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Mumbai 'Dabbawalas' set for a royal reception

     Mumbai: Two of the "Dabbawalas" from Mumbai, who won over Prince Charles on a visit to India two years ago, will be attending the Prince's wedding in Britain on Saturday. The two, Raghunath Medge and Sopan Mare, have been invited by the Buckingham Palace to attend the marriage. Medge, who is also the president of the Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Suppliers' Association, said they were thrilled after they got the invitation. Medge's association sent traditional Indian gifts to the royal couple - a sari and a blouse to Parker Bowles and a red turban to Charles -- after the couple announced their wedding plans in February. "They are like our friends. We won't be going empty handed. We will carry a greeting card. We will also give them a sweet made of jaggery and seasame," Medge said. The body represents about 5,000 couriers or "Dabbawalas" who deliver almost 150,000 lunch boxes from suburban homes to Mumbai's schools, offices and factories during the working week. Prince Charles met the lunch box couriers to understand their working methods during a visit to India's financial capital in 2003. Mumbai's tiffin carriers have impressed many management gurus worldwide with their ability to bring tens of thousands of people their lunches every day across the sprawling and congested city. Prince Charles will wed Camilla Parker Bowles, his long-time lover, on Saturday at Windsor Castle, west of London, after postponing their wedding to a day due to Pope John Paul II's death.

Dandi 'Diamond' march ends, PM declares it a heritage route (Go To Top)

     Dandi (Gujarat): The re-enacted Dandi March that started on March 12 concluded on Wednesday, 75 years after the first one, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announcing a Rs 10 crore development package for the Sabarmati Ashram and conversion of the route between the ashram and Dandi as a `Heritage Route'. "I am here to give tribute to Mahatma Gandhi and to all the marchers of the Dandi March who walked along with Mahatma Gandhi to give us all an independent nation," Dr. Singh soon after his arrival for the function. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who was also present on the occasion, received the flag from the Dandi marchers. "We will also begin the construction of a huge statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Dandi . Moreover all the places that he stopped overnight during the Dandi march would be developed into heritage areas, so that the coming generation can be inspired by Gandhi's ideologies," said Singh.

     Braving the scorching heat mixed with intervals of cool breeze, men, women and children holding the saffron, white and green tricolour turned up in large numbers at Dandi village in Gujarat's Navsari district, where Mahatma Gandhi had pleged to fight the British goverment's decision to impose a salt tax 75 years ago. "The issues that Gandhi spoke about during the Dandi march confronted us during our independence struggle The same communal issues confront us every now and then..On the occasion of the conclusion of the historic Dandi March, I appeal to all of you to take a pledge to maintain social unity and at all cost contribute to making India proud. As well as move together towards progress facing all challenges," said Gandhi However, she refrained from publicly responding to the BJP's criticism of the ceremonies connected with the landmark event. After leading tens of thousands of people during the historic platinum march, Sonia Gandhi described its end as a "Pavitra Puja".

     A cool breeze greeted both the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi when they arrived at about 11. 45 a.m. at the beach bordering the sea at Dandi. People started pouring in at the Sabha Sthal in Dandi, notwithstanding the delayed arrival of the chief guests. Earlier the programme was started with the patriotic song recital by Shobha Mudgal who sang "Vaishnav Jan To Tene Kahiye je." This was followed by Sonia Gandhi handing over the five flags, which she offered to the representatives of the March.The flags will be placed at the Congress central office as a momento. Minaxi Natrajan representing the marchers said slogans like Ek Do Tin Char Gandhiji Ki Jajaykar were voiced by small children. She said this had energised all the participantsduring the almost month-long march, which was the brainchild of Mahatma Gandhi's great grandson, Tushar Gandhi The original 26-day march by Gandhi triggered patriotic fervour against British rule which ended in India's independence in 1947. Since March 12, thousands of people have walked sections of the route taken by Mahatma Gandhi -- no relation of Sonia Gandhi -- and his followers to break the British Salt Tax law. But political analysts termed the re-enactment by the Congress as an attempt to make its presence felt in Gujarat, a state ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Congress, which led the country to freedom in 1947, returned to power last May after eight years. Gandhi was a member of the Congress party and was killed by a Hindu fanatic in 1948.

Nepalese King urges army to crush rebels (Go To Top)

     Bhaktapur (Nepal): In his first address to the military, since he seized power, the King of Nepal, Gyanendra urged the security forces to crush a long-running revolt by Maoist rebels, accusing the militants of "terrorism". Gyanendra dismissed the national government in February, detained political leaders and suspended civil liberties under a state of emergency. He said the move was necessary to crush the revolt in which more than 11,000 people have died and which has crippled the national economy. "Every Nepali is well aware that the country is going through a complex situation because of terrorism. Terrorism has no limit. The alternative to democracy is democracy only, not terrorism. The Royal Nepalese Army had to be mobilised as law and order situation in the country was going through a complex situation due to terrorism and for the security of all the Nepalese suffering from terrorism and for safeguarding the fundamental rights envisaged in the constitution," Gyanendra told army officers in a rare address to a military academy on the outskirts of Kathmandu.

     "The safeguarding of national unity, solidarity and the sovereignty is inherent and lives in each and every patriotic Nepalese working with honesty, firm commitment, loyalty and with responsibility. Because of these inherent qualities we are today able to identify Nepal and we are proud to be Nepalese," the King said in Nepali on the third day of an 11-day strike called by the Maoists to protest against Gyanendra's Feb. 1 seizure of power. The guerrillas set off a bomb in a tourist town killing a student, as the strike pushed up prices of foodstuffs, officials and traders said. The bomb exploded late on Sunday in Pokhara in western Nepal, where the strike call had been largely ignored. Three people were also wounded in the explosion and the town, surrounded by the snow-capped Himalayas, shut down after the attack. The rebels have in the past triggered bomb blasts around the country, particularly in towns, to enforce strike calls. They set off a series of bombs in Nepalgunj in western Nepal late on Friday, killing one person and wounding 19. Although authorities assured people that there were sufficient reserves of food and fuel around the country, and freight trucks were moving under armed escorts, traders said the rebel-sponsored strike had disrupted supplies. People generally heed the rebels for fear of reprisals. The rebels, inspired by the ideas of Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, have been fighting since 1996 to set up a communist republic in the landlocked country wedged between India and China. The rebels control large areas of the country and the revolt has damaged the economy, scaring off investors and tourists, a major source of foreign currency.

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