IAF
choppers to patrol skies during Bihar polls
Patna:
Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters would be pressed
into service for surveillance and operations against extremists
during next month's Bihar Assembly polls, said State Chief
Secretary G S Kang here today. Kang said that the State
Home Secretary H C Sirohi would be making a formal request
to the Defence Ministry for sparing four IAF helicopters.
Besides patrolling the skies in the Naxalite-infested areas
during the elections, the choppers will also embark on an
area domination exercise to check inter-state Naxalite movement
in the sensitive districts of Gaya, Aurangabad, Jehanabad,
Arwal and Nawada, during the first phase of polls on October
18. The state had employed two IAF helicopters for aerial
surveillance during the February assembly polls. This time
the need for deploying choppers arouse as the banned Communist
Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) had given poll-boycott
call, saying that it would intensify attacks to disrupt
the election process. Besides aerial surveillance, nearly
600 companies of central paramilitary forces would be deployed
in the state to conduct peaceful and fair polls, added Kang,
who along with DGP Ashish Ranjan Sinha and Sirohi, flew
in to review the poll preparations in the region.
Congress
to rally secular parties in Bihar poll (Go
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Jhabua
(Madhya Pradesh): Union Minister of State for Communication
and IT, Shakeel Ahmed on Thursday, said that the Congress
would try its best to ensure that the secular votes do not
get divided in the upcoming Assembly elections in Bihar.
The minister said that a division in secular votes would
be beneficial for the communal parties, and to avoid it,
the party President Sonia Gandhi and General Secretary in-charge
of Bihar polls Digvijay Singh would come up with strategy
to keep the secular votes intact. Ahmed was in the city
to inaugurate WLL telecom services in the district. An alliance
between all the secular parties during the last elections
was absent, but this time it would be ensured that all the
secular parties come together to form an alliance to avoid
befitting the communal forces, Ahmed said. The polling in
Bihar will take place in four phases. The first phase of
polls will be held on October 18. The second and third phases
will be on October 26 and November 13, while the last phase
of the elections will take place on November 19. The counting
of votes will begin on November 22.
Toll
in Bihar firecracker blast rises to 32 (Go
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Khusrupur
(Bihar): The toll in the firecracker blast at Khusrupur
in Bihar rose to 32, said official sources. The number of
people wounded has risen to 40. Earlier in the day at noon,
a series of blasts took place at a warehouse in Khusrupur
about 50 kilometres south of Patna, trapping many people,
mostly labourers, under the debris. Several of the wounded
were in a serious condition and are undergoing treatment
at local hospital in Patna.
Thousands
stranded in Maharashtra floods (Go
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Bhandara
(Maharashtra): Hundreds of people remained stranded
in Maharashtra on Thursday where incessant rains in the
last couple of days have caused floods. Life has come to
a standstill for the people in the Bhandara district, as
it remained cut-off from the other parts of the state. According
to officials, the Wardha-Hinganghat Road has been inundated
following excess water discharged from a dam on the Vainganga
River. "The water has risen 13-14 feet and may rise further.
It may rise further if more water is released from the dam,"
said Anil Dhole, superintendent of police, Bhandara district.
Kerala
celebrates Onam (Go
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Thiruvananthapuram:
Onam, the national festival of Kerala, is traditionally
celebrated in August-September when the harvest is reaped
and granaries are full. This year Thiruvonam, the finale
of the 10-day festival, was celebrated today all over the
state. Houses were freshly painted and every one wore new
clothes. The legend is that the mythical King Mahabali visits
his subjects on this day to enquire about their welfare.
As per tradition, the head of the family presented new clothes
to the members and a lavish feast follows. Houses are decorated
with flowers and ikebana type flower carpets are created
around which young girls do the ritual for the ten days
early morning.
According
to mythology, the jealous gods sent Lord Vishnu to crush
Mahabali in whose reign there was unprecedented prosperity
throughout the kingdom. Vishnu disguised himself as Vamana,
a small Brahmin boy, and came to Mahabali's court. Upon
being granted whatever he asked for, he prayed for as much
land as he could cover in three steps. When his wish was
granted, with the first stride, Vamana covered heaven and
with the second, he covered earth. For the third step, Mahabali
had to bow his head and was pushed down to the nether world.
Mahabali then asked that he be allowed to visit his kingdom
once a year. The Onam festivities are held to greet the
king, to reassure him that his grateful subjects lead as
prosperous a life as they did when he was ruling. So he
returns pleased. The festive period leads up to Thiruvonam,
the 10th day.
Monsoon
session of Tibetan parliament-in-exile begins (Go
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by Hemant Chauhan
Dharamshala
(Himachal Pradesh): The monsoon session of Tibetan parliament-in-exile
began in scenic Dharamsala on Wednesday. The Assembly of
Tibetan People's Deputies (ATPD) is the highest elected
legislative organ of Tibetans-in-exile. Last week, Tibetans
from across the world -- including Europe and Africa had
cast vote for a new government-in-exile. In the current
session, deputies from Nepal and other areas in India are
attending the parliament, which would discuss new ways and
means to strengthen the Tibetan cause for democracy. The
10-day long session is also expected to take a major decision
regarding the future of Tibetan community, who have begun
various workshops in the hill town to make their youth aware
of the parliamentary system of governance. Members of the
ATPD are directly elected by the people every five years
with around 82,000 Tibetan voters registered in India, Nepal,
Bhutan, Europe and North America.
An
estimated 134,000 Tibetans live in exile, the majority of
them in India and Nepal. The Buddhist spiritual leader the
Dalai Lama set up his seat of power in Dharamsala after
he and his followers fled to India in 1959, nine years after
China occupied Tibet.
