The Indian Panorama

Month: June 2015

  • Wishing on a shooting star in Japan with man-made meteors

    Wishing on a shooting star in Japan with man-made meteors

    TOKYO (TIP): Fancy a meteor shower racing across the night sky to mark your birthday? One Japanese start-up is hoping to deliver shooting stars on demand and choreograph the cosmos.

    And, say scientists, it’s not just about painting huge pictures on the night-sky that would be visible to millions of people; artificial meteors could help us to understand a lot more about Earth’s atmosphere.

    Lena Okajima, who holds a doctorate in astronomy, says her company – ALE -is intending to launch a micro satellite that can eject shooting stars at exactly the right time and place to put on a celestial show.

    “I’m thinking of streams of meteors that are rare in nature,” Okajima told AFP in an interview.

    “It is artificial but I want to make really beautiful ones that can impress viewers,” she said.

    In collaboration with scientists and engineers at Japanese universities, the ALE team is developing a satellite that will orbit the Earth and eject dozens of balls.

    These balls – whose chemical formula is a closely-guarded secret – will race through the atmosphere at around 7-8 kilometres (up to five miles) a second, glowing brightly from the friction created by smashing into the air.

    Although it sounds fast, that is considerably slower than naturally-occurring meteors – chunks of material that either broke away from a planet or never managed to form one in the first place – which can hurtle through the atmosphere at up to 80 kilometres a second.

    Tinkering with the ingredients should mean that it is possible to change the colour of each bright streak, says Okajima, offering the possibility of a multi-coloured flotilla of shooting stars.

    The stars are expected to shine for several seconds before they are completely burned up — well before they fall low enough to pose any danger to anything on Earth.

  • Canada police apologize after sex talk broadcast from helicopter

    Canada police apologize after sex talk broadcast from helicopter

    WINNIPEG (TIP): Police in the Canadian city of Winnipeg apologized on June 22 after a lewd conversation about sex was broadcast from the loudspeakers of a police helicopter to a neighborhood below.

    Officers on a routine helicopter patrol on Monday night inadvertently activated the aircraft’s public address system while they were having a private conversation, the Winnipeg Police Service said in a statement.

    “Some content of the conversation was inappropriate. The involved members were not able to hear the public address system from within the aircraft. They became aware their conversation had been broadcast and immediately turned the system off,” the police said.

    News of the R-rated conversation took off on Twitter as the city residents who could hear the conversation took to social media to urge the police to turn off their loudspeaker.

    “Pilots in the Winnipeg police helicopter having a conversation with their loudspeaker on. Pretty funny to hear,” tweeted one resident.

    “Does the #Winnipeg chopper realize the entire West End can hear their convo about blow jobs right now?” tweeted another, who noted she was listening from her backyard.

    The police service said the incident was being reviewed.

  • 1% of Chinese on drugs as synthetic substances sold over internet

    BEIJING (TIP): China has admitted for the first time that one out of every 100 Chinese is a drug user. It said that the total number of drug users could be 14 million, which comes to one percent of the 1.4 billion Chinese citizens. The number may be higher if only the adult population is taken into account.

    The sharp increase in drug addiction is driven by the easy a availability of synthetic drugs like methamphetamine, which is widely marketed and sold over the Internet. In fact, 80 percent of new drug users in 2014 were those addicted to synthetic substances.

    Revealing another shocking facet of the drug situation, the National Anti-Drug Commission, said that nearly 56 percent of the drug users were in the productive age group of 18 to 35. Even government officials, businessmen and celebrities have fallen prey to it, Liu Yuejin, deputy director of the commission, lamented.

    An estimated 463,000 people began started using narcotic substances last year, he said.

    “Compared with taking traditional drugs, such as heroin and opium, using methamphetamine can easily bring on mental problems,” Liu said. “The addicts find it difficult to control themselves and are prone to extreme and violent acts, including murder, kidnapping and injuring others.”

    The police has Police officers identified more than 100 cases of violent crimes that were caused by meth abuse across 14 provinces between January and September 2014. This is more than the total number in the previous five years, according to the health ministry.

    The government said there are three million “registered drug users” but the total number of addicts could be 14 million. Nearly half of the registered users are addicted to synthetic drugs which is different from organic drugs like heroin. “Under the pressures of rampant drug smuggling and strong domestic market demand, China is facing the grim task of curbing synthetic drugs, which young addicts increasingly use,” Liu said. China had been meeting annually with the US, Russia, Myanmar and Vietnam to exchange information and discuss combating cross-border drug-related crimes, he said.

    China is working with neighboring countries to collect intelligence and conduct joint operations, while focusing on smashing drug-trafficking rings and arresting major drug lords, he said.

    Song Zengliang, a senior official at the ministry’s Narcotics Control Bureau, said in an earlier interview that much of the methamphetamine is smuggled into China through border areas such as Yunnan province and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

  • Israel’s Netanyahu says better Iran deal still possible

    JERUSALEM (TIP): Israel’s prime minister says world powers can still insist on a better deal with Iran over its nuclear program as the negotiators’ self-imposed deadline rapidly approaches.

