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Rajnath talks tough on internal security
Modi marital status case |
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Gujarat Cong seeks ‘autonomy’ to select candidates for elections
France confident of Rafale jet deal fructifying soon
Army men to don combat T-shirts in hotter areas
Muslim quota: BJP accuses Cong of dividing people on communal lines
Churning begins in Cong over minority appeasement policy
Lathicharge on yuva morcha workers
76 Meghalaya politicos get plum posts
SAARC satellite to check China’s growing clout
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses ISRO scientists in Sriharikota on Monday. PTI
July 21 Assembly bypoll
8 live bombs seized from train in Bihar
Amjad Ali Khan’s sarod goes missing on flight
Haryana, Rajasthan innovators all set for Rashtrapati Bhawan sojourn
Mumbai court finds watchman guilty of murdering lawyer
property cases
Black money: Swiss agency points to ‘organised crime’ link
National innovation policy on cards
India rolls out new visa policy for Afghans
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Rajnath talks tough on internal security
Lucknow, June 30 He said the Central Government was committed to tackling internal security in a balanced way according to the law. On the Chinese aggression at the border, Singh said the Indian Foreign Office spokesperson had already registered the government’s protest effectively. On identification of Bangladeshi citizens, he said the National Register of Citizens would be used as the basis for identity. He alleged that the previous UPA government had been lax in updating the National Register of Citizens in Assam. “Now, the officials have been given three years to identify all Indians and give them identity cards,” he said. On black money, he said there was no difference of opinion in the government. An SIT had already been set up to start work in this regard, he said.
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Offence committed but FIR can’t be filed now: Court
Ahmedabad, June 30 Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate MM Sheikh of Ahmedabad (Rural) Court passed an order to this effect while disposing of an application filed by AAP leader Nishant Verma who sought an FIR against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “hiding” his marital status in the affidavit he had filed with his nomination in 2012. The court said “an offence is committed under Section 125(A)(3) of Representation of People (RP) Act by not disclosing facts”. The court, however, said as per the CrPC Section 468(2)(B), the complaint for the offence has to be made within one year in cases related to the violation of Section 125(A)(3) of the RP Act. Verma had knocked the court’s door in April this year after the Ranip police station authorities turned down his request to register an FIR against Modi for “hiding” facts about his marital status in his 2012 affidavit. Modi disclosed his marital status and the name of his wife Jashodaben for the first time in the affidavit while filing his nomination for Vadodara Lok Sabha seat this year. Earlier, he used to leave the column relating to the spouse blank while contesting Assembly elections. Verma’s counsel said they would challenge the order in the Supreme Court. — PTI
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Gujarat Cong seeks ‘autonomy’ to select candidates for elections
Ahmedabad, June 30 At present, the state units only play a recommendatory role by sending a panel of winnable candidates to the high command, leaving the final decision on it. The shivir held under the chairmanship of state president Arjun Modhvadia, was attended by party in charge of the state affairs Gurudas Kamat, leader of the opposition in the state Assembly Shankarsinh Vaghela, and other leaders. Modhvadia said the party adopted a resolution “thanking” Conrgess president Sonia Gandhi, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the leadership the trio provided to the party during the elections. Instead of blaming the central leadership for the party’s rout, the state Congress concluded that the main reason for the debacle was the “polarisation of urban voters” in the state, tending to ignore the fact that it faced a washout even in tribal and rural constituencies.
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France confident of Rafale jet deal fructifying soon
New Delhi, June 30 Addressing a press conference here after holding talks with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he was hopeful that the new government in Delhi, which was keen about efficiency in decision-making, would not delay the implementation of the deal further. “India wants to have the best technology, continuity and complete independence ...the Rafale proposal meets all these legitimate demands. Stemming from this contract, we can develop defence equipment like missiles, helicopters and submarines. We can have a complete partnership between the Indian industry and the French industry,” he said. The minister also met Defence Minister Arun Jaitley and pushed for ‘swift development’ on the Rafale agreement. India had selected the French Rafale aircraft two years ago but the negotiations are still continuing between the Defence Ministry and the French firm Dassault Aviation as there are differences over pricing and work-sharing between the two sides. Fabius said he would be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow and deliver him a letter from French President Francois Hollande inviting him to visit Paris. Modi, he said, could visit his country while returning from the US in September for the UN General Assembly. In response to a question, he said France did not have any particular concern with regard to with India’s controversial Civil Nuclear Liability Law and was keen to move ahead with implementing its civil nuclear deal with New Delhi. Techno-commercial issues relating to the French nuclear plant at Jaitapur were being discussed between the French company Areva and the Nuclear Power Corporation of Indian limited
(NPCIL). Emphasising that there was a lot of potential for promoting tourism between India and France, Fabius announced that from January 1, next year, Paris would issue visa to Indian nationals in less than 48 hours. He also stated that France proposed to extend a credit line of 1 billion Euros for sustainable infrastructure and urban development in India by the French development Agency. The French minister also talked about enhancing trade between the two countries which, according to him, was far below its true potential at present.
