Cyclone
moves towards Andhra coast
Bhubaneswar:
The Cyclone Warning Centre (CWC) today confirmed the
movement of the cyclonic storm, which was centred over the
north west Bay of Bengal earlier, in south-west direction
towards Andhra Pradesh. The deep depression formed over
the North-West bay moved westward and intensified into a
cyclonic storm on Sunday evening, at about 80 km South East
of Puri. According to a CWC bulletin released last night,
the depression, which was moving fast, was earlier expected
to cross the South Orissa coast on Sunday night, But it
continued to drift in a south-westerly direction. The storm
was close to Kalingapatnam in Andhra Pradesh early this
morning, CWC said. It also has triggered the fear of high
tidal waves as heavy rains lashed Bhubaneswar and coastal
areas of the state last night putting the high alerts in
several districts. Very heavy rainfall accompanied with
gale force winds with a speed of 70 to 80 kmph associated
with the system could be experienced along and off South
Orissa coast during the next 24 hours, CWC said, adding,
sea will be very rough to high along and off south-Orissa
costs. Cautionary signal number seven had been hoisted at
Puri while signal number six, five and three had been put
up at Paradip, Gopalpur and Chandbali respectively. Fishermen
had been advised against venturing into the sea. Schools
and colleges in 11 districts of Orissa are close today as
precautionary step. About 5,000 marooned villagers were
evacuated to safer places while more than 10,000 have taken
shelter in multi-purpose cyclone shelter buildings across
these areas.
Congress
aligns with RJD, CPI and NCP for Bihar polls (Go
To Top)
Patna:
The Congress, which contested alone on 84 seats in the
last Assembly polls in Bihar, on Monday forged an alliance
with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and other allies for
the upcoming polls in the State. The decision was taken
during two-hour long meeting to discuss seat sharing between
RJD, Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist)--CPI-M
and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). However, AICC General
Secretary Digvijay Singh said the final seat sharing would
be announced by Tuesday. "For the uplift of people and maintaining
communal harmony in the state, we have decided that RJD,
NCP, Congress and CPI (M) would fight these elections together.
As said by the leaders, we are open to other secular parties
also. We will decide on our final seat sharing by tomorrow,"
Singh told reporters. RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, hinting
at LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan, said the doors were still
open for any secular party to join their front. "In these
elections RJD, Congress, NCP and CPI (M) will contest the
polls together. And we are open to any secular party who
wants to come with us," he said. Meanwhile, CPI (M) spokesman
Sitaram Yechuri said that the formation of another third
front by the CPI and LJP would only benefit the rival NDA
alliance in the polls. "We have always maintained that any
third front in Bihar is actually going to aid the BJP-led
NDA. That has been our opinion all along and that is the
only reason why we are insisting that there should be no
division in the secular vote. That is the reason why we
are adopting such tactics," Yechuri said. Earlier on Sunday,
Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), with 23 seats in the last election,
had decided to form its own "Third front" with the CPI and
Forward Bloc, which is seen as a serious jolt to the plans
of Congress-led UPA to fight BJP-led NDA.
Congress
shortlists 113 seats for Bihar polls (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi: The Congress has shortlisted 113 seats, 29 more
than the February polls, and panel of candidates who were
likely to contest in the upcoming Bihar Assembly polls.
The decision was taken at a nine-hour long meeting of the
BPCC, which was also attended by Congress general secretary
in-charge of Bihar Digvijay Singh, Congress observers Sanjay
Singh, B K Hari Prasad and Rameshwar Nikhra, and Union Ministers
Meira Kumar and Shakeel Ahmed. Although a detailed report
was known as yet, the Congress would contest from all the
ten seats it had won and had finished second in the February
polls. Apart from these seats, the Congress would also erect
its candidates at the seats where RJD candidates had lost
by a margin of 10,000 or more votes in the last polls and
where RJD nominees had not won in last three successive
elections. In February, the Congress had contested for 84
seats in alliance with the RJD. 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.