    Benjamin Netanyahu told a graduating class of pilots Thursday that “it is still not too late to insist on a good deal.”

    Iran and six world powers are racing to meet a June 30 deadline for a deal that would limit Tehran’s nuclear activities in exchange for lifting sanctions.

    Netanyahu has dubbed it a “bad deal,” saying it would leave Iran with the ability to rapidly obtain nuclear weapons. Israel views a nuclear-armed Iran as its greatest potential threat.

    Iran insists its nuclear program is for purely peaceful purposes.

  • ISIS re-enters key Syria-Turkey border town Kobani

    LONDON (TIP): The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has reportedly re-entered the Syrian town of Kobani, just months after being pushed out from the city after a long battle with Kurdish troops.

    Several people have been killed in fierce clashes in the town, reported the BBC.

    The strategic town located on the Syrian-Turkish border would give the ISIS a complete control over a stretch of more than 100 kilometers between Raqqa, Syria and Turkey.

    The apparent two-pronged ISIS assault came as the group suffered two successive losses at the hands of the Kurdish Popular Protection Units (YPG) forces in Ain Issa, just 50 kilometres from the terror outfit’s stronghold of Raqqa, and Tal Abyad in Syria.

  • China says ‘Golden Triangle’ source of most dangerous drugs

    BEIJING (TIP): China says Southeast Asia’s lawless `Golden Triangle’ region remains the overwhelming source of the heroin and methamphetamine used in the country.

    A Cabinet report on China’s drug situation released Wednesday underscores the threat posed by the region incorporating parts of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, despite efforts at cross-border cooperation.

    It said that 90% of the 9.3 tons of heroin and 11.4 tons of methamphetamine seized in 2014 came from the area that borders China’s southern province of Yunnan.

    The report is the government’s first comprehensive look at drug use in China, where synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine and ketamine have overtaken heroin in popularity. It said China has about 3 million registered drug users, but estimates of those who have tried drugs run as high as 14 million.

  • Dallas June 26 Edition

    Dallas June 26 Edition

    A New Way to Read This Week’s Print Edition

    Reimagined for the Web
    Volume 3 Issue 19

    Desktop Edition

    vol3issue19-dallas

  • NY June 26 Edition

    NY June 26 Edition

    A New Way to Read This Week’s Print Edition

    Reimagined for the Web
    Volume 9 Issue 25

    Desktop Edition

     

    vol9issue25

  • Mom, baby found alive 4 days after jungle plane crash

    Mom, baby found alive 4 days after jungle plane crash

    BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (TIP): A woman who survived a jungle plane crash with her 1-year-old son drank coconut water to stay alive for four days until being rescued, Colombia’s air force said.Rescuers reached Maria Nelly Murillo and her child in a remote area of western Colombia and flew them to the nearby town of Quibdo for medical treatment on Wednesday. Murillo suffered some injuries and burns but the baby was unhurt.They were aboard a twin-engine Cessna that crashed Saturday into the thick jungle shortly after taking flight from Quibdo, near the Pacific Ocean. The pilot, captain Carlos Mario Ceballos, was killed, but rescuers said a load of fish on board absorbed much of the impact in the plane’s cabin, allowing Murillo and her son to survive against the odds. Murillo told rescuers she climbed a hill with her child to get away from the plane, which she feared might explode.

    She said she survived on coconut water until a local person came across her on Tuesday and summoned help. Rescuers said they reached the plane two days after the crash, but found the two passengers missing. A 14-person search-and-rescue team scoured the dense forest for several days before finding the mother and child.

  • GREECE NEEDS DEBT DEAL THIS WEEKEND, EU LEADERS WARN

    GREECE NEEDS DEBT DEAL THIS WEEKEND, EU LEADERS WARN

    BRUSSELS (TIP): The leaders of Germany and France warned Greece that it must reach a debt deal with its creditors at “decisive” talks on June 20 to avert default and a possible euro exit.

    Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande sang from the same hymn sheet after yet another meeting of eurozone finance ministers broke down Thursday without an agreement to free vital bailout funds.

    Athens needs the money to cover a huge 1.5 billion euro ($1.7 billion) IMF debt bill that falls due on June 30, failing which its position in the single currency and even the European Union could be at risk.

    “We have to keep working because time is pressing and the Eurogroup (eurozone finance ministers) on Saturday will have a decisive importance,” chancellor Merkel said early Friday after an EU summit in Brussels.

    “All the leaders supported the idea that everything must be done to find a solution on Saturday.”

    The French president said he would help work for a “durable” deal for Greece, whose leftist government has haggled over reform demands from its EU-IMF creditors since its election in January.

    “I consider that the meeting on Saturday is crucial because time is up on June 30, when the Greeks must meet their payment obligations, there are national parliaments that have to meet,” he said.

    The talks between the finance ministers of the 19-country currency union had been meant to produce a deal that EU leaders could rubber stamp at their summit.