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Army men to don combat T-shirts in hotter areas
Chandigarh, June 30 The T-shirts would be much comfortable in field conditions than the shirts that are made of thick material with a blend of polyester, especially in dessert areas and plains where summer temperature soars to over 45 degrees Celsius and troops also have to wear additional webbing for carrying their gear. The Army has projected an initial requirement of 24 lakh T-shirts, with the recurring requirement of 12 lakh pieces every 18 months. The camouflage pattern would be the same as that of the regular Army’s combat dress and the round-necked T-shirts would carry the Indian Army’s crossed sword and capital lion insignia on the upper left side. According to specifications laid out by the Ordnance Branch, the T-shirts are required to be of cotton fabric with adequate wicking properties and should conform to easy maintainability even during prolonged use. There are some instances of troops wearing such T-shirts, though they are yet to be standardised as a combat dress item. About a decade ago, the Army had introduced a new four-colour solid patch camouflage pattern comprising a khakhi base, dark green, brown and black, interspread with the Army insignia, for its combat dress, replacing the earlier three-tone “grassland” pattern. The new pattern had also led to standardising the design and colours of the combat dress. Earlier, in addition to the stipulated grassland pattern, troops had resorted to purchasing dresses of unauthorised patterns from the open market of the king used by foreign market. It was only in the 1980s that the Army went in for camouflage battle dress for troops. Prior to this the olive green service uniform was used in the field.
24 lakh T-shirts needed
* The T-shirts would be much comfortable in field conditions than the shirts that are made of thick material with a blend of polyester *
The Army has projected an initial requirement of 24 lakh T-shirts, with the recurring requirement of 12 lakh pieces every 18 months *
The round-necked T-shirts would carry the Indian Army's crossed sword and capital lion insignia on the upper left side
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Muslim quota: BJP accuses Cong of dividing people on communal lines
Mumbai, June 30 The party and its ally Shiv Sena are raising the pitch by accusing the ruling front of dividing the people on communal lines. “The decision to grant quotas to Muslims is against the Constitution,” BJP spokesman Madhav Bhandari said. “They didn’t think of Muslim quotas all these years. Now, just before the Assembly elections, they have come up with quotas for the Muslims,” Shiv Sena leader Subash Desai said. The Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece Saamna has also begun a campaign against Muslim reservations though the party is silent on the 16 per cent reservation to the Maratha community.
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Churning begins in Cong over minority appeasement policy
New Delhi, June 30 Though the Congress officially downplayed the import of Antony’s remarks today saying these were Kerala centric, top leaders privately admitted that the issue required a debate. Antony had, while addressing Kerala Congress leaders recently, said the party needed to introspect its secularism as the majority was seeing it as pro-minority. Yesterday, BJP’s LK Advani termed Antony’s statement a vindication of BJP’s stand. Congress’ spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed, however, sought to rest the controversy. “The statement made by Antony was in context of Kerala and our state chief has welcomed it as well intentioned. A group headed by Antony ji is looking into reasons behind our electoral loss. What comes out of it will be debated, including issues related to minority,” Shakeel said. Though this is the first time someone as senior as Antony has publicly talked about Congress’ secularism being perceived as minority appeasement resulting in the alienation of the majority, some leaders had raised similar apprehensions in the past, especially after Congress president Sonia Gandhi met Shahi Imam of the Jama Masjid on the poll eve. A senior leader is reported to have written his anguish to her. Even so, most Congress leaders believe there’s nothing wrong with Congress’ secularism and it was only BJP’s propaganda; this at a time when the Congress government in Maharashtra has announced reservation for Muslims on the state election eve. A special invitee to the Congress Working Committee, Anil Shastri, said, “The Congress has not given even one Muslim CM after Indira Gandhi. All four Muslim CMs — Antulay, Barkatullah, Gaffoor and Taimur (Assam) — were appointed by Indira ji. After that, there has been a full stop for 30 years, except in J&K which is different. In 2009, 12 out of 28 Muslims got elected from the Congress. One became MoS in the UPA II. Is this appeasement?” Other leaders on the condition of anonymity said the Congress had failed to prevent its anti-majority image from developing. “The BJP has successfully propagated our secularism as minority appeasement. Modi, during his campaign, repeatedly made remarks that polarised the atmosphere. In West Bengal, he said he would not allow Bangladeshi immigrants to stay but when his foreign minister visited Bangladesh, there was no official word on the issue,” said a Congress general secretary. Another leader agreed with the inability of the Congress to counter BJP’s propaganda, adding, “We need to discuss the issue once Antony committee submits its report. But that’s not to say we need to revisit our secularism. It’s like saying scrap MNREGA because some industrialists cannot find labourers,” he said.