Congress
opts to keep mum over Paswan-CPI link-up issue (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi: The Congress on Monday said that it was for the
national leadership of the UPA to decide what course of
action it should take on Ram Vilas Paswan's decision to
align with the CPI. Responding to a question about Paswan,
who formed a separate alliance with the Communist Party
of India (CPI) on Sunday, the Congress General Secretary
in-charge of Bihar, Digvijay Singh, said: "It is an issue
for the national leadership of the UPA to decide". Singh,
who had earlier said that the Congress would try its best
to avoid a split in secular votes, said the formation of
another secular front would lead to a division in secular
votes from which the National Democratic Alliance would
benefit. Earlier on Sunday, the Communist Party of India
(CPI) had announced that it would align with Ramvilas Paswans
Lok Janshakti Party to form a ''Separate Secular Alliance''
for the Bihar polls. Party General Secretary A B Bardhan
had said after a two-day party meeting that the new alliance,
which would contest for all 243 seats against both the NDA
and the RJD, Congress and CPI (M) alliance, was also likely
to be joined by the CPI (M-L), Forward Bloc, RSP, and SUCI.
The political activity in Bihar as well as in New Delhi
has intensified ever since the Election Commission announced
the polls dates for the State Assembly on September three.
Assembly elections in the State will be held in four phases
and the first phase of voting will take place 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. Counting of votes in all the
constituencies will be taken up on November 22, and date
before which election process shall be completed will be
November 23.
Naxal
shutdown in Andhra Pradesh flops (Go
To Top)
Warangal
(Andhra Pradesh): The shutdown called by Maoists in
Andhra Pradesh evoked little response as shops and offices
continued running smoothly on Monday. The strike was called
by the Left-wing rebels to protest against a high-level
security meeting by Indian authorities to combat Naxals
following a step-up in attacks and reports that they were
linking up with guerrillas in neighboring Nepal. The meeting
called by Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil in New Delhi
was attended by chief ministers and senior officials from
nine Naxal-affected states of the country. The Naxal-affected
states were now looking for satellite technology, elite
troops and sophisticated arms. But political leaders in
Warangal said they had little faith in modus operandi. "The
success of the meeting between the State leaders in New
Delhi is doubtful. The government wants to quell the rebellion
by forcethis is their modus operandi," T. Venkataraman,
a Communist Party of India leader, said. The Government
said there were about 9,300 Maoist rebels in the country,
who were being aided by the social and economic disparities.
The rebels have killed politicians, policemen and government
officials, bombed factories and government offices and attacked
buses and trains in an insurgency that stretches back to
1968. The rebels hold that they are fighting for the rights
of poor peasants and landless labourers in the country's
rural hinterland. They often hold their own courts to resolve
disputes and kill officials they claim are corrupt. Also,
causing alarm is the link with the long-running Maoist insurgency
in neighbouring Nepal, where thousands of people have been
killed. However, officials said that the rebels in Nepal
and India were known to be helping each other with arms
and training, and the two groups this month announced they
would join hands.
Saurashtra
University cracks down on fake certificates (Go
To Top)
by Masooma Bharmal
Rajkot
(Saurashtra): For many it take years to achieve a college
degree, but for others its just a duplication game. Keeping
in view the frequent number of cases of fake certificates,
Saurashtra University has come up with a novel way to avoid
any duplication of their certificates. To keep a check on
those who indulge in the malpractice of making fake degrees
the university have added 24 new security features to their
certificates.The authorities are claiming that the security
features are foolproof and there is hardly any chance for
duplication of the university degree certificates. Also,
the university is preparing the certificates in - house
unlike other universities which gets the certificates made
outside thus reducing the chances of duplication to nil.
"We have prepared certificates which can not be duplicated.The
certificates are prepare in - house by the employees of
the university itself.There are around 24 security features.There
is a logo and gold foil which can not be seen with naked
eyes," said Dhiren Pandya, Controller of Examination, Saurashtra
University. The certificates comprised of certain features
like the hologram of the university and the signature of
the vice-chancellor, which are visible only under red filters.The
golden foil at the bottom of the certificate is such,that
it could neither be scanned nor printed.If some one tries
to reproduce it ,the foil would either disappear or appear
with blur image. Like a currency note,the certificates are
well knitted with a silver foil.'Saurashtra University'
printed behind the certificate which can not be read as
it is with the naked eye but under the red filter it reads,
'Rajkot' along with the year of issue of the certificate.