    But they broke down acrimoniously, with Greece and its creditors even producing rival plans for the ministers amid differences on pensions, value added tax and spending cuts.

    The EU leaders held two hours of unscheduled talks on Greece at their summit on Thursday.

    EU president Donald Tusk ruled out the possibility of a special summit of eurozone leaders like the one he called on Monday in a futile bid to resolve the crisis.

    “Another Eurosummit is not foreseen. Leaders expect the Eurogroup to conclude this process at their meeting on Saturday,” he tweeted.In a sign of the passions involved, dozens of anti-austerity protesters waving Greek flags gathered at the police barricades around the summit and chanted slogans against the “Troika”, as the three creditor institutions used to be known, an AFP reporter said.

    Greece needs creditors to unlock the remaining 7.2 billion euros in its bailout to pay the IMF at the end of the month but the lenders have refused until Athens agrees to new reforms.

    Marathon meetings between Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, whose anti-austerity Syriza party won elections in January, and the heads of the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund, Greece’s main creditors, ended with no deal on Thursday morning.

    Tsipras earlier insisted that a deal was still possible. “After the comprehensive Greek proposals, I’m confident we’ll reach a compromise that will help the eurozone and Greece to overcome the crisis,” Tsipras said as he arrived at the summit.

    The IMF meanwhile said that it believes Greece will make the payment. Talk of a default is “all speculation, because we’re expecting the payment to be made on June 30 and that’s what the Greek authorities have said publicly,” said IMF spokesman Gerry Rice. Rice added that if the payment is missed Greece will immediately be declared in arrears, cutting its access to IMF aid.

    New plans submitted Sunday by Greece would produce eight billion euros in additional funds, mostly through new taxes on the wealthy and businesses, VAT increases and a cut in defence spending.

    But in counter-proposals handed to Greece on Wednesday, creditors called for further savings on pensions, higher VAT for restaurants, and for defence expenditure to be slashed by 400 million euros instead of the proposed 200 million euros.

  • International Day of Yoga (IDY) the Consulate General of India

    International Day of Yoga (IDY) the Consulate General of India

    Yoga at the United Nations
    Yoga at the United Nations
    Photos: Mohammed Jaffer-SnapsIndia & Jay Mandal
    Photos: Mohammed Jaffer-SnapsIndia & Jay Mandal
    Yoga at the JFK
    Yoga at the JFK
    Yoga at the United Nations . UN Secretary General Ban ki moon and his wife, and Ambassador Asoke Mukerji doing Yoga
    Yoga at the United Nations . UN Secretary General Ban ki moon and his wife, and Ambassador Asoke Mukerji doing Yoga
    Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at Lincoln Center
    Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at Lincoln Center
    Sushma Swaraj at the Hindu Temple
    Sushma Swaraj at the Hindu Temple
  • Thousands thronged the celebrations organized by Times Square, Hindu Temple, Lincoln Center, JFK Airport were the venues

    Thousands thronged the celebrations organized by Times Square, Hindu Temple, Lincoln Center, JFK Airport were the venues

    NEW YORK (TIP): The Consulate General of India, along with several socio-cultural organizations based in and around New York, organized International Day of Yoga (IDY) celebrations on June 21, 2015 at more than 50 places in and around the city. Thousands participated in these events with great pride and enthusiasm.

    External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj represented the Government of India at the Annual  Event of Yoga (Summer Solstice) at Times Square and the Hindu Temple Society of North America, Flushing. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who has introduced a Resolution in the Senate in support of the IDY and Madhur Bhandarkar, Film Director, also participated and cheered up the participants at the Times Square where close to 20,000 people participated throughout the day.

    India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj addresses the huge gathering of Yoga lovers at the iconic Times Square in New York
    India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj addresses the huge gathering of Yoga lovers at the iconic Times Square in New York , June 21. Seen in the picture, from L to R: Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Sushma Swaraj, Ambassador Asoke Mukerji, Consul General Dnyaneshwar Mulay

    With the support of the Consulate, the Art of Living Foundation (Sri Sri Ravi Shankar), Global Citizen Forum (B.K. Modi Group) organized a three hours program, including yoga, meditation, dance drama on yoga and finally East Meets West by  Bhappi Lahri and Judge M. Kelly, famous Jazz maestro. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, B.K. Modi, Judge Kelly, Bhappi Lahiri, Ambassador Arun Kumar Singh and Ambassador Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser addressed the 2700 strong supporters of yoga at the auditorium. Similarly, Hindu Temple Society of North America organized a day-long yoga and related events. External Affairs Minister participated in the closing ceremony and released a book titled “Yoga-Bharat’s Invaluable Gift to the World” by Mr. V. Ravi Kumar Iyer. The Consulate had also organized yoga lecture-cum-demonstration at the airports of New York and New Jersey. Passengers practiced yoga while waiting in transit. Photos of these events are available on www.indiacgny.org

    The State Senates  of New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Westchester as well as several City Councils have issued Proclamations and felicitation messages to support and commemorate the first International Day of Yoga. Several Senators, Congressmen, Mayors and Councilmen have sent their appreciation letters to the Consulate on the occasion.

