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Facilities at Maitri station in Antarctica to be modernized

     New Delhi: The Minister for Science and Technology and Ocean Development Kapil Sibal, now in the icy continent of Antarctica, announced today that the facilities at Maitri Station of India will be modernized and the fleet of Piston Bully vehicles, meant to travel on ice, will be increased. According to a press release, Sibal, the first Indian Minister to visit the glacial continent, directed the leader of the 24th Indian Antarctica Expedition, Dr. Rajesh Asthana of the Geological Survey of India to prepare the modernization plan for both the Maitri Station and the Summer Camps. The Minister also announced the decision to increase the time slot for every scientist to speak to their near and dear ones at home. Shri Sibal inaugurated a new platform constructed to provide logistical support to Maitri. Sibal is leading a high level delegation to Antarctica to take stock of the various operational and scientific activities and to evolve a plan for strengthening the Antarctic Programme of India. Sibal, who is on a three-day visit to Antarctica is scheduled to visit various laboratories around the Maitri Station.

President gives away 51st National Film Awards (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: The President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam presented the 51st national film awards to winners of different categories at a function, last evening. According to a press release, noted filmmaker Mrinal Sen received the Dada Saheb Phalke Award for the year 2003. The Dada Saheb Phalke Award, instituted in 1969, is given every year to a film personality for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema. The Award consists of a Swarna Kamal, a Shawl and cash prize of Rs two lakhs.

Peace top priority, says Nepal's new interior minister (Go To Top)

     Kathmandu: Nepal's new government said on Thursday it wanted peace talks with Maoist rebels but clamped down on dissent by banning all criticism of the king's decision to assume power for three years. King Gyanendra's decision to sack the government on Tuesday has attracted condemnation from India, the United States and the United Nations, which warned it could play into the rebels' hands. A state of emergency has been declared, politicians placed under house arrest or thrown in jail, and the press strictly censored in one of the globe's poorest and most troubled nations. On Thursday, state radio announced that all news against the royal proclamation of emergency and sacking the government was banned for six months. Gyanendra has appointed a 10-man cabinet of loyalists under his chairmanship, and the new government said its first priority was to establish peace. "Among all other things mentioned, peace is the foremost priority. And the whole process will be followed up. We will try our best to initiate peace at the earliest," Nepal's new interior minister Dan Bahadur Shahi told reporters in Kathmandu soon after taking charge. Maoist rebels have been fighting since 1996 to topple the monarchy and establish a Communist republic, based on the teachings of China's Communist patriarch Mao Zedong.

     The rebels have long insisted they would rather deal directly with the king or his direct representatives rather than with a puppet government. But they have also moved swiftly to condemn his latest move as smacking of "mediaeval feudal autocracy". Nepal is locked in a three-way struggle between the king, the rebels and political parties which are often bitterly divided themselves. The country has now had more than a dozen leaders since democracy was restored in 1990. Gyanendra dumped Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his government on Tuesday for failing to hold elections or end the escalating civil war with Maoist rebels. Reports say, at Deuba's luxury private compound in the hills above the capital, commandos with machine guns turned away all visitors. So far there has been no sign of popular opposition to the king's move. The country's divided political parties could bring up to half a million activists onto the streets, and protests have toppled previous governments appointed by the king. But politicians are ill-regarded by most Nepalis, after bungling and wrangling incessantly since 1990. About 11,000 people have been killed in the Maoist insurgency since it erupted in 1996. Diplomats worry the revolt could be spinning out of control and that Nepal could become a haven for international terrorist groups or drugs trafficking.