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Roerich trust row may hit cultural ties: Russia
India must be wary of Pak’s Talibanisation: IAF chief
Govt: Swamy’s charges against Chidambaram baseless
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Rahul visits drought-hit areas of Maharashtra
Centre to provide cancer cure in all states: Azad
Pay Rs 1 lakh relief to beggar, Delhi Govt told
Bhagwat reaches Delhi today
Nod to SC/ST quota in central institutes in tribal areas
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Roerich trust row may hit cultural ties: Russia
New Delhi, April 28 Russia says it has written several letters to the External Affairs Ministry, drawing its attention to what it calls the attempts being made by the authorities in the state to take over the Naggar-based trust by evicting its Russian Curator Elena Adamkova. However, the Government of India was just passing on these letters to the Himachal government and sending back to the Russian Embassy in New Delhi the responses being received from the state, according to diplomatic sources. The Central government appeared to be dragging its feet since the BJP was governing Himachal Pradesh. New Delhi apparently feels that that the issue could acquire political colour if it was to intervene in the matter. The sources said Russia wanted India to work out an appropriate mechanism to take the trust under Central jurisdiction. It could be run by a body like the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). They alleged that the local authorities in Kullu recently behaved in a rude and uncivilised manner and harassed Adamkova, completely ignoring her contribution to the development of the IRMT complex in the past decade. The authorities obviously wanted to evict the curator from the trust premises. She, however, continued to stay there despite the problems she was facing. ''Our fear is that if she leaves, priceless artefacts would be removed from the trust premises and Russia will be blamed for the theft,'' the sources added. The actions of the local authorities were objectionable and unacceptable, fraught with undermining Russia's civilisational values and aimed at provoking a scandal of bilateral and international dimensions. Underlining that the issue was as sensitive and emotive for the Russians as the recent controversy over the Bhagvad Gita in Russia was for the Indians, the sources said the unhealthy developments at the IRMT were expected to be raised in the Russian Duma (Parliament) after the 'Victory Day' celebrations on May 9. The sources emphasised the genuine international and civilisational character of the IRMT's legacy saying, "It does not belong to Naggar or Kullu or Himachal Pradesh, not even to India or Russia. It belongs to mankind and cannot be administered by a district administration. This indisputable fact should be kept in mind while dealing with all matters pertaining to the
IRMT."
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India must be wary of Pak’s Talibanisation: IAF chief
Bangalore, April 28 Giving the Air Chief Marshal LM Katre memorial lecture at the HAL Convention Centre here today, Browne said the activities of Taliban and Al-Qaida were not limited to the tribal areas of Pakistan anymore. The Punjabi Taliban had become active in the Punjab area of Pakistan which is closer to India, he said. Showing a slide of Kalashnikov and rocket launcher-wielding Taliban fighters in a Toyota pick-up truck, Browne said if the war continued in Afghanistan, we could soon see “characters like these” on the Wagah border. The departure of international forces from Afghanistan would lead to further deterioration of the situation there, Browne said and added that Hafiz Saeed, chief of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, had already said that they were fighting in Kabul now but their next stop would be Kashmir in India. Brown said the two hostile neighbours of India (Pakistan and China) were close allies and the two collude for making fighter aircrafts and other weapons. Both countries are nuclear powers and that gives a nuclear dimension to India’s security situation. India also has unresolved border issues with both these countries, Browne said. The IAF chief said while India would have to face the security challenges on its own, the USA and European countries were interested in strengthening India. He cited the recent Indian initiative to broker peace between Sudan and South Sudan and the welcome accorded to the step by the USA as an illustration of the western countries’ present attitude to India. Browne said the IAF, at present, was having 34 fighter squadrons. He said if everything went as planned, the IAF would have 42 fighter squadrons by the end of the 13th plan period. He said it was also being envisaged to have a three- fold increase in the lift-off capability of transport aircrafts in next 10 years. The IAF’s helicopter fleet was also being strengthened by inducting 22 Apache attack helicopters as well as transport helicopters of various categories, he said.