    Indian-American communities represented by several Socio-Cultural organizations including the Overseas Volunteers for Better India (OVBI) were wholeheartedly involved in these events. The Consulate was also supported by  Tech Mahindra, the leader in digitalization and business re-engineering for organizing these events.

    Following the United Nations Resolution to declare International Day of Yoga on June 21 every year, the Consulate had been organizing yoga related various Curtain Raisers as well as yoga events in areas under the consular jurisdiction of this Consulate. Curtain Raisers were organized in Albany and Queens on June 9 and June 13 respectively. Yoga and related events would continue to be organized throughout the year at different places by this Consulate from time to time.

  • Raje ‘admits to signing’ Lalit Modi affidavit, but BJP backs her

    Raje ‘admits to signing’ Lalit Modi affidavit, but BJP backs her

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje has reportedly admitted to BJP leaders that she signed an affidavit backing controversial former IPL chief Lalit Modi’s British immigration appeal, adding to unease within the party despite finance minister Arun Jaitley’s defence of controversy-hit leaders.

    Raje apparently admitted to some BJP leaders she had signed the document, which was leaked on Wednesday, prompting some to believe she should have come clean days ago.

    The BJP’s top leaders examined the seven-page document and are in touch with Raje, a powerful regional leader, NDTV quoted its sources as saying.

    On June 16, Raje had denied any knowledge of the document after Modi, now living in London, produced it during a television interview and said Raje had sought a legal guarantee of confidentiality for signing the affidavit.

    Jaitley defended the BJP’s controversy-hit leaders on Thursday, saying “nobody is tainted” despite mounting unease about the political fallout of Raje’s help to Modi, who is wanted in India on charges of fraud and money laundering.

    His one-line defence soon after his return from the US defined the BJP’s position as an embattled Raje tapped into her supporters in Jaipur and her office issued statements denying reports that she has been asked to quit.

    “Some electronic channels are constantly running reports far away from the truth. These reports are completely baseless and are unsubstantiated. Verify reports before running them. Do not run stories which are unsubstantiated or based on rumours which may tarnish image of the chief minister,” said a statement issued Raje’s press advisor.A second statement later said some TV channels were carrying “misleading reports” about 110 legislators coming out in support of Raje.

    The statement quoted some media reports that said “Vasundhara resignation sought, Vasundhara bluntly refuses to resign”, “Party will be in a mess or problems if I am asked to quit”, “Ministers and MLAs are gathering at CM house”, and “Chief minister going to Delhi and (Health Minister) Rajendra Rathore going to Delhi”.

    Raje, 62, enjoys the confidence of BJP legislators but party leaders said her position is vulnerable after the emergence of the affidavit in support of Modi.

    She has been tightlipped throughout the crisis, breaking her silence only to deny supporting Modi. On Thursday morning, Raje made an appearance at the passing out parade of police sub-inspectors in Jaipur but avoided reporters.

    Instead, she tried to reach out to BJP leaders, clarifying her position to the top leadership. “Her position in Rajasthan and in Delhi is not as strong as earlier when LK Advani was in the party and strongly backed her,” a BJP spokesperson said in Jaipur, alluding to the veteran’s diminished role after Narendra Modi became prime minister.

    But urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu said everything was “ok” in the government and the party.“Some people are unhappy because after this Prime Minister (Modi) came to power they are not allowed to enjoy what they used to earlier,” he said.

    BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra questioned the authenticity of the affidavit. “Did she testify before any court and before a judge? Has the UK government said anything? Even if we presume the documents to be true, we know that they (Raje and Lalit Modi) had family relations.”

    Their remarks provoked a Congress taunt that the BJP was “continuing to defend the indefensible” despite incriminating evidence against Raje.

    The Congress also released the signed copy of the affidavit in which Raje told British officials that India’s expansive investigation of Modi was “a full frontal attack” that was “politically motivated.”

    The CPI-M demanded the immediate resignation of Raje, saying her conduct vis-a-vis Modi marked “a new low from a political leader and a national affront”.

    “The emergence of a witness statement signed by Vasundhara Raje in support of Lalit Modi’s immigration application to the UK has conclusively established the wrongdoing indulged in by the chief minister,” the CPI-M said in a statement.

  • Congress files complaint against Parrikar for lying on FIR in affidavit

    Congress files complaint against Parrikar for lying on FIR in affidavit

    NEW DELHI/PANAJI (TIP): Congress on June 25 accused defence minister Manohar Parrikar of concealing an FIR in his election nomination papers, urging the central election commission to initiate action against him.

