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Vijay Shanker is new CBI Director
President, PM to visit Bihar, says CM
533 cadets pass out from IMA
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Virbhadra lays stone of HPU’s distance education centre
Students warned against fake distance courses
Not many takers for dual-pricing proposal
Hand-chopping case: NCW seeks report Spicy food is out for Amitabh
LoC crossing points in J&K a flop show
Cyclone weakens into deep depression
Vigil tightened as 2 die in rocket scrap explosion
George undergoes neurosurgery
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Vijay Shanker is new CBI Director
New Delhi, December 10 Mr Shanker is likely to take charge from the officiating Chief J.K. Dutt on Monday. The name of Mr Shanker, a 1969 batch IPS officer from the UP cadre, was cleared by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. A recipient of President’s Police medal for distinguished and meritorious services, Mr Shanker was posted as Director-General of Civil Defence and Home Guard prior to his appointment to the coveted post. Mr Shanker had earlier served in the premier investigating agency in various capacities and was transferred in May last year, when he was Additional Director in the CBI. During his stint as Additional Director of the CBI, Mr Shanker investigated several important cases like the deportation of underworld don Abu Salem, Bilkis Banu case and the Telgi scam. During his stint in the CBI, Mr Shanker had also handled several sensitive cases, including the IC-814 Hijack case, poetess Madhumita Shukla murder case and the whistle blower Satyendra Dube's murder case. He has also served in the Uttar Pradesh police and has had a stint of seven years with the BSF, during which he was posted as Inspector- General of Kashmir range from 1991 to 1993, a period which saw the peak of militancy. Mr Shanker was perceived as a hardliner against militancy. It was during his tenure that most anti-militancy operations were carried out in Srinagar and areas like Rainawari and Batmalloo were freed from the grip of militants to a large extent. Two significant events during his tenure as IG, BSF, Kashmir, are prominent in Kashmir’s militancy ridden history of the past 16 years: the police mutiny of April 1993, in which BSF assisted the army, and the occupation of the Hazratbal shrine by terrorists in October-November that year, during which the BSF helped keep things under control in the urban areas of the valley. Mr Shanker has also served in Moscow under the Ministry of External Affairs. |
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President, PM to visit Bihar, says CM
New Delhi, December 10 Talking to newspersons during his felicitation function organised by the BJP at its headquarters, Mr Kumar said that the Prime Minister had promised to do his best to help in the task of “rebuilding Bihar” as the country’s overall economic growth could not be achieved if Bihar lagged behind. Referring to his demand of Bihar being accorded a “Backward” status and a financial package for the state, the Chief Minister said that the Prime Minister had promised to give a careful consideration to both the demands. Dr Singh had also assured to pay a visit to Bihar, he said. The President would be visiting the state to deliver convocation address at Patna University at Patna and Mithila University in Darbhanga, he said. “When I met the Finance Minister yesterday in Parliament, Mr Chidambaram reacted to my proposal of paying a visit to Bihar to participate in the sectoral meeting of Banks and said that the UPA government would do its best to help the state which has fallen back financially,” Mr Kumar said. Promising a “vision document” for Bihar soon, the Chief Minister said that the document would outline the NDA government’s priorities and resolve to put the state back on rails of development. He also appealed to non-resident Indians to invest in Bihar whose economy was in a shambles and needed heavy investments almost in every field. Mr Kumar assured the investors a proper climate besides several concessions. “Our top priority is to bring back the state on the development track and for this heavy investment is needed in sectors like infrastructure, education, road, transport and power,” he said. The Bihar Chief Minister said that he would formally make the offer to the NRIs at the NRI conference to be held at Hyderabad in February. He said the government had started working in earnest from day one to streamline the administration and police work to improve law and order situation. The effort had already started showing results, he claimed, referring to the cases of recent abductions solved by police with the arrest of the culprits. Exuding confidence, Mr Kumar said he had borrowed a “Bihar” in a very poor shape but he did not want to look back to the past, expressing resolve to make it one of the preferred states for investment. “Earlier the investors were shy of coming to Bihar because of poor law and order situation and lack of infrastructure. But we are determined that these things could be improved with a resolve and the state would get enough investments in the next five years,” he said. The Chief Minister refrained from making any direct attack on his predecessors, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad or his wife Rabri Devi and said it was in the knowledge of everybody what was the situation in the state. Trying to downplay BJP General Secretary Pramod Mahajan’s alleged anti-Bihari remarks, Mr Kumar said the controversy should be put to an end as every citizen had the right to earn his livelihood anywhere in the country. While admitting that students in a large number had to go out to other states to further their higher studies, he said his government was in touch of various bodies in various states running private institutes to invite them to come to Bihar and set up such institutions. It would provide the youth a facility to continue their studies in the state, he noted. |
