Main Page                                                                     Archives

 

Oldest parliamentarian dies: LS adjourned for the day

          New Delhi: Proceedings in Parliament were adjourned today as a mark of respect to Ramachandra Veerappa, the oldest sitting member of the Lok Sabha, who died on Sunday in Hyderabad aged 96. Members of the House observed a minute's silence to condole the death of Veerappa, who was affiliated with the BJP. Describing him as a fearless freedom fighter and an agriculturist, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said Veerappa, a seven time member of the House, had represented the Bidar Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka. He was also a member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from 1948 to 1952 and of the Legislative Council from 1957-62. Chatterjee said Veerappa was an ideal parliamentarian and had actively participated in various parliamentary committees as a member.

Jehangir Karamat may be new Pak envoy to US (Go To Top)

         New York: Former Pakistan Army Chief General (retired) Jehangir Karamat is likely to be appointed as the country's next Ambassador to the United States, replacing Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, who has been appointed as UN special representative to Iraq. The News quoted informed sources here and in Islamabad as saying that Karamat"not only enjoys the confidence and trust of President Musharraf and the Pakistan Army, but he is also equally respected in the Washington circles." After his retirement from the Army, Karamat has emerged as an articulate and academic "scholar soldier," and the view in the Pakistan capital is that they would like him to take up the ambassadorial assignment before the UN General Assembly session in September.

Outgoing Pak envoy says position of Muslims in US grave (Go To Top)

         Washington: Pakistan's outgoing Ambassador in the United States, Jehangir Ashraf Qazi, has warned that Muslims in that country are in grave situation and need to take appropriate measures to safeguard their future. In an interview published by the New York-based Urdu weekly, Pakistan Post, Qazi is quoted by the Daily Times as saying that excesses have been committed against Pakistanis since 9/11 and are still being committed. "The situation is still grave for Muslims, who include Arabs along with Pakistanis. They face special difficulties. In fact, even citizens from non-Muslim countries have their complaints. Visas are delayed. If our students go home to Pakistan for some reason, they cannot come back and thus they are prevented from completing their courses. We are not the only ones facing such problems. The Americans are sensitive to this. It is not that I alone am stating this. Our President, Prime Minister and our Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri have taken it up with higher US officials, including (Secretary of State) Colin Powell," Qazi said.

Graduate's search engine makes Google `Blinkx' (Go To Top)

         London: In a new breakthrough, two employees of a tiny company based in London and San Francisco with a workforce of 10, have created Blinkx, a software that scans a user's screen and offers them related information from personal files, e-mails and the web. According to The Telegraph, Suranga Chandratillake, a 26-year-old Cambridge University graduate and his business partner Kathy Rittweger, 39, a technology entrepreneur launched the ground- breaking way to retrieve information from computers. The program could dethrone Google from its position as the world's leading Internet search tool. It combines the ability to track down relevant information stored locally on a computer with Internet searching in an easy-to-use format.

Rajinder sacked, Rach appointed as India's hockey coach (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Rajinder Singh was sacked as the chief coach of the Indian hockey team here Monday, Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) sources announced this here. Gerhard Rach of Germany has taken over as the chief coach with immediate effect, IHF sources said from Germany, where the team is preparing for the next month's Athens Olympics. Rach is the first ever foreigner to have been appointed chief coach of the Indian team. Rach's compatriot Oliver Kurtz along with former Indian Olympian Jagbir Singh are the two assistant coaches. The IHF has also dispensed with the services of Dutch goal- keeping coach Frank Lister. Hardip Singh Dhillon will be the manager of the team for the second successive olympics. He was also with the squad at Sydney, while Dr Saju Joseph has been retained as the trainer.