    An FIR was filed against Parrikar in Goa in 2006 for alleged financial misappropriation while creating infrastructural facilities for the international film festival of India (iffi) in 2004 when Goa for the first time hosted the mega film festival. The complaint was filed against Parrikar who was chief minister in 2004 by Congress MLA Mauvin Godinho based on the observations in a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India report.The Congress stuck to its stand saying “This is a serious issue and has to be taken to its logical conclusion. It is a case of concealment of fact. Voters should have known this fact about Parrikar since the FIR is under the Prevention of Corruption Act,” Congress legal cell chief KC Mittal said, adding that AICC would pursue the case with the EC. Asked for his comment, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Luizinho Faleiro told TOI that the complaint has been filed by AICC legal cell before the Election commission of India.

    Sources close to Parrikar dubbed the Congress move as infructuous. They said candidates have to file details of a case only if they have been chargesheeted, which was not the case in the said FIR.

    After the FIR was filed in 2006 by the Congress government led by then chief minister Pratap Singh Rane, the case was transferred to the CBI in December 2006. In August 2011, the CBI closed the case on the grounds that the allegations made in the FIR couldn’t be substantiated.

    As then chief minister, Parrikar held the finance portfolio in addition to being the chairman of Goa state infrastructural development corporation (GSIDC) – the special purpose vehicle appointed agency appointed as the nodal agency for iffi projects. He also headed the core committee set up by the government for taking policy decisions for iffi.

    The works executed then included construction of a multiplex (now Inox theatre complex), upgradation and restoration of facilities at Kala Academy (which was the main festival theatre) and improvement of roads and other related projects including beautification works. Besides, the third Patto bridge was constructed along the River Mandovi – all costing around Rs 150 crore.

    GAG in its report of 2004-05 had pointed out that the “tendering process suffered due to lack of transparency and that tender evaluation procedure was faulty.” In its analysis, it also said that “there were cases of excess payments/wasteful expenditure and over dependence on consultants on all the major works.”During the investigation, Parrikar, then opposition leader, was quizzed in 2009. In 2011, the CBI filed a closure report in the court saying the allegations made in the FIR couldn’t be substantiated. Congress was ruling then both in the state and the centre. The complaint was filed months after BJP lost power in 2005.

  • Swaraj meets Chinese counterpart, raises Lakhvi issue

    Swaraj meets Chinese counterpart, raises Lakhvi issue

    NEW DELHI (TIP): External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on June 25 raised with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi China’s blocking of India’s move in the UN for action against Pakistan over 26/11 mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi’s release, saying it was at “variance” with progress in ties.

    In the meeting held on the sidelines of an international donors conference in Kathmandu, Swaraj told the Chinese Foreign Minister that Lakhvi was “no ordinary terrorist” as he masterminded the Mumbai terror attack in which more than 166 people were killed.”The External Affairs Minister raised the issue of Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi on the stand China has taken on this matter in the United Nations 1267 committee. She said both India and China have been victims of terrorism and therefore there should be no distinction made between good terrorists and bad terrorists,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

    “She said China’s stand on the matter appears to be at variance with the excellent progress otherwise being achieved in India-China bilateral relationship,” Swarup said.

    He said Wang assured Swaraj that China opposes all forms of terrorism and that he will look into the matter.

    “He (Wang) assured that there was no reason why India and China could not cooperate more closely on anti-terrorism efforts,” Swarup said.

    At a meeting of the UN Sanctions Committee, India had sought action against Pakistan for release of Lakhvi in the 26/11 trial in violation of a UN resolution but the Chinese representatives blocked the move on grounds that New Delhi did not provide sufficient information.

    Lakhvi, the mastermind of the 26/11 terror attack, was released from a Pakistani jail in April. The UN Sanctions Committee met at India’s request last week.In a letter to the current Chair of the UN Sanctions Committee Jim McLay, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Asoke Mukherjee last month had said Lakhvi’s release by a Pakistani court was in violation of the 1267 UN resolution dealing with designated entities and individuals.

    The sanctions measures apply to designated individuals and entities associated with terror groups including al-Qaeda and LeT, wherever located.

  • FLOOD ALERT IN KASHMIR, JHELUM CROSSES DANGER MARK

    SRINAGAR (TIP): Water level in Jhelum crossed the danger mark at Sangam in south Kashmir early today as most parts of the Valley were lashed by incessant rains since June 24

    A flood alert was late last night sounded for Anantnag and Pulwama districts with the MeT department predicting more rains over the next 48 hours in the region.

    The water level at Sangam was 25.30 feet at 3 AM, 2.30 feet above the danger mark, a police official said.

    The river was flowing at 17.10 feet at Ram Munshibagh here, closing in on the danger mark of 19 feet, the official said.

    The water level in Jhelum and its tributaries rose sharply following heavy rainfall.

    Divisional administration is scheduled to review the situation at a meeting, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Asgar Samoon said. He said some low lying areas in south Kashmir have been inundated.

    People living in and around flood prone areas in the two districts have been advised to shift to safer areas.

  • Emergency darkest period;vibrant democracy key to progress:PM

    NEW DELHI (TIP): On the 40th anniversary of the Emergency, Prime Minister Narendra Modi June 25  said a vibrant liberal democracy is the key to progress and that everything should be done to strengthen democratic ideals and ethos.