Need for debate * Congress leaders have admitted to the need for debate over the pro-minority slant of the party * BJP's LK Advani has termed Antony's statement a vindication of BJP's stand * Some Congress leaders say the party has failed to prevent its anti-majority image from developing
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Lathicharge on yuva morcha workers Tribune News Service
Lucknow, June 30 Trouble started when the workers wanted to gherao the Vidhan Sabha in protest against poor handling of the law and order, power and unemployment issues by the state government. Sources said brick batting first started from inside the BJP office which is located opposite the Vidhan Sabha. The police resorted to lathicharge in retaliation and chased the workers on roads. Soon, a huge crowd of the workers virtually indulged in a pitched battle with the police. Finally, the police used water cannons, tear gas shells and rubber bullets to disperse the mob. Condemning the lathicharge, state BJP president Laxmikant Bajpai has given a call for statewide demonstrations and dharnas tomorrow. Terming the police action as the last nail in the Samajwadi Party government’s coffin, the BJP said they would not take it lightly. The lathicharge had its immediate repercussion in the Vidhan Sabha where BJP MLAs rushed to the Well to protest. Despite assurance of Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mohd Azam Khan to probe the police action, the BJP MLAs continued their protest forcing the adjournment of the House.
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76 Meghalaya politicos get plum posts
Guwahati, June 30 Such a large number of politicians have been accommodated in various government bodies in a small state like Meghalaya where the Assembly has only 60 MLAs and the Cabinet can accommodate maximum 12 ministers. Those government corporations and public sector undertakings (PSUs) where the politicians have been appointed are often termed ‘white elephants’ as they hardly contribute to the state’s revenue earning and instead have become burden on the exchequer. The perks and facilities provided to these political appointees are usually at par with those availed by the cabinet ministers and ministers of state.
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SAARC satellite to check China’s growing clout
Bangalore, June 30 While Pakistan’s dependence on the Chinese for their space programme is well known, it is not the only SAARC country to have a Chinese link with its space programme. Sri Lanka, too, has tied up with the Chinese for launching of a communication satellite next year. Supreme SAT, a Sinhalese company, has entered into an exclusive partnership agreement with China’s state-owned China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) for the design, manufacturing and launching of the satellite. Sri Lankan President Rajapakse’s youngest son Rohita Rajapaksa is a technical adviser to this project. Supreme Sat is engaging Afghanistan and Maldives, both SAARC member countries, in the space arena. Since the company does not have expertise of its own to help others in the complex area of space science, it is anticipated that the Chinese will
eventually step in and start “looking after” the space requirement of these countries. Pakistan’s only fully functional communication satellite Paksat-1R was built and launched with the help of the Chinese. China even helped in its funding. Nepal and Bhutan – two other SAARC members – are also under China’s firm gaze for bringing it under its “space net”. Bangladesh, too, does not count on India for its space programme. Bangladesh has tied up with an American company for the design and launch of its first communication satellite Bangabandhu-1 next year. The SAARC satellite proposed by Modi today, to be dedicated to the neighbours as a “gift from India”, will play a key role in this respect. Modi, who was addressing space scientists at Sriharikota today after the successful launch of five foreign satellites by an ISRO rocket, asked for a satellite that would provide full range of applications and services to all of India’s neighbours. “Such a satellite will be helpful in SAARC nations’ fight against poverty and illiteracy, the challenge to progress in scientific field, and will open up avenues to provide opportunities to the youth of SAARC countries”, he said. Speaking extempore in English and occasionally breaking into Hindi, Modi said the need for such a satellite arose because
of India’s age-old ethos of ‘vasudhaiva kutumbakam’ (the world is a family). “For us, it (space programme) is an important instrument of human progress. We must, therefore, share the fruits of technological advancement with those who do not enjoy it. We already share disaster management data with over 30 countries. “We provide benefits of telemedicine to Afghanistan and African countries. But we must do more. ‘Yeh dil maange more’ (the heart desires for more)”, Modi said repeating the soft drink promotion slogan made immortal by a Kargil martyr.
