New Delhi: BJP today launched a membership drive amid Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pitch for making it all-inclusive so that every section of the society feels that their "flower" is represented in this "wonderful bouquet" of the party.

Becoming the first person to get the party's membership in the renewed drive, Modi said the BJP workers should toil hard like during an election campaign and make it an inspirational one across the globe.

"The era of mass agitation for politics seems over... Now people expect parties to play significant role in public life," he said at a function organised at the BJP headquarters here to launch the drive.

Noting that India is full of diversity, Modi said the BJP should reflect it and "every section of the society should feel that their 'flower' is represented in this wonderful bouquet (of BJP)." He said getting membership of BJP earlier had been difficult but it had become easier now due to the digital revolution adopted by the party.

He told the party cadres not to bother about other parties, contending that the BJP had already taken a big lead.

"Put your everything into it," the Prime Minister told the BJP cadres. -PTI

New Delhi: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today dismissed speculation that support of Shiromani Akali Dal to Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in Haryana Assembly elections would have an adverse effect on its ties with BJP and said the main goal of both of the parties was to defeat Congress.

"Our issue was to defeat Congress," Badal said, adding that they had already informed BJP about the SAD's stance in Haryana. He said his party had been in alliance with the BJP since the beginning.

Badal was here to participate in an event organised to mark construction of a memorial for the victims of 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Badal appreciated the memrial as a "good thing" for telling history to next generation.

The Punjab Chief Minister said the 1984 riots were painful episodes and called them as a genocide.

He rued the fact that many accused of the riots had not been punished and some of them were even holding important positions.

Badal sought a comprehensive relief package for the riot victims saying Union government must set up a Commission of Inquiry headed by a Supreme Court judge to inquire the entire "conspiracy" including official and political patronage behind the massacre in a time bound manner. He said the Commission should submit its report within six months.

He further said it was "grave injustice" to the victims as justice had been denied to them for more than three decades.

"Even where some action was initiated under public pressure, progress has been deliberately slow and complaints have been pending without any FIRs being registered," he alleged.

Badal demanded setting up of special dedicated courts to expedite the delivery of justice where FIRs had been registered and challans presented.

The CM, who performed the ground breaking ceremony to start the construction of this memorial at Gurudwara Rakabganj Sahib here today, was accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal.

Delhi BJP Chief Satish Upadhay was also present at the event who pledged all "possible support" to the Sikhs in their quest for justice regarding the 1984 riots.

The memorial was being built by Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC).

Speaking at the event, the President of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Committee Manjit Singh GK said that memorial was an attempt to pay homage to the victims. -PTI

NEW DELHI: Brushing aside China's reservations to its plans to develop infrastructure along the border, the government today said it has every right to undertake such projects in Indian territory and no one can stop it.

"We will do certain infrastructural activities which have not been done in the last 60 years. The Chinese should not have a problem with my statement .... They cannot stop me from doing my work," Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju told reporters here on the sidelines of a function here.

China had recently reacted sharply to a statement by Rijiju that India was planning to construct a road along the international boundary from Mago-Thingbu in Tawang to Vijaynagar in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh to match China's road infrastructure across the McMahon Line.

"There is a dispute about the eastern part of the China-India border. Before final settlement is reached, we hope that India will not take any action that may further complicate the situation," a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman had said.

Rijiju today said he was only referring to the government's plans to improve border infrastructure within India's territory and not in Chinese territory.

"I didn't say that we are going to do anything on their territory. I am an MP from Arunachal Pradesh. I am constitutionally elected and I have the constitutional right and obligation to do whatever is right in our territory. I am looking at border management also," he said. 

Asked about China's plans to construct a railway line across the McMahon line, the Union Minister said it was nothing new.

"They have been doing this for a very long time and in an extensive manner. My concern is we want to do what is necessary in our territory," he said.

Earlier, addressing a function on private security industry, organised by the FICCI, Rijiju said there was need to increase the role of private security agencies and expressed concern over non-implementation in letter and spirit of the private security agencies Act enacted in 2005.

Maintaining that private security agencies were still unorganised, the Minister said there was a need to ensure that the private security guards get their proper wages with proper duty hours. — PTI

Shiv Sena's advice to Fadnavis: Don't take people for granted

MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena on Saturday cautioned new Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis against taking the people for granted and asked him to fulfil the expectations of the common man.

“The new government is like a newly-wed woman who initially pleases her mother-in-law. In this case the mother-in-law is the people of Maharashtra. You cannot take people for granted. They have the power to pull your ears when you err,” an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana said. 

This is the first lesson the new government will have to learn, the Sena said amid signs of a rapprochement between the saffron parties, who parted ways on September 25, just weeks before the Assembly polls, which saw BJP emerging as the single largest party in the state.

It is true that there is no magic wand to fulfil promises made (during polls) but people of Maharashtra are looking at the new government, the first led by BJP, with a lot of hope, the publication said.

“Mantralaya (the State Secretariat) was gutted during the Congress-NCP rule but the aspirations of people had turned into ashes much before that. The new Chief Minister should ensure that his work is like the proverbial Phoenix which rose from the ashes,” the Sena organ maintained.