    “We mark 40 years of one of India’s darkest periods- the Emergency, when the then political leadership trampled over our democracy,” he tweeted.”A vibrant liberal democracy is the key to progress. Let us do everything possible to further strengthen our democratic ideals & ethos,” he said.

    The Prime Minister recalled that lakhs of people had resisted the Emergency declared by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on this day in 1975. “We are very proud of the lakhs of people, who resisted the Emergency & whose efforts ensured that our democratic fabric is preserved,” he said.

    “Inspired by the call of JP, several men & women across India selflessly immersed themselves in the movement to safeguard our democracy,” Modi said, referring to Jaiprakash Narain.

    The Prime Minister said the Emergency brings back many memories and that youngsters had learnt a lot during the anti-Emergency movement. “Personally, the Emergency brings back many memories. As youngsters, we learnt a lot during the anti-Emergency movement.”Emergency was a great opportunity to work with a wide spectrum of leaders & organisations fighting for the same goal- return of democracy,” he said.

    The Emergency was lifted only after two years in the wake of widespread mass movement.

  • Uddhav mocks BJP, says fake degrees now a political trend

    MUMBAI (TIP): Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray took potshots at the BJP and said that it has become a trend to display fake degrees.

    “It has become a trend in politics to display fake degrees. Simply do the right thing. Why run behind false things,” Thackeray said, without naming anybody including Maharashtra Education Minister Vinod Tawde or Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani, at a book launch function in suburban Dadar.

    However, a senior Sena leader said that Uddhav Thackeray’s remarks were also aimed at Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani, whose fake degree case has reached court.Incidentally, the book launched by Uddhav Thackeray at the function today evening, was written by former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Sena leader Manohar Joshi.Thackeray also said that corruption allegations against Maharashtra Women and Child Welfare Minister Pankaja Munde were “grave” but did not comment further on the
    issue.”Allegations against Pankaja Munde are serious but the Maharashtra Chief Minister should take a decision on it,” he told reporters.

  • SMART CITIES TO BE DECIDED BY CITIZENS, SAYS MODI

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Smart cities will be selected through a bottom-up rather than top-down approach, where the decision would be made by the citizens and municipalities concerned, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on June 25.

    “For the first time such an approach is being taken, where neither the centre nor states will decide. The decision to become a smart city will be taken by the citizens themselves, by the municipalities,” Modi said launching the three missions on Smart Cities, the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation and Housing for All.

    “The city’s vision towards its future development is necessary for any programme’s success. Otherwise it will get bogged down, where state-level departments and agencies are awaiting directions from the centre, while cities are awaiting a decision from the state governments,” he said.

    “It will be a selection process for smart cities according to parameters, and thereafter the Centre and states will come in to help realise it. Competition is critical factor for the success of the programme,” Modi added.

    Smart City aspirants will be selected through a “City Challenge Competition” intended to link financing with the ability of the cities to perform to achieve the mission objectives.

    Cities must qualify themselves through city-challenge criteria like sanitation, clean water, power, greenery quotient and ratio between revenue and expenditure on municipal salaries.

    The government has approved the Smart Cities Mission under which 100 new smart cities, which would promote adoption of smart solutions for efficient use of available assets and enhance the quality of urban life, would be made.

    Each selected city would get central assistance of Rs.100 crore per year for five years.

  • Centre plans mega event to mark 50th anniversary of 1965 war

    NEW DELHI (TIP): The Centre is planning a mega event to lay claim to the legacy of another Congress icon, Lal Bahadur Shastri. The occasion is the 50th anniversary of the 1965 India-Pakistan war that was conducted under Shastri’s premiership.

    According to the commemoration plan, the Centre is likely to order tableaux, public discussions and film shows in the Capital.

    With high-voltage celebrations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems to be working on his strategy to appropriate non-Gandhi family stalwarts of Congress, in line with the recent celebration of B R Ambedkar as well as the construction of a memorial for former Congress PM PV Narasimha Rao. The Centre has also commissioned a memorial for Jai Prakash Narayan, who is known for his anti-Congress movement.

    Before he hit the election trail, Modi had accused the Congress of ignoring icons like Vallabhbhai Patel and Subhash Chandra Bose, managing to create a political mood that hurt the UPA.

    Defence minister Manohar Parrikar is said to have been entrusted with the task of planning the anniversary.

    The war celebration plan is likely to raise concern in Congress as it would be another attempt to wean away a party icon by its bitter rival and saffron mascot. Ironically, Congress will have to quietly join the occasion because of its national significance and bear with the political sub-plot.

  • GREENPEACE INDIA CHIEF, OFFICER QUIT FOR BOTCHING ABUSE CASE

    GREENPEACE INDIA CHIEF, OFFICER QUIT FOR BOTCHING ABUSE CASE

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Heads have rolled in Greenpeace India with its two top officials resigning from their positions following improper handling of two sexual harassment cases.