Dragon power * Pakistan’s dependence on the Chinese for their space programme is well known. Sri Lanka, too, has tied up with the
Chinese for launching of a communication satellite next year * Supreme Sat, a Sri Lankan company, is engaging Afghanistan and Maldives in the space arena. Since the company does not have expertise of its own in space science, it is anticipated that the Chinese will eventually step in *
Nepal and Bhutan – two other SAARC members – are also under China’s gaze for bringing it under its “space net”
India’s Mars mission cost less than ‘Gravity’: Modi
Sriharikota (AP) : Prime Minister Narendra Modi today praised the cost-effective nature of Indian space programme, saying the country’s Mars mission had reportedly cost less than the big budget Hollywood science fiction “Gravity”. “There is this story of our Mars mission costing less than Hollywood movie ‘Gravity’. I have heard that Mars mission’s expense is lesser than ‘Gravity’ which was made at the estimated cost of $100 million,” he said —
PTI.
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Setback in panchayat poll sounds a wake-up call for U’khand BJP
Neena Sharma Tribune News Service
Dehradun, June 30 Sources said the results of thepanchayat elections might affect the party’s performance in the July 21 by-polls for three Assembly seats —— Someshwar, Dharchula and Doiwala. Though the panchayat elections are not fought on party lines, the Uttarakhand BJP, emboldened by its performance in the General Election, reportedly extended its support to many candidates for the members of zila panchayats. However, out of 389 zila panchayat seats, the BJP-supported candidates could win only 40 per cent of the seats. The winners are expected to play a role in the election to the chairman of zila panchayats. The BJP registered a poor performance in Dehradun district, whereBJP-backedcandidates won only 10 seats out of 43. “Our performance may not be stellar in the panchayat poll, but we still managed to extend support to our candidates where as the Congress shied away from doing so following the LS poll debacle,” said Teerath Singh Rawat, state BJP chief. The outcome of panchayat polls in Dharchula and Someshwar segments is considered to be a wake-up call for the party before the July 21 elections. Dismal performance * Out of 389 zila panchayat seats, the BJP-supported candidates could win only 40 per cent of the seats * BJP-backedcandidates won only 10 seats out of 43 in Dehradun district
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8 live bombs seized from train in Bihar
Kishanganj (Bihar), June 30 On a tip off that some criminals were travelling with a consignment of bombs in the Maldah-New Jalpaiguri passenger train, the police, RPF and GRP searched the train when it stopped at Kishanganj, Government Railway Police Station in-charge Alok Prasad Singh said. The bombs were recovered from a general compartment of the train. "The powerful bombs were kept in a plastic bag beneath a seat. We took them out and called the Bomb Disposal Squad to defuse them," Alok said. No arrest was made, he said. Intelligence Bureau personnel are investigating whether the recovery was related to any terror activity. — PTI
IB probes terror angle
* The powerful bombs were kept in a plastic bag beneath a seat in a
general compartment * The Intelligence Bureau is investigating whether the recovery was related to any terror activity
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Amjad Ali Khan’s sarod goes missing on flight
New Delhi, June 30 Having gone to London on June 21 to take part in celebrations on Rabindranath Tagore at Darlington College, Ustad Amjad Ali took the June 28 BA-143 flight to Delhi along with his wife Subhalaxmi, travelling first class. As required, heavy and special baggage is to be handed over personally and the sarod maestro told The Tribune, here that he told the ground staff about the importance of the instrument for him. "When we arrived here, the priceless instrument did not arrive. We waited for 4-5 hours and the airlines staff tried to trace, having failed they said it would arrive by the next flight...even after two days, I am still waiting... is this how a reputed airlines treats its passengers? If this is the plight of first class passengers.." the Ustad recounted in anguish. More than seeking compensation,the classical musician who was awarded the Padma Vibhushan was filled with emotion."It is my priceless music instrument on which I gave memorable concert in Darlington College on June 21...please pray to god almighty that I receive my beloved Sarod," he said. Meanwhile responding to a query, the airlines said: "We are working round the clock to reunite customers with their bags. We are very sorry that this process is taking longer than anticipated, and we fully understand the frustration that this is causing. Heathrow Airport's baggage system in Terminal 5 has experienced a number of problems since Thursday. This has resulted in fewer than expected bags being transported each day. The process of getting the delayed bags onto the next available flight has also been affected.