Describing Friday’s swearing-in ceremony of the Fadnavis-led Ministry as grand (it was also attended by corporate bigwigs), the Sena said the poor, and not the rich or money bags, should get the attention of the administration as was the case during Shivaji’s era. 

“Fadnavis has said he will emulate Shivaji Maharaj’s example while ruling the state. He should remember that the real strength of Shivaji’s Hindavi swarajya was not the seth and sahukars but the common poor folk.”

Thackeray attended the inauguration ceremony at Wankhede Stadium after a call from BJP president Amit Shah and other leaders. The party had earlier announced it would keep off the mega event, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing “constant humiliation” by BJP ahead of Government formation.

Sena MP Vinayak Raut on Friday said Shah had assured Thackeray of a positive decision on participation of his party in the BJP Government. — PTI

JAMUI/BEGUSARAI: Six persons drowned and seven others went missing on Saturday in two separate incidents of boat capsizing in Bihar.

In the first incident in Jamui district, at least five persons drowned when a country boat capsized in deep waters at Garhi dam, officer in-charge of Garhi police station Ram Narain Rai said.

Seven others are still missing and search is on to find them, he said.

Rai said 16 persons were on board the boat in which four swam to safety.

They were going to Garhi village for a religious function from Kauwakol village in neighbouring Nawada district, he said.

In an another incident in Begusarai district, one person drowned in Balan river while six others swam to safety, District Magistrate Seema Tripathi said.

Seven persons on board were returning to Mansoorchak village after watching a cultural programme in Bharaul village when the mishap took place, the DM said. — PTI

Virgin Galactic's spaceship crashes during test flight, pilot dead

LOS ANGELES: Virgin Galactic's first commercial spacecraft crashed on Friday during a test flight over California, scattering debris over the desert and leaving at least one pilot dead, officials said.

Television images showed the wreckage of SpaceShipTwo, a test vehicle that flies to the edge of space, amid brush in the desert east of Mojave, a few hours' drive northeast of Los Angeles.

The incident is second disaster involving a US spacecraft this week, after an unmanned Orbital Science rocket carrying supplie to the International Space Station exploded after launch on Tuesday.

It is also a huge blow to British tycoon Richard Branson's long-held dream of offering the first commercial space flights.

The Virgin chief made no immediate comment on the accident.

"During the test, the vehicle suffered a serious anomaly resulting in the loss of SpaceShipTwo. Our first concern is the status of the pilots," the firm said in a tweet.

Virgin Galactic said the fate of the pilots was unknown but the California Highway Patrol confirmed reports that one pilot had died another was serious injured, and taken to hospital.

"We will work closely with relevant authorities to determine the cause of this accident and provide updates as soon as we are able to do so," Virgin said.

Officials were due to give a press conference at 2 pm (2100 GMT) to release more details of the accident, according to the KGET local TV station. 
The spaceship had been carried aloft on a bigger aircraft known as WhiteKnightTwo and then released for a test of its rocket engine above the Mojave desert, in what was the 35th such flight.

"SpaceShipTwo has been released by WhiteKnightTwo, and is now flying freely," the firm wrote in a blow-by-blow account of the flight, adding: "Ignition! SpaceShipTwo is flying under rocket power again."

The next tweet announced the "anomaly", followed by the series confirming the crash. The company added that WhiteKnightTwo had landed safely after the accident.

More than 500 people have already reserved seats -- and paid a deposit on the $200,000 ticket price -- for a minutes-long suborbital flight on SpaceShipTwo, which can carry six passengers.

It is the commercial version of SpaceShipOne, the first private spacecraft to reach the edge of space in 2004, and which is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington.

Private companies are rushing to fill the gap left by NASA, which ended its 30-year shuttle program in July with the completion of the final Atlantis mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Friday's incident is the second involving a space craft this week, after the Orbital Science rocket exploded six seconds after launch on a resupply mission to the ISS.

Initial investigations into that explosion centered on the pair of rocket engines providing its thrust, which were made during the Soviet era and refurbished.

The Ukrainian-designed AJ-26 engines date back to the 1960s and 1970s, and Aerojet Rocketdyne of Sacramento, California has a stockpile that it refurbishes for Orbital Sciences. — AFP

Mid-series pullout
BCCI slaps Rs 250-cr damages claim on WICB

BRIDGETOWN: Left fuming by the West Indian cricketers' mid-series pullout due to a pay dispute with their Board, the BCCI has slapped a damages claim to the tune of Rs 250 crore (USD 42 million) on the WICB.

West Indies cricket plunged into an unprecedented crisis following the decision of the team to not go ahead with the tour of India following the fourth ODI in Dharamsala and the BCCI's damages claim could bring the bankrupt West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), which is going through its worst internal crisis, down to its knees.

"I have sent a letter to the WICB claiming damages to the tune of Rs 250 crore (USD 42 million). I have already sent them the letter demanding the compensation for pulling out of the bilateral series despite repeated requests and assurances of helping them out," BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel told PTI today.