    Executive Director Samit Aich and Programme Director Divya Raghunandan put in their papers following an internal review of the organisation’s handling of the cases, a statement on Greenpeace India’s website said.

    “Aich offered his resignation to the Greenpeace India Board, and it was accepted…Separately, Raghunandan has resigned from the organisation,” it said. In the statement, the board made clear their “appreciation” to Aich for 11 years of dedicated service to Greenpeace India.

    The board also decided to commission a full, independent audit of how Greenpeace India dealt with the sexual harassment cases to strengthen the internal processes to ensure a safe working environment for women. Two interim co-executive directors have been appointed. “They are current Greenpeace staff members Vinuta Gopal and Sanjiv Gopal. Their appointments are with full mandate and support while the board starts the process of recruiting a new executive director,” the statement said.

    Earlier, Greenpeace India has terminated the services of its two employees – one involved in a number of harassment cases while the second one was involved in a case of rape of a colleague.

    The issue came in public domain earlier this month when one of the former employees posted in a web forum that she had to leave her job in 2013 after being sexually harassed and raped by her colleague. There were allegations that the NGO did not take proper action against the perpetrators. It had earlier tendered an unconditional apology for the way it handled the case.

  • Hillary Clinton on course to win 2016 presidential election: Poll

    Hillary Clinton on course to win 2016 presidential election: Poll

    WASHINGTON (TIP): Hillary Clinton is the firm favourite to be chosen as the Democratic Party nominee for 2016 US presidential polls and go on to be elected as the first woman president of America, according to a new poll.

    A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll taken in the days after Clinton held her first public rally earlier this month, showed the former secretary of state garnering broad support for being chosen the Democratic presidential nominee.

    Three-quarters of Democratic primary voters said Clinton was their top pick to be the nominee, compared with the 15 per cent who selected Bernie Sanders.

    Clinton, 67, enters the 2016 contest with unusually broad support from fellow Democrats with some 92 per cent of Democratic primary voters saying they could see themselves supporting her and just 8 per cent saying they could not, according to the poll.

    But it is not that Clinton just emerges as the strongest contender in the primary vote but the poll shows that she is looking set for a successful November 2016 election bid to become the first woman president of America.

    The poll asked 1,000 likely voters about their opinions on potential presidential candidates, both Republican and Democrat.

    It showed Clinton polling at 48 per cent to 40 per cent against her closest Republican contender, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, the brother of former president George W Bush and son of former president George HW Bush.

    Against the Florida senator Marco Rubio, Clinton polled 50 per cent against 40 per cent. And against Wisconsin governor Scott Walker she polled 51 per cent to 37 per cent.

    The survey found that Americans are divided on whether they want the next president to be a Republican or a Democrat. But among many key demographic groups, Clinton outpaces the support for her party.

    “The poll underscores Clinton’s strength as a candidate, both among Democrats and key constituencies that could tip the balance in a general election. But the results also show a clear desire among Democratic voters for a rival to emerge and hint at potential cracks in her support,” the Wall Street Journal said.

    Among Republican primary voters, the poll showed Bush ahead with 22 per cent of the vote. Walker was next with 17 per cent and Rubio third with 14 per cent. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson had 11 per cent, while former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee 9 per cent, libertarian senator Rand Paul 7 per cent, former Texas governor Rick Perry 5 per cent, New Jersey governor Chris Christie 4 per cent and Texas senator Ted Cruz 4 per cent were all in single figures.

  • US, China bridge some economic differences in Washington talks

    US, China bridge some economic differences in Washington talks

    WASHINGTON (TIP): US and Chinese negotiators bridged some differences over economic policy in annual bilateral talks Wednesday, even as the two countries continue to wrestle with major strategic disagreements.

    Both sides suggested they closed gaps in talks on a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) following the talks.

    And Washington appeared more ready to support a major step in the internationalization of the Chinese yuan, its inclusion in the basket underpinning the International Monetary Fund’s SDR currency.

    But there was little sign that Washington was ready to embrace China’s new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which the US says risks undermining social and environmental standards for loans established by the World Bank.

    US treasury secretary Jacob Lew said at the end of the two-day US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue that China had agreed to hold off on interventions in the foreign exchange markets to manage the yuan’s value except in situations of “disorderly market conditions.”

    China also agreed “to actively consider” additional steps to move the yuan, which the US has long criticized is forcefully kept undervalued, to a market-based exchange rate.

    Lew also welcomed China’s commitment to begin publishing economic data to meet a key IMF standard by the end of 2015.

    “It is in China’s own interest to adopt the transparency standards of major reserve currencies.”

    Earlier this year Beijing asked the IMF to consider including the yuan, also called the renminbi, in the basket on which the SDR is based. That would constitute a major recognition of the yuan as one of the 10 most important currencies in the world.

    Chinese vice premier Wang Yang confirmed that Washington had shown support for the yuan’s consideration by the IMF, a decision likely to take place only next year.Wang also said the two sides had placed high priority on the BIT, as they weigh each others’ proposed “negative list,” a register of business sectors they want to keep protected from foreign investment.