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533 cadets pass out from IMA
Dehra Dun, December 10 With the commissioning marking the end of two years of gruelling training, the newly-inducted officers whopped in joy as they hurled their caps in the air in unison, even as proud parents and other relatives pinned the badges of rank on their shoulders at the “piping-in” ceremony. In his address before taking the salute at the passing-out parade, the Chief of the Army Staff, Gen J.J. Singh, exhorted the about-to-become officers to imbibe the habit of winning. “You should leave the portals of this hallowed institution with the spirit of a warrior and the conviction of a winner. The motto of our army is ‘Fight to win’ and ‘Win by knockout’, because there are no runners-up in the war,” he said. Of the newly-commissioned officers, 13 were from Bhutan and one each from the Maldives, Nepal and Lesotho. Barring these, the remaining will be posted with various regiments of the Indian Army. Penjor Gyeltshen of Bhutan claimed the top laurel, becoming the first foreign cadet in the post-Independence era to be awarded the prestigious Sword of Honour for outstanding performance in all disciplines. Smith Dun of the first IMA batch of 1932 was the first foreign cadet to win the top award. He went on to become Myanmar’s army chief. Singh also stressed on the values of professionalism and secularism. “Service in the armed forces is considered as one of the most respected professions in the country. We need to maintain and further this proud legacy through three fundamentals that we cherish. These are professionalism, secularism and remaining apolitical.” Speaking to reporters later, Singh said the Indian Army was maintaining the highest standards of training. “We have never lowered the training standards to get more officers quickly. The requirement for officers is being fulfilled and it is being done by maintaining the highest standards in training,” the Army chief maintained.
— IANS |
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Virbhadra lays stone of HPU’s distance education centre
New Delhi, December 10 The study centre, to be built at a cost of Rs 10 crore, will serve distance education students of the HP University in the National Capital Region whose number has already reached 20,000. The Chief Minister said education was a powerful and
enduring tool to bring about societal transformation and produce enlightened citizens. He said knowledge has always been prime mover of prosperity. The Chief Minister said 53 per cent of the country’s population was below 25 and there was a need to expand education infrastructure in a manner that quality of teaching did not suffer. The Chief Minister stressed that education should also help inculcate moral values. He said the Himachal Pradesh Government was giving emphasis to expansion of quality education in the state. He said necessary changes should be brought about to evolve a meaningful system of education which empowers the individual and helps produce men and women of wisdom. Mr Singh said stress on education of girl child in Kerala had led to creation of better social infrastructure in the state. Mr L.R. Verma, Vice-Chancellor of Himachal Pradesh University, said HPU was a pioneer in distance education. He said study centre of ICDEOL would provide several facilities to students, including education material, classroom lessons, besides serving as a place for registration for courses, examinations and information regarding results. IGNOU Vice-Chancellor H.P. Dixit said his university was rated as one of the best universities of distance education in the world and was involved in several international projects. He said the university was also working with the Ministry of External Affairs for distance-training of mid-level diplomats. |
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Students warned against fake distance courses
New Delhi, December 10 In a statement issued here today, council Director Swaraj Basu said students should not pursue a professional, technical or general education programme through the distance mode without checking the recognition status of the universities and institutes. According to the law, prior approval of the Distance Education Council and other apex bodies is necessary to conduct distance education programmes. The statement read, “This is to inform people at large that University Grants Commission, All India Council for Technical Education and Distance Education Council jointly issued a circular to desist from the practice of offering distance education programmes without the prior approval of the Council and other apex bodies”. |
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Not many takers for dual-pricing proposal New Delhi, December 10 At a high-level meeting called by the Petroleum Ministry, representatives of almost 20 states and major Union Territories witnessed strong opposition from most of the states including Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra and saw emergence of divergent views. According to a Petroleum Ministry official, states were willing to work in tandem with oil marketing companies (OMCs). The ministry officials maintained that the government needs to take a view on whether kerosene sold under the public distribution system (PDS) should cover APL consumer and if not, what should be the arrangement for APL.
