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Three arrested for poaching leopard skin

     Meerut: The Uttar Pradesh (UP) police on Tuesday arrested three poachers with a Leopard skin, estimated to be worth of lakhs of rupees, in Hastinapur sanctuary . "It is a skin of just seven or eight-month-old Leopard cub, which has been seized by us," said Dr. I.P Singh, the Forest Coservator. "We got the information about the poachers, coming to handover the leopard skin to his friend but the deal could not be finalised due to the high asking amount of two lakhs. Meanwhile, the police arrested all of the poachers and an enquiry is on, "said Shiv Sagar, the Superintendent of police During the rainy season, animals usually come towards the dry area, therefore, become an easy prey for the poachers. " We catch the wild animals with the help of electric shock for the purpose of selling," said Dharmveer, a poacher With the latest incident, the forest department of the area is all geared to keep any eye on any probable poaching attempt.The UP police is expecting to catch other poachers as well who are still active in Hastinapur Sanctuary.

Amritsar-Lahore bus service to start in Nov (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: India and Pakistan on Wednesday decided to launch a bus service between Amritsar and Lahore in the first half of November. Officials of both countries arrived at this decision after two days of constructive and cordial talks in the Indian capital. Both sides agreed that prior to the formal launch of the service, a trial run would be carried out in the second half of October. Officials from India and Pakistan also decided to explore the possibility of establishing a mechanism for ferrying Pakistani pilgrims to Ajmer to pay homage at the Dargah there. The Indian delegation to the talks was led by Dilip Sinha, Joint Secretary (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran) in the Ministry of External Affairs, while the Pakistan delegation was led by Mohammad Abbas, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Communications, Pakistan. The first round of talks between the two sides was held in Islamabad on May 10 and 11 this year.

`Melody Queen' Lata Mangeshkar turns 76 (Go To Top)
by Seema Mishra

     Mumbai: India's `Melody Queen' Lata Mangeshkar acknowledged greetings for her 76th birthday today, but did not celebrate the event because of a death in the family. Lata's voice has captured the hearts and imagination of millions across the globe. The `Nightingale of India' has had an astonishing 70-year run in the music industry. She started taking music lessons from her father Dinanath Mangeshkar, an accomplished classical singer, at the age of five. Her natural talent for singing was apparent even at that young age, and she also took lessons from Aman Ali Khan Sahib and Amanat Khan. Life dealt her the first blow with the death of her father in 1942, and the responsibility of providing for the family fell on Lata`s young shoulders. For the next six years she busied herself with acting in Marathi films to earn the bread and butter. This was also the time when she made her debut as a playback singer in a Marathi film (Kiti Hasaal in 1942). The Marathi song never saw the light of day. A few recordings for Hindi films followed, but they too went unnoticed. However, the breakthrough came in 1948 with Dil mera toda (Majboor) . Films like Barsaat, Andaz, Dulari and Mahal followed, and by 1950 Lata was the queen of the Bollywood music scene.

      Fame and recognition have followed Lata at every step. Her soulful rendition of "Aye mere watan ke logon" had moved the then Prime Minster Jawaharlal Nehru to tears, while his Pakistani counterpart said that he would happily exchange "Lata for Kashmir". Renowned classical singer Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan also acknowledged her talent by saying "Kambakht galti se bhi kabhi besura nahi gati" (She never sings badly, even by mistake). The Royal Albert Hall of London recorded a computerised graph of Lata`s voice, and declared it the `Most perfect voice in the world`. Lata`s achievements include, besides the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Bhushan, the Dada Saheb Phalke Award, Noorjehan Award, Maharashtra Ratna, Hakim Khan Sur Award, and various other felicitations for lifetime achievement. She is the only Asian to have received the Platinum Disc of EMI London. She has also earned an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records for singing the maximum number of songs in the world. But with all her fame and glory, Lata retains her humbleness and her reverence for her art. She always sings barefoot as a sign of respect to where she is singing.

Tibetan prime ministerial polls postponed (Go To Top)
by Hemant Chauhan

     Dharamshala: The chief election commissioner of the Tibetan government in-exile has postponed this year's Prime Ministerial elections. The second direct election of the Kalon Tripa or Tibetan Prime Minister in-exile initially scheduled for December 22 this year has been postponed on the request of Tibetans living in various settlements in different parts of India. Over 70,000 Tibetan voters exercise their franchise in the direct election of the head of the Central Tibetan Administration in- exile. 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 along with his followers fled to India in 1959, nine years after China occupied Tibet. The Dalai Lama has been campaigning for greater autonomy for Tibet.

'Relieved' Ganguly wants some rest (Go To Top)

     Kolkata: Following the patch up with coach Greg Chappell, Indian captain Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday said he wanted some rest before the next series commences. Returning after appearing before the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) review committee in Mumbai, to sort out the reported differences between him and coach Chappell, Ganguly said: "Now I only want some rest for the next few days". Indian skipper was talking to media at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose international Airport here. On being asked if he was feeling relieved, Ganguly said, "Tell me, what do I do on this?" Earlier on Tuesday, strictures were imposed on both Indian cricket team coach Greg Chappell and captain Sourav Ganguly after both appeared separately before the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) review committee to sort out their differences. A rift between the two was exposed after the second Test between India and Zimbabwe at Bulawayo when Ganguly, hinting at Chappell, had publicly said that he was asked to step down as captain just before the start of the match. However, on the eve of second Test at Harare, coach Chappell told the media that he had great respect for Ganguly, and he had asked him to step down just to motivate him before the start of the series.