    The two sides committed to “improve the negative list offer with a view to reaching a mutually beneficial and high-standard treaty,” he told reporters after the meeting.

    The talks, which deal with a broad range of often technical issues, appeared to avoid flashpoint economic issues, like the AIIB that Beijing has launched, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the US-driven free trade area that notably excludes China, the second-largest US trade partner.

    A key new complaint at the top of the US list in economic and trade issues, cyber-spying and cyber-theft of secrets and intellectual property from US companies that is allegedly backed by the Chinese government, was discussed, according to Lew.The two sides “had candid conversations about standards of behavior in cyberspace. We agree that there is value in bilateral and international cooperation on these issues,” he said.

    Wang meanwhile said that Washington had acknowledged its complaints about US economic policy, and would weigh the impact of its expected monetary tightening on the rest of the world.

    “The United States will pay attention to the impact of monetary policy on international financial systems and promised increased investment, national savings, a reduced deficit… and fiscal sustainability over the medium term,” Wang said.

  • More people killed in US by racists than terrorists

    WASHINGTON (TIP): Homegrown white supremacists, racists, and anti-government radicals have killed twice many people in the US as the much-feared Islamist terrorists, Muslim extremists, and Jihadists since 9/11, a study by an American think-tank has revealed.

    Amid a fervid debate in the US on why the latest racist attack in Charleston where a young white extremist killed nine black churchgoers should not be called a terrorist attack, the study by the New America, a Washington think-tank, reveals that homegrown extremist attacks is as understated in the US as the threat of Islamist attacks are overstated.

    The study chronicled only seven attacks inside America since 9/11 attributable to what it called ”deadly Jihadist attacks,” which killed 26 people. In contrast, there were 19 racist-extremists attacks in the US, mostly undertaken by white perpetrators, which killed 48 people.

    The most severe of them was the Charleston church attack last week that killed nine people, followed by the attack on the Sikh Gurdwara in Wisconsin in 2012 that killed six people. The most severe jihadi attack was 2009 Fort Hood shooting that killed 13 people.

    In terms of the number of extremists though, the New America database showed 276 individuals charged with what it called ”jihadist terrorism.” It counted 183 extremists as ”non-Jihadists.” The report scrutinized American citizens and permanent residents engaged in violent extremist activity as well as individuals, regardless of their citizenship status, living within the United States who have engaged in violent extremist activity.

  • Colombia ‘miracle’ mom’s fight to save baby after plane crash

    BOGOTA (TIP): The memory of Maria Nelly Murillo’s mother and her own maternal instinct kept her going for five days as she fought to save her baby after their plane crashed in the Colombian jungle.

    Murillo and her eight-month-old son Yudier Moreno made headlines around the world when they were found alive deep in the jungle five days after the small twin-engine plane transporting them crashed in northwestern Colombia.

    “I just thought of my mom and my son,” according to Red Cross volunteer Acisclo Renteria on Thursday quoted the 18-year-old mother as saying.

    Renteria found them on Wednesday, the last planned day of the search and rescue operation in a remote area of Colombia’s Choco region.

    The crash killed pilot Carlos Mario Ceballos, the only other person aboard the plane, which was carrying a cargo of fish and coconuts but also served as an air taxi across the remote region.

    Ceballos was crushed by the 225kilograms (500 pounds) of fish he was transporting, said Renteria.

    But Murillo and her baby, who were sitting in the back of the Cessna 303, somehow survived. She managed to get out the plane’s door as it burned and hurry to safety with her son.

    Renteria, 38, and three other rescuers found Murillo sleeping beside her baby near a ravine where they had sought shelter in the thick Alto Baudo jungle.

    She had first- and second-degree burns, a gash on her foot and a sprained ankle, but was very much alive.

    Her baby escaped with his clothes slightly charred but no apparent injuries, said Renteria.

    “‘Help! Help!’ was the first thing she said when she saw us,” said the rescue worker, who has volunteered with the Red Cross for 15 years.

    “I said, ‘Stay calm, sweetie,’ because she was trying to stand up and couldn’t. She asked me for food and water,” he told AFP.

    “The baby was cold, so I bundled him up in my shirt. He cried when I picked him up, but I gave him saline solution and he calmed down. After that, he slept in my arms the whole time.”

    A picture of Renteria with baby Yudier in his arms, wearing a harness aboard the helicopter that transported them to the regional capital Quibdo, was published in newspapers worldwide.

    The news drew a powerful reaction in Colombia. “It’s a miracle. It is a very wild area and it was a catastrophic accident,” Colonel Hector Carrascal, commander of the Colombian Air Force in Antioquia department, told AFP.

    “His mother’s spirit must have given him strength to survive,” he said of the baby.

    Murillo hails from the region where the crash occurred. The plane went down halfway between the town of Nuqui and Quibdo, a half-hour flight that locals often make by air taxi in this region where rivers are the only “roads” through the thick tropical forest.