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India eyes better ties with Iran
Haryana women panel chief hails khaps
Another ‘honour killing’ in Delhi
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Monsoon finally hits Capital
AP to have 2 more missile units
Pale shadow of his former self
Communication revolution, not really
Believe it or not, divorce is contagious!
Kandhmal totally
peaceful, SC told
Board Exams
Order on Quattrocchi deferred
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India eyes better ties with Iran
New Delhi, July 5 “We are justifiably concerned that the extra-territorial nature of certain unilateral sanctions recently imposed by individual countries, with their restrictions on investment by third countries in Iran’s energy sector, can have a direct and adverse impact on Indian companies and more importantly on our energy security and our attempts to meet the development needs of our people,’’ Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said. The Obama Administration recently listed 41 firms across the world for links with Iran in the energy sector. Among them are some Indian companies, most state-owned -- Indian Oil Corporation, ONGC, Petronet LNG and ONGC Videsh. Articulating New Delhi’s stand on Iran’s controversial nuclear programme, Nirupama said that India supported the right of all countries to undertake peaceful uses of nuclear energy consistent with international obligations. India supported dialogue and avoidance of confrontation to deal with the Iranian nuclear issue. Her statement is considered significant since it comes just days before External Affairs Minister SM Krishna co-chairs the 16 meetings of the India-Iran joint commission on July 8, 9 along with Iranian Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Shamsuddin Huseini. Washington is bound to keenly monitor the India-Iran dialogue. The joint commission is meeting within a month of the fourth round of UN sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme. The two sides will review steps to expand cooperation in diverse areas, including industry, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and mines, added the sources. They will also discuss expanded cooperation in science and technology, IT, nano-technology, biotechnology and energy. The two sides are also expected to explore possibilities of cooperation in Afghanistan as both have apprehensions about a takeover by the Taliban, which will invariably impinge on their strategic interests in the region. Nirupama gave hints about this when she called for structured, systematic and regular consultations between the two countries on the situation in Afghanistan. The top Indian diplomat also indicated that the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline was very much on the Indian radar.
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Haryana women panel chief hails khaps
New Delhi, July 5 In the Capital today, to attend a two-day consultation convened by the National Commission for Women on varied subjects, including a law on honour killings, chairperson of Haryana State Commission for Women Sushila Sharma blamed youngsters for honour-related crimes. “No honour killing will happen if youngsters remain grounded to their roots. India can’t enter the 21st century by sacrificing the values it was built on. These days, young girls and boys pride in breaking the social norms and emerging as some kind of heroes. They revel in rebellion which is not good for them. They can’t be allowed to enter into relationships they develop as adolescents. They must wait for their minds to mature,” Sushila told The Tribune on the sidelines of the consultation. She openly defended khap panchayats, saying they were only showing the youngsters, who were blinded by physical attraction, the right path. And to explain her point, the women panel chief had an example -- “When your toilet stinks, you clean it. That’s what khaps are doing - purging the society of dirt, else there will be chaos.” She said same-gotra marriages were disastrous and she was opposed to them. Asked if she approved of the murderous diktats (Karnal’s Majoj and Babli case) the khaps have been issuing in the name of honour, Sushila said she didn’t approve of murders but added that it was wrong to blame the entire Mahapanchayat for such diktats. “There are some elements within the khap panchayats who are doing all this to take mileage of the situation.” However, she had no answer when asked why the Mahapanchayats don’t name such elements and why are they collecting money to defend Manoj and Babli’s killers. Vice-chairperson of Haryana women’s commission Chander Prabha backed her chief to the hilt and said khaps can never be wrong. “We achieved freedom because of khaps who have always played a reformist role. We are what we are because of khaps,” she told The Tribune, referring to the 1911 Mahapanchayat in Haryana, which framed 27 rules of conduct, one of them being driving the British away. As for Sushila Sharma, she blamed the youngsters for crimes, saying they wanted the rights without realising the responsibilities. “Movies are adding fuel to the fire. The Censor Board must delete objectionable stuff which deflects our youth from the path of culture. We need value education at schools to stem this rot,” she said. The commission representative from Tamil Nadu also wanted the Censor Board to stop glorifying caste issues in films.
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Another ‘honour killing’ in Delhi
New Delhi, July 5 The incident was reported from south Delhi's Sarojini Nagar. The victims have been identified as Uttam Kumar and Anju. Six persons, including Anju's husband Karambir, have been arrested in this regard. They are Anju's alleged paramour Navin Kumar (24), Jagphool (23), Shokeen (24), Manoj (27) and Rishi Das (21), her brother. “The murders were at the hands of close family members. It is a case of honour killing,” a senior police official said. The incident came to light following investigations into a complaint filed Kumar's brother Keshav on June 27 that the former was missing since June 19. Kumar was working at Electricity Division of CPWD in Safdarjung Hospital. Investigators found that Anju was murdered allegedly by Karambir on June 22. Karambir had admitted to killing his wife, police said.