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Govt: Swamy’s charges against Chidambaram baseless
New Delhi, April 28 “The allegations are totally baseless,” a government release said here this evening. The statement said the government had scrutinised the records of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) which clearly showed that there was no basis to Swamy’s allegations. “It is unfortunate that baseless allegations should be made without verifying facts,” the release underlined. Three days ago, Swamy publicly declared that he had written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in which he sought Chidambaram’s resignation and asked him to direct the CBI to include the minister and his son Karti’s names in the FIR on the Aircel-Maxis deal along with former telecommunications minister Murasoli Maran. Releasing documents in connection with the deal, the Janata Party chief alleged that there was a “dubious connection” between Aircel and a firm “controlled” by Karti. This is not the first time that the Janata Party chief has targeted Chidambaram. Swamy is already pursuing a case in court against the Home Minister in which he has alleged there was collusion between Chidambaram and former telecom minister A Raja in the allocation of 2G spectrum. While Karti has denied these allegations, he has also threatened legal action against Swamy. The issue had rocked Lok Sabha yesterday when Opposition parties disrupted proceedings and demanded Chidmabaram’s resignation. The Congress core group, headed by party president Sonia Gandhi, also discussed the matter at its meeting yesterday. Chidambaram, it is learnt, carried a sheaf of documents to the meeting to say that there was no truth in Swamy’s allegations. The statement, which follows a series of deliberations at the highest level, said official records reveal that on January 1,2006 Global Communications Services Holdings (GCSH) acquired 26 per cent equity in Aircel through the automatic route. On January 30,2006, the GCSH applied for enhancing its equity in Aircel Ltd from 26 to 73.99 per cent. It was stated that the application was processed in the normal course and the ministries and departments concerned took the normal time of four to six weeks to give their comments. The proposal was included in the agenda notes circulated on February 17,2006. On March 7, the matter was placed before the FIPB meeting which recommended its approval on the same day and the file was moved by the deputy secretary on March 10. The formal letter of approval was issued by the finance ministry on March 20. “From the facts stated above, it will be abundantly clear that there was no delay whatsoever,” the statement added.
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Rahul visits drought-hit areas of Maharashtra
Mumbai, April 28 Rahul, who interacted with party workers in Mumbai on Friday, left for Satara by helicopter accompanied by Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithiviraj Chavan and state Congress chief Manikrao Thakre. According to party officials here, Rahul visited the villages of Zashi, Bijwadi and Pangri where he met with villagers and spoke to them about water shortage in the area. At many places, villagers shouted at Rahul demanding that the administration should supply water to them. "Don't just make promises of providing water. Do it," Rahul has been quoted as telling the government officials who accompanied the dignitaries. He also visited a fodder depot where villagers briefed him about the shortage of feed for cattle.
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Sonia sounds poll bugle in Karnataka
Bangalore, April 28 Launching a scathing attack against the ruling BJP, she said its government had betrayed mandate of the people and destroyed all what Karnataka stood for and known for. Though she successfully made her electoral debut from Bellary in Karnataka in 1999, Sonia is not known as a frequent visitor to the state. However, her rare one-day programme in Karnataka today could see formation of a new political equation in the state. The AICC chief, who reached Bangalore yesterday and spent the night at the Raj Bhavan as a guest of Governor Hansraj Bhardwaj, participated in the 105th birthday celebrations of Siddaganga Math head Shivakumara Swami today.