The students associated with the university are happy with
the initiative.They are proud that the certificates which
they posses are authentic and cannot be duplicated.Students
allege that most of the times meritorious students have
suffered because of these malpractices as some students
produce fake certificates to seek jobs. "Some students try
to grab the jobs with the help of fake certificates due
to which the deserving students lag behind.The steps taken
by the university to avoid duplication are praiseworthy,"
said Jaideepsinh Gohil, Student. This initiative of the
university,already enjoying the 4-star status granted by
the National Assessment and Accredition Council (NAAC) ,
is really exclusive.The university is issuing around 50,000
degree certificates every year.
Kidnapping
of Hindu girl in Pak evokes protests, strike (Go
To Top)
Jacobabad:
The kidnapping of a Hindu girl by some unidentified
armed men five days ago, has evoked angry protests from
the Hindu community in Sindh, Balochistan and nearby areas.
A few days ahead of her kidnapping, the girl had reportedly
embraced Islam and renamed herself as Mehak after marrying
a Muslim boy. On Sunday, a strike was observed in several
towns, including Sindh, Balochistan and Jacobabad, on the
call of the president of the Hindu General Panchayat, Baboo
Mahesh Kumar and the president of the chamber of commerce.
All shops and business centres remained closed in these
towns. According to the Dawn, a big protest procession was
taken out under the aegis of the Hindu Panchayat, in which
hundreds of people participated. The procession started
from the Hindu Panchayat hall and passing through different
roads stopped at the DCO chowk. The members of the Hindu
community also staged a dharna, and observed a token hunger
strike. They blocked the road for two hours, and raised
slogans against police's failure to recover the kidnapped
girl, Sapna, said the paper. The protesters said that it
was injustice with the Hindus, and that police did not take
any action all these days to recover the girl.
Sensex
touches 8400 mark (Go
To Top)
Mumbai:
The Stock Exchange Mumbai (BSE) Ltd 30- share sensitive
index continues to mount as the Index touched the 8400 mark
for the first time in its history on Monday. After remaining
closed for two days, the Sensex opened at 8399.51 and reached
8408.80 at 10.30 a.m., which was an increase of 27.84 points
over previous close. As against Friday's close of 8380.96,
after little fluctuation in a range of 8419.41 and 8382.96,
the index eventually touched the historic mark of 8408.80.
According to brokers, the rise created little pressure over
some important counters, indicating a possibility of a required
correction for the good health of the market. Foreign Institutional
Investors (FIIs), which remained net buyers last week, were
reported to have done only select purchasing during the
day. Whereas domestic buyers were apparently seen to be
booking profits at higher levels, which was understood to
have prompted by the SEBI's decision to allow mutual funds
to participate in derivatives trading.
'Private
discussion' was to motivate Ganguly: Chappell (Go
To Top)
Harare:
In an effort to ease the tension which has gripped the
Indian cricket team, coach Greg Chappell expressed his respect
for Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly, saying both of them share
mutual respect and he wanted to continue working with Ganguly.
Giving his statement on the eve of the second Test match
against Zimbabwe, Chappell said the private discussion had
no real meaning but it was aimed at motivating Ganguly for
the Bulawayo Test. "It is disappointing that what was a
private discussion between the captain and myself, has become
a cause of public speculation. Even more disappointing is
that much of what has been written, does not represent the
discussion fairly," Chappell said in a written statement,
which he read out at the pre-match press conference. "It
was a frank discussion about Indian cricket's present and
future, and much of what I said was aimed at motivating
Sourav for the Bulawayo Test match. In that regard our exchange
was beneficial. "Sourav and I share a mutual respect going
back a long time. Thankfully, it is strong enough to survive
what has occurred in the past week. I have great respect
for what Sourav has achieved in his playing and captaincy
career and look forward to working with him in the future,"
he said.