— PTI
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Bandh: Oppn pleased with success, Cong dismissive
New Delhi, July 5 While the Congress dismissed the success as aided by Opposition-ruled state governments, NDA convenor Sharad Yadav considered today’s bandh effective than the JP movement. Addressing the media after day-long agitations in which Sharad Yadav courted arrest along with BJP president Nitin Gadkari and former president Rajnath Singh and Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur at Chandni Chowk Yadav said, “I salute the people of this great country who made this Bandh such a success. The only other time I have seen such overwhelming people’s response was during the JP movement. This was even better, with people from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Kutch to Kamrup coming together against the back breaking inflation and the unprecedented rise in the price of petrol, diesel, kerosene and LPG.” Simultaneously the Left leaders also held demonstrations separately and courted arrests. These included CPM Politbureau member Brinda Karat, CPI general secretary A B Bardhan and national secretary D Raja to support what they described a nationwide hartal against petrol price hike. Meanwhile the four top Left leaders, Prakash Karat (CPM), AB Bardhan (CPI), T.K. Chandrachoodan (RSP) and Debabrata Biswas (AIFB) issued a joint statement describing “The all India hartal, an unprecedented success. Despite detention and arrests of thousands of protesters, there was a bandh like situation in all parts of the country,” the Left leaders also maintained.
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New Delhi, July 5 While the rain gauges in the city measured 57.8 mm between 5:30 pm yesterday and 8:30 am today, it measured 0.5 during the day till 5:30 am. Even though it gave respite from the heat, the showers also brought trouble to citizens as many areas witnessed water logging. The MCD control room received 95 complaints of water logging due to rain, 11 complaints of falling of trees and three complaints of falling of building portions from various parts of the city.
The MeT Department had yesterday said the monsoon would hit the capital within two days. The city had missed its usual June 29 date with the seasonal rains this year, almost in line with last year when it arrived on June 30. The earliest onset of monsoon over Delhi during the past 30 years was on June 15, 2008, and while the most delayed onset was on July 26, 1987. The showers also brought down temperatures with the maximum at 32°C, while the minimum was recorded at 25.5°C. Humidity was recorded at higher levels due to the atmospheric changes with the max at 97 per cent and minimum at 74 per cent. — PTI
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AP to have 2 more missile units
Hyderabad, July 5 As part of new industrial policy 2010-15, the state government would facilitate establishment of missile production units and has already allotted 1100 acres of land in both the districts for the purpose. A Rs 600-crore facility will come up near Bhagayat village in neighbouring Ranga Reddy district over an extent of 500 acres. Another Rs 706 crore missile production unit will be established at Kambalapalli village in Anantapur district.“The two units will provide jobs to about 2,900 persons and will be completed in three years,” Chief Minister K Rosaiah said. The existing missile units at Kanchanbagh in the city and near Bhanur in Medak district are engaged in manufacturing a wide range of missiles including the long range surface-to-surface ballistic missile, Agni, to meet the requirement of the Army, Air Force and the Navy. The proposed facility in Anantapur district will also have an integrated township for the employees. The BDL aims to achieve a sales turnover of Rs 1,500 crore in 2010-11.
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Fernandes to be with wife: HC
New Delhi, July 5 Fernandes, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, was present at the hearing at the instance of the court. Seeking constitution of a medical board to assess his health, the brothers have alleged that Leila was now interested only in his property and had not been staying with him for the past over 25 years. Besides being a minister, Fernandes has been convener of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The court said while Fernandes would stay with his wife Leila Kabir, his brothers could visit him. Justice VK Shali, who held one-on-one discussion with 80-year-old Fernandes, refused to interfere with the present arrangement in which he was under the care of his wife at her residence. Lawyers from both sides said the court had allowed brothers to visit the leader like in the past.
— PTI
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Pale shadow of his former self
New Delhi, July 5 Wearing a green kurta and white pyjama with a saffron scarf around his neck, 80-year-old Fernandes, suffering from Alzheimer's disease, was brought to the court room in a wheelchair by his wife. The leader, showing no emotions, was unable to recognise his supporters who surrounded him as soon as security guards lifted him from the car to wheelchair. He was then taken to Justice V K Shali's chamber for one-on-one consultation to ascertain his views to decide the custody battle among his family member. According to a lawyer, who was present in the chamber to assist the court as translator, the leader was not able to answer the questions asked by the Judge. Fernandes tried to flip through a newspaper placed before him by the Judge in order to make him comfortable. He, however, could not coherently reply to any query put by the Judge. But when how many brothers he has, he replied in a feeble voice, “six”. The translator said that Fernandes was seemingly able to understand whatever was being asked of him but he was unable to respond and his voice was not understandable. Fernandes was taken out of the courtroom after an hour.