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Centre to provide cancer cure in all states: Azad
Chandigarh, April 28 This was stated by Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, here today. Azad was interacting with mediapersons after attending the annual convocation at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) reports, there are 27 lakh cancer patients in the country and over 11 lakh new cancer cases are reported every year. Thousand of patients from Malwa and other areas of Punjab have to travel to PGI, Chandigarh, for the treatment of cancer as there is no other super-speciality hospital in public sector in the region. “In a meeting of World Health Organisation last year, it was pointed out that cases of three non-communicable diseases — cancer, cardio-vascular diseases and diabetes — were increasing alarmingly in majority of nations, particularly in India,” said Azad. “Following this, we decided to start the screening of entire population for early detection of these diseases within next six years. A pilot project across 100 districts in 21 states for the purpose has already been launched,” he added. During the process, it was observed that the country is short of doctors and other infrastructure for diagnosis as well as the treatment of cancer, said the minister. “We have no dearth of money, but doctors and technicians were not available to launch such a gigantic project,” he said. “We have told the Planning Commission that there is only one specialised cancer hospital in Mumbai, while at least a dozen such hospitals are required to take care of the cancer patients in the country,” said Azad. For the time being, the Union Health Ministry will provide help to at least one medical college in every state to set up infrastructure, purchase equipment and employ doctors to take care of cancer patients, said the Health Minister.
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Pay Rs 1 lakh relief to beggar, Delhi Govt told
New Delhi, April 28 A caretaker at a nearby night shelter, Priya, carrying her third child then, was soaking in the sun when a Delhi Home Guard beat her up with a stick in the presence of three cops. The trauma of the attack led to Priya’s forced and premature delivery inside the park of a roundabout in Delhi’s posh Pusa Road locality. The policemen abandoned the victim. Quite expectedly, no one else came to her aid either until of course her mother-in-law got an auto rickshaw to ferry her and her newborn home. A year after this shocking case of police apathy, the National Human Rights Commission has directed the Delhi Government to pay Rs one lakh compensation to the victim, who was left bleeding without any medical help. The case was first taken up by an NGO at St Stephen's Hospital. The complaint to the NHRC was filed by Avinash Rai Khanna, a Rajya Sabha member from Punjab. The commission (which normally awards compensation in matters of torture in police custody) took a serious view of the violation and ruled on March 24: “The Delhi Government has taken no categorical stand on monetary relief to be given to the victim. It says the matter is under its consideration. We presume that the state government has nothing to say. Keeping in view the circumstances of the case, we recommend that the government pays Rs one lakh compensation to Priya. The Chief Secretary is directed to submit compliance report by May 15.” Before passing the order, the commission had issued a notice under Section 18 of the Human Rights Act 1993 to the Government of Delhi asking it for details of the case.
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Bhagwat reaches Delhi today
New Delhi, April 28 Sources in the Sangh, however, insisted that no discussion with any BJP leader leave alone about the future of Gadkari figures anywhere in Bhagwat’s itinerary. Sources in Jhandewalan said that Bhagwat was coming to release a book titled “Shivaji aur Surajya” (Shivaji and good governance) by Anil Dave at the NDMC auditorium. Besides this, he is to attend two other meetings - one of the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram and another of the Sangh’s North-East Cell. No other programme is lined up for Bhagwat’s Sunday stopover here, insisted Sangh sources. Significantly, even though it had to be cancelled at the last minute, a two-day meeting of top BJP leaders including Gadkari, LK Advani and Sushma Swaraj was scheduled to commence in Madurai today. It had to be cancelled due to heavy rain and bad weather conditions there. What it means is that while Bhagwat was coming to Delhi, BJP leaders were planning to spend time in Madurai. BJP sources pointed out that Gadkari’s term comes to an end only in December and therefore, the party and Sangh have enough time to ponder over Gadkari’s replacement, if at all.
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Nod to SC/ST quota in central institutes in tribal areas
New Delhi, April 28 The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Amendment Bill, 2010, was adopted by voice vote after HRD Minister Kapil Sibal allayed concerns expressed by some members regarding the quota, saying 27 per cent reservation for the OBCs would be fully implemented in central institutions. The Principal Act -- the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006 -- requires institutions to increase the total number of seats so that the number of unreserved seats is not reduced due to quota.— TNS
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Chandigarh, April 28