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Haryana, Rajasthan innovators all set for Rashtrapati Bhawan sojourn
New Delhi, June 30 “I am really excited. For a villager, there can be no greater honour than spending time at Rashtrapati Bhawan. I have been extracting juices and essence from aloe vera, ‘amla’, ‘jaamun’... I will also experiment with other fruits available in Delhi and use my experience of working in the Naxal-hit Gaddhchiroli district of Maharashtra,” Dharamveer, who has invented a multi-purpose processing machine, told The Tribune. Hailing from Damla village, Dharamveer said he was looking forward to the opportunity. He hopes to make jams and juices from seasonal fruits and herbs that grow in the area. Gurmail Singh has invented a rapid compost aerator and tree pruner. Manisha Mohan has invented society harnessing equipment to safeguard woman from molesters, MB Avinash, a self-cleaning functional molecular material, and Tenith Adithyaa, banana leaf technology equipment that makes the fruit resistant to drying for a year. During their July 1-20 stay at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, these innovators will interact with ministries and officials of research institutions for support in product development and commercialisation of their products, Rashtrapati Bhawan spokesperson Venu Rajamony said. The Innovation Scholars In-Residence Scheme was launched by the President on December 11, 2013, with an aim to promote the spirit of innovation and giving impetus to grassroots innovation activities. The main objective is to provide an environment to grassroots innovators in Rashtrapati Bhawan to work on a project and take their innovative ideas forward. It also aims to provide them with linkages to technical institutions to strengthen their capacity to innovate and to provide mentoring and support.
Avant-garde * The Innovation Scholars In-Residence Scheme was launched by the President on December 11, 2013, with an aim to promote the spirit of innovation and giving impetus to grassroots innovation activities *
The main objective is to provide an environment to grassroots innovators in Rashtrapati Bhawan to work on a project and take their innovative ideas forward *
It also provides them with linkages to technical institutions to strengthen their capacity to innovate
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Mumbai court finds watchman guilty of murdering lawyer
Mumbai, June 30 Mughal, a native of Kashmir, was employed as a watchman at the Himalayan Heights building where Pallavi lived with her partner Avik Sengupta. He murdered Pallavi on August 9, 2012. The arguments for the quantum of sentence will be heard on Thursday. The chargesheet filed in the case said Mughal had been stalking the lawyer for a while and had decided to rape her. To gain entry into her flat, he tampered with the electricity meter of the building. When the lawyer called the electrician for help, Mughal accompanied him into the premises and stole the keys of the flat. Later in the night, Mughal opened the doors of the flat with the help of stolen keys and tried to rape the lawyer. When she resisted, Mughal slashed her throat with a knife.
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property cases
New Delhi, June 30 A Bench comprising Justices HL Dattu and SA Bobde refused to entertain the petition, filed by advocate Maheravish Rein, observing that it was not inclined to do so. The petitioner said children born with underdeveloped reproductive organs were mostly abandoned by parents or taken away by the Hijra, Kinnar or Eunuch community which was illiterate. There were 500,000 ‘hijras’ in Delhi alone, she said. Children raised by these communities were denied of education and other rights and forced into begging and prostitution, she said and pleaded for criminal action against the parents abandoning such kids. On April 15, 2012, the SC had delivered a verdict on another PIL, directing the government to treat ‘hijras’ and eunuchs as socially backward and offer them job and educational quota. The SC verdict would unfortunately encourage the hijra, kinnar and eunuch communities to acquire more children from various families, Rein contended. In all, the apex court had issued nine directives to the government. The Centre and the states should take steps for framing various social welfare schemes for their betterment. Under the first directive, the SC asked the government to treat them as a “third gender” for the purpose of safeguarding their rights under the Constitution and central and state laws. The fresh PIL, however, pleaded that the third gender children should be rescued from the hijra and other such communities and restored to their biological parents and provided proper care and education, besides legal rights to inherit properties.