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Hand-chopping case: NCW seeks report
New Delhi, December 10 The NCW officials told mediapersons here today that the Commission has asked for a report from the state police about the incident. The Madhya Pradesh police has been asked to provide adequate security to the victim and her family and an FIR should immediately be registered and the woman's statement recorded by a magistrate, it was pointed out. Armed persons yesterday chopped off the hands of a tribal woman, burnt her house and beat up her family members at a village, around 85 km from Raisen in Madhya Pradesh, in a bid to force her to withdraw a complaint with the police alleging her rape by upper caste members.
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Spicy food is out for Amitabh Mumbai, December 10 It's now a week since he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai with an acute pain in the abdomen. A close friend of the Bachchans who wishes to remain anonymous told IANS: "It's a condition known as diverticulitis. Author Faroukh Dhondy also suffered the same ailment. "It means Bachchan has to stay completely away from spicy, 'masala' food. Any of these things can aggravate his condition. Otherwise he's fine." — IANS
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LoC crossing points in J&K a flop show
New Delhi, December 10 These crossing points have hardly been used. Just five residents of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) have crossed over into Jammu and Kashmir so far - mainly from Poonch and Mendhar crossing points. Not a single PoK resident has crossed over to this side from the other three crossing points in the valley - Silikot (Haji Pir), Kamaan and Teethwal, sources told The Tribune today. On the other hand, 50 Indians have crossed over to PoK from the Jammu region specific from two crossing points at Poonch and Mendhar. An equal number of Indians have crossed over to the other side from the valley-specific points. The two countries had reached an agreement on October 29 in Islamabad on opening five crossing points across the LoC. The crossing point at Chakan da Bagh (Poonch) started on November 7, at Kaman (Uri) on November 9, and Tithwal (Tangdhar) on November 10, 2005. The rest were also started days later. The two countries had also agreed that due to the non-availability of or damage to infrastructure at the above crossing points, crossing would be permitted on foot. The crossing points have been used for sending relief material for victims of the October 8 earthquake victims. India has so far sent 1300 tonnes of quake relief material to Pakistan. Over 90 per cent of these supplies had already been despatched before the opening of these five crossing points. |
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Cyclone weakens into deep depression
Chennai, December 10 The District Collector, Nagapattinam,Dr G Radhakrishnan, camping in Vedaranyam, known for its salt pans, said the storm crossed the Vedaranyam coast "without causing any damage," but bringing in "moderate" rains, coupled with winds. However, the district headquarters, Nagapattinam, saw no rain since morning though the sky remained overcast. In the neighbouring district of Thanjavur, nearly 3,000 persons were housed in schools and marriage halls as a precautionary measure. Heavy rains lashed the district last night with Thanjavur and Sirkali recording 78 mm each in the 24 hours ending 0830 hrs today, District Collector M Veerashanmugamani said. The Director of Area Cyclone Warning centre, Chennai, Mr S R Ramanan, said the cyclonic storm had weakened into a deep depression and hit the coast at Vedaranyam around
11 am. "Squally weather with wind speed reaching 50-60 kmph is still likely along and off Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry coast during the next 24 hours", he said while advising fishermen not to venture into the sea for one more day.
— PTI |
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Vigil tightened as 2 die in rocket scrap explosion
Mumbai, December 10 Scrap traders are picking up metal scraps from war zones in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places for recycling in India. Apart from containing toxic substances, the worry is that discarded ammunition may be finding its way into India. Friday’s mishap happened in a scrap godown at Ranal village in Bhiwandi, when a scrap worker began pounding a rocket launcher with a hammer. Shriram Vishwakarma (45) and Pradhan Badri ( 27) who were working in the scrapyard handling the consignment died. Several others were injured. According to the police, the men were working in a scrap godown where lead, iron and steel scrap from the Gulf is segregated and re-sold. A series of blasts of used ammunition were reported from scrapyards in different parts of the country earlier this year. Though scrap imports were subsequently tightened, imports of smaller consignments continue. |
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George undergoes neurosurgery
New Delhi, December 10 Mr Fernandes was admitted to the AIIMS after he complained of sustained headache. JD(U) spokesman Shambhu Shrivastava said the former Defence Minister was recovering well. |
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