After the incomplete five-match ODI series, the visitors were scheduled to play in a one-off T20 match at Cuttack followed by Tests at Hyderabad, Bangalore and Ahmedabad.

It has been learnt that the BCCI has given WICB about two weeks time to come up with a compensation plan failing which the Caribbean Board will have lawsuit.

"The BCCI calls upon the WICB to formally inform the BCCI, in writing, of the steps it intends to take to compensate the BCCI towards the losses quantified above as well as those losses yet to be quantified by the BCCI in relation to the cancelled WICB tour," said the letter, signed by Patel.

It added: "In the event the BCCI does not receive such a proposal in acceptable terms, within a period of 15 days from receipt of this letter, please note that the BCCI has peremptorily instructed its attorneys to initiate steps for recovery of the losses by filing appropriate legal proceedings against the WICB in the appropriate Indian court and you may treat this notice as a formal demand in that regard." Patel has sent the letter to WICB president Dave Cameron.

Asked if the WICB, which is virtually bankrupt and is currently one of the poorest cricket boards among the Test playing nations, will be be able to cough up the humongous amount, Patel said, "This is not BCCI or my lookout to see how the WICB arranges the amount. They have to pay up the amount.

Period." He added, "When they pulled out of the tour did they seek our permission?" — PTI

CHANDIGARH: A state-wide bandh, called by two student outfits to protest against 1984 anti-Sikh riots, evoked a mixed response with rail and road traffic being partially affected at a few places.

Members of the All-India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) and the Sikh Students Federation (SSF) squatted on rail tracks near Gurudwara Dukh Nivaran in Ludhiana for around five hours in the morning, following which the movement of few trains, including Shatabdi Express, Shan-e-Punjab, Katiyar Express and Jansewa Express, remained affected for few hours, the police said.

Ludhiana Police Commissioner Pramod Bhan said no untoward incident was reported and the situation is under control.

The police have been deployed in large numbers at several places across the state as a precautionary measure, he said.

Meanwhile, AISSF president Karnail Singh Peermohammad alongwith around 50 people has been rounded up by the police in Amritsar, when they were trying to block road traffic movement.

The police have taken few people into preventive custody to keep law and order under control, he said.

Among the detainees include Jagdish Kaur, a witness in the 1984 riots who had lost her five family members, including her husband and children during anti-Sikh riots in November 1984, said Peermohammad.

Today is the 30th year of 'Sikh Genocide' that took place after the assassination of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Activists of Sikh bodies, led by Manjit Singh Khalsa, took out a protest march in Phagwara city, raising slogans for arrest of those responsible for 1984 Sikh carnage.

Representatives of the Muslim community also took part in the protest march to express solidarity with their Sikh brethren.

Sikh protesters rued that the perpetrators of 1984 Sikh massacre were not punished even after thirty years.

Though the protesters did not block any train or bus here, the railway department itself kept halting Delhi-bound 2014 Down Amritsar-Delhi Swaran Shatabdi at Phagwara railway station for about three hours due to blockade of trains elsewhere in state.

Skeleton private bus services plied at few places, including Phagwara.

Barring at few places, educational and commercial establishments remained opened in the state amid tight security arrangements, the police said. — PTI

DHAKA: Bangladesh was hit by a nationwide blackout on Saturday after a transmission line bringing electricity from neighbouring India failed, an official from the state power company said.

The blackout was caused by a "technical glitch" and swept across the impoverished and energy-starved South Asian nation at around noon, Masum Beruni, Managing Director of the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Ltd., said without elaborating on the cause.

Officials were trying to restore electricity with "powerful generators" while they worked to repair the grid link, said Mir Motahar Hossain, an aide to Beruni.

"Our work is progressing fast, we hope to restore the system to a great extent, if not entirely for now," he said.

Bangladesh began importing electricity from India in October 2013 through a 400-kilovolt transmission line that runs from Baharampur in the Indian state of West Bengal to the town of Bheramara in southwestern Bangladesh.

The country also has signed agreements with energy companies in Japan, China, Malaysia and the US to build power plants and boost energy infrastructure as it aims to increase its meager 11,500-megawatt generating capacity. More than a third of Bangladesh's 166 million people have no access to electricity.

Saturday's outage was Bangladesh's worst power failure since 2007, when a powerful cyclone that killed about 2,500 people knocked out the national grid for several hours. — AP

KATHMANDU: At least 10 persons, including a Russian woman, were killed and 30 others injured today when two passenger buses collided head-on in central Nepal.

The pre-dawn accident happened in Makwanpur district's Basamadi area, about 120 km from the capital, when the two buses crashed into each other along the national highway.

Ten persons were killed and 30 others injured in the incident, officials said.

Twelve of the injured persons, who have been rushed to nearby Bharatpur Hospital, are said to be in critical condition, ekantipur news website reported today.

The police said a Russian was killed in the accident and was identified as a woman named Daria Mojkova.

Initial investigations have suggested that one of the two bus drivers was driving at a high speed and apparently lost control over his vehicle, leading to the collision. — PTI