— PTI
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Communication revolution, not really
Bangalore, July 5 In an unprecedented step, Bhardwaj sent a message to the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council under Article 175 of the Constitution asking the members to appeal to the Lokayukta to continue in his post. “Ever since Justice Santosh Hedge had submitted his resignation letter to His Excellency, people from all walks of life have been representing him not to accept the resignation and persuade Justice Hegde to withdraw resignation. Therefore, the Governor has sent a message to both Houses of Legislature urging the members to appeal to Justice Hegde to reconsider his decision and withdraw resignation,” a press statement issued by the Raj Bhavan said. Hegde had submitted his resignation to the Governor on June 23 in protest against the state government’s reluctance to act on his recommendations. He stuck to his decision despite requests from Home Minister P Chidambaram and Governor Bhardwaj asking him to withdraw his resignation. However, on July 3, Hegde announced withdrawal of his resignation following an appeal made to him by Advani. Hegde was supposed to meet Bhardwaj the following day to apprise him of his decision. Apparently, he has not done so yet. Bhardwaj, a former Union Law Minister, had earlier forwarded to the Election Commission a complaint made by a Congress legislative council member against three BJP ministers of Karnataka (including the mining baron Reddy brothers of Bellary) asking for the disqualification of these ministers from the legislature. BJP leaders in the state had been him called a “Congress agent”. The reason behind Bhardwaj’s missive to the legislature despite Hegde’s announcement two days ago remains a mystery. May be he wants to give the message to people that he is no less concerned about Hegde, a hugely popular figure in the state.
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Believe it or not, divorce is contagious!
London, July 5 American researchers describe the effect as "divorce clustering" and believe that divorces within friend circle force couples to start questioning their own relationships. The findings come from a study into the lives of more than 12,000 Americans living in the New England town of Framingham since 1948. A friend's divorce may also reduce the fear of social stigma of splitting up, even when children are involved."A person's tendency to divorce depends not just on his friend's divorce status, but also extends to his friend's friend."The observation shows that participants are 75 per cent more likely to be divorced if a person other than their spouse,
to whom they are connected is divorced. Divorce among family members and work mates also increased the chances of someone's own marriage ending, the experts found.The more divorced people that you know, the riskier your own marriage, they said, and the impact makes no difference to even those couples who have children.
— IANS
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Kandhmal totally
peaceful, SC told
New Delhi, July 5 Senior counsel KK Venugopal, appearing for the state government, informed a three-member Bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia that even churches constructed on government land without authorisation had been compensated for the damage suffered in the 2008 riots. All apex court directives for restoring normalcy and helping those who had fled the district had been implemented. This resulted in the victims returning to their villages and withdrawal of the paramilitary forces. Two fast-track courts were conducting trial of cases related to the riots to ensure speedy justice. Clarifying that it would continue to keep a watch, the apex court asked some of the petitioners to approach the high court if some issues were yet to be sorted out.
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Board Exams
Chandigarh, July 5 The system was launched last year on trial basis in Delhi. Encouraged by its response, the board has decided to extend it to all schools and has sent circulars to the regional offices to prepare a software according to the guidelines. Every school will be allotted a user name and a password. After online registration it will be mandatory for school principals to send the signed printout of the list of candidates to the regional offices.“Lakhs of students are registered in each region. The old system meant tedious filling up of forms and maintenance of student information. We would be flooded with complaints of misspelt names, wrong date of births etc. After launching the system in Delhi for class IX, we found that things changed for better and, thus, decided to take it up for all schools,” said a CBSE official from Delhi. According to a CBSE official at Panchkula, the system will make the registration less cumbersome and prove to be a milestone in the current education system. “By going online for the list of candidates appearing in board examinations, we will ensure accuracy and timely receipt of student information. The system has proved to be quite successful for in Delhi and now it is being taken up all over the country and also been extended to class XI,” he said.
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Order on Quattrocchi deferred
New Delhi, July 5 Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Kaveri Baweja was to deliver the order today but due to the absence of case records, which are lying with the apex court, she posted the matter for further proceedings on August 7. “Since the documents pertaining to this case are with the Supreme Court, the city court can not pass any order,” said Baweja. The CBI had on October 3 had moved an application before the court to quash all charges against Quattrocchi, saying the case cannot be kept pending forever after its failure on two occasions to get the 71-year-old Italian businessman extradited from Malaysia and Argentina to face trial in India.
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New Delhi, July 5
