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National Bravery awards 2004

     New Delhi: Nineteen children, including 5 girls and 14 boys, have been selected for the National Bravery Awards for 2004. One of the awards will be given posthumously. According to a press release, the Sanjay Chopra award will be given to Master Harry Chaudhry of New Delhi. This 14-year boy showed exemplary courage in tackling an armed assailant, who had stabbed his sister while she was travelling with him in a rickshaw. Though Harry was able to nab the culprit with the help of passers by, he could not save his sister. The Geeta Chopra award will be given to 13-year-old Km Boya Geethanjali of Andhra Pradesh. In a region infested with naxals, this little girl fought with armed naxals to save the life of a people's representative, who was about to be taken away by them. She was able to drive away the naxals, with help from the womenfolk of the village.

      The Bapu Gayadhani award will be given to Late Master N Kandha Kumar from Tamil Nadu, Master Lalthanzawna from Mizoram, and Km Majda alias Babli from Uttaranchal. Other award winners are Master Hotilal, Km Mahima Tiwari both from Uttar Pradesh, Master Ramandeep Singh and Master Pawan Kumar of Punjab (Joint Deed), Master RK Rahul Singh of Manipur, Km Shiney TA, Master Sajan Antony, Master TP Krishna Prasad and Master Johncy Samuel all from Kerala, Master Khiangdingliana of Mizoram, Km Priyanka of Haryana, Master Gopal Singh Sondia of Madhya Pradesh, Master B Sai Kushal of Andhra Pradesh and Master Vinod R. Jain of Karnataka. The children will receive the awards from the Prime Minister of India on 25th January 2005 at a special function. They will also participate in the Republic Day Parade riding atop caparisoned elephants. Instituted by The Indian Council for Child Welfare in 1957, the National Bravery Awards have been so far given to 669 children.

Minor expansion of UP cabinet (Go To Top)

     Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav conducted a minor expansion in his cabinet today by inducting a Rashtriya Lok Dal member into the ministry. The CM of Uttar Pradesh today inducted Munna Singh Chauhan, a RLD MLA, into the cabinet as a seat fell vacant after RLD MLA and Minister for Irrigation Anuradha Chaudhary resigned from the cabinet. Anuradha resigned following her election to the Lok Sabha. The new member of the Mulayam cabinet was administered the oath of office and secrecy as a Minister by State Governor T V Rajeshwar at a simple ceremony at the Raj Bhawan. Yadav and RLD chief Ajit Singh were among those who witnessed the swearing in ceremony.

Airbus unveils 'superjumbo' jet (Go To Top)

     Paris: The world's largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, has been unveiled in an elaborate ceremony in France. According to The BBC, the twin-deck aircraft can carry about 555 people - more than the Boeing 747 jumbo built by Airbus' main competitor. The ceremony was attended by European leaders including Tony Blair, Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schroeder. French President Jacques Chirac praised the A380 as the "crowning achievement of a human and industrial adventure", describing it as a "European success". French, British, German and Spanish leaders represented the Airbus consortium at the "reveal ceremony" in Toulouse. British Prime Minister Tony Blair praised the "dedication" of all those involved in the project and said the A380 was a symbol of European cooperation at its best. "This is the most exciting new aircraft in the world, a symbol of economic strength and technical innovation," he said. "Above all, it is a symbol of confidence that we can compete and win in the global market."

     The first test flight of the A380 will take place in April although Airbus is keeping the exact date under wraps. It will enter service in 2006. Airbus - a joint venture between European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) and BAE Systems - has secured 149 confirmed orders for the A380 from 14 customers, including 11 passenger airlines. Airlines have taken options on a further 100 planes. Airbus chief executive Noel Forgeard said he expected sales of the A380 to comfortably exceed 250, the number required for the huge aerospace project to break even. He said Airbus hoped to sell more than 700 of the aircraft and was in talks about selling the plane to China. "We'll sell a lot more than 250. We'll sell 700 or 750. You know it is a plane which will fly for 30 or 40 years," he said.

India in danger of losing Commonwealth Games (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: The delay in setting up the Organising Committee for the 2010 Commonwealth Games could cost the country the high-profile event, a top sports official said here on Tuesday. Commonwealth Games Federation Vice President Randhir Singh, who is also the Secretary General of the Indian Olympic Association, said the formation of the committee had already been delayed by over a year and if it was not formed at the earliest, the Federation would have to take stringent action, including taking away the Games from India. "We are already one year behind. We were supposed to form the committee by December 31, 2003. We have already asked for additional time to form the committee thrice and it is high time that the committee is formed," he told reporters here. "If this delay continues, it is going to cost us the Games." The initial deadline was first extended to March 2004 and then June before India asked the CWG Federation to give them time till December 2004 to form the Organising Committee during the Federation meeting at Athens in August. However, the formation of the Committee has been in jeopardy and insiders say it could be a result of the tussle between the Government and the IOA on who should head it. It may be recalled that a few months ago, Sports Minister Sunil Dutt had announced that the Government had made him Chairman of the Organising Committee to which the IOA had taken strong objections saying it was their prerogative to form a committee.