how best to rebuild the flattened capital.
Officials from 20 nations were set to meet Monday in Montreal to lay plans for coordinating aid to quake-stricken Haiti and set the groundwork for a possible March donor’s conference for long-term rebuilding.
Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua have announced plans to boycott the meeting, saying they oppose the heavy US military presence in the Caribbean.
The US has sent massive amounts of resources including troops into the country, coordinating relief efforts with the UN and other relief agencies.
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