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Black money: Swiss agency points to ‘organised crime’ link
Bern/New Delhi, June 30 The disclosure has been made by the Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS), which is part of the Swiss Federal Office of Police. MROS functions as a relay and filtration point between financial intermediaries and the law enforcement agencies. Under the Swiss Money Laundering Act, MROS receives and analyses Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) in connection with money laundering and, if necessary, forwards them to law enforcement agencies. As per MROS’ latest update on developments in the fight against money laundering, organised crime and terrorist financing in Switzerland, as many as 1,411 SARs were received by this central agency during 2013, involving suspicious assets worth a record high amount of nearly 3 billion Swiss francs (over Rs 20,000 crore). While MROS did not disclose the specific number of India- related cases, it said the number of SARs involving ‘organised crime’ increased to 104 during 2013 — from 97 in the previous year. In terms of the size of assets involved in these cases, criminal gangs from Italy were on the top, the MROS said, while adding that “further cases of organised crime involved occurrences in China, Brazil and India”. Switzerland’s central money laundering prevention agency, however, did not divulge any specifics about the cases of organised crime in India. — PTI
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National innovation policy on cards
New Delhi, June 30 Smriti discussed these issues with chairmen and directors of 16 IITs, India’s premiere technical colleges, at a retreat in Goa today. Another major issue flagged at the meeting was the need for India to develop its own ranking systems to reflect the realities of the developing world. Close on the heels of PM Narendra Modi calling for India’s own ranking system, which could then be expanded to include developing countries, the HRD Minister today urged the directors of IITs to come up with a national ranking system. “We need strategies for making the country both manpower ready and teacher ready,” she told the assembled delegates. They also discussed the issues — deepening of research and technological innovation for meeting the national development agenda, enhancing industry-academia collaborations, expanding Massive Open Online Courses and developing framework for a ranking system reflecting national concerns. A committee comprising directors and chairmen of IITs was later constituted to map various disciplines with respect to their requirement for meeting national manpower goals.
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India rolls out new visa policy for Afghans
New Delhi, July 30 The new visa policy for Afghanistan nationals was being introduced on humanitarian grounds for two years with effect from tomorrow, a Home Ministry spokesperson said. The government will allow Afghan nationals to stay in India on stay visa/resident permit up to two years at a time, depending on their security clearance. Children up to the age of 12 years or those above 65 years will be exempted from police reporting. The provisions for exempting police reporting have also been liberalised in case of Afghan students, patients, short-term visitors, businessmen, scholars, eminent persons etc.
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Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said internal security was non-negotiable, be it on tackling Naxalism or anything else.
He was addressing the media at his Kalidas road residence during his first trip to the city after assuming charge of the Home portfolio. He is on a two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency
Lucknow.
France today expressed confident that its multi-billion dollar Rafale combat aircraft deal with India would fructify soon and offered to jointly develop with this country defence equipment like missile, helicopters and submarines.
Addressing a press conference here after holding talks with External Affairs Minister Sushma
Swaraj, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he was hopeful that the new government in Delhi, which was keen about efficiency in decision-making, would not delay the implementation of the deal further.
The BJP has given a call for statewide demonstrations tomorrow to protest police lathicharge on party’s Yuva Morcha workers outside the Vidhan Sabha here today.
At least two dozen workers were injured in the lathicharge. Trouble started when the workers wanted to gherao the Vidhan Sabha in protest against poor handling of the law and order, power and unemployment issues by the state government.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to ISRO scientists today to develop a satellite for SAARC countries will help India thwart the Chinese who are apparently putting the “string of pearls” theory into practice in the outer space too.
While Pakistan’s dependence on the Chinese for their space programme is well known, it is not the only SAARC country to have a Chinese link with its space programme.
It was a visit to London that sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali will never forget albeit for the wrong reasons - his "priceless" instrument and a companion for over four decades went missing on his return here on a British Airways flight.
