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First-ever batch of Indian students for NASA

          Patiala: A group of engineering students from Patiala have been invited by the US space agency NASA to research into the possibility of human settlement on the moon. All the 18 members of the group from the Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology (TIET) and the Buddha Dal School have been selected by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics as one of the eight teams for developing a multi- trillion dollar human settlement project in space and the moon. The group is the only non-US team shortlisted in an open international competition for the mega space design project, called the Space City to be stationed in Earth's orbit. The other seven teams are from the US.

          Mani Kumar, a civil engineer, hoped the team would do well at NASA. "This is the first time in the history of the competition. This is the first Indian team which is in the top eight teams and they will make a presentation in the Kennedy Space Centre...I am confident that they will make a good presentation which is about moon," said Kumar. Tewnty-year old Abhishek Aggarwal, a first year electronics and instrumentation engineering student at TIET, is the brain behind the selected project. An excited Aggarwal said he hoped his team would win the contest. "Our only expectation is to win the contest. I am feeling very nice and my dream has been fulfilled. I wanted to send one team from India for that competition. It is the first time," said Aggarwal. The project would be implemented by NASA and top airline manufacturer Boeing.

           The estimated cost of the project to have a settlement in space has been pegged at 2.56 trillion dollars by the group. Aggarwal said participating teams have been asked to act as virtual space construction companies. They have to provide structural design, describe operations down to the minute details, provide infrastructure estimates, costs and accommodate human factors. The Space City was to be designed for 16,500 people and made viable for habitation by 2024. The city would take care of their living needs and create artificial gravity, atmosphere, trees, farms, entertainment centres and other basic facilities for sustenance. The Space City is planned as an ambitious project to create a 25- mile solar shield around the world to stop further global warming. The team would make their presentation between July 17 and 19.

Mystery death of monkeys in Shimla (Go To Top)

          Shimla: Health authorities in Shimla are on alert after more than 20 monkeys died mysteriously in the famous Jhakhu temple dedicated to monkey-god Hanuman. The disease, which is affecting ageing monkeys, has been attacking the nervous system of the animals, causing slow death. Authorities have begun a probe into the mysterious deaths. A.K.Asrani, Associate Professor of Pathology, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Himachal Pradesh, denied reports of any deliberate poisoning of the animals. "This disease started 25 days back. So we can say that in 20 days 20 monkeys have died. As soon as the authorities came to know about it, an expert team was called from the veterinary college, Palampur and they are already investigating the cause of it. At the moment they have also performed post mortem on the dead animals but that hasn't revealed quite substantial results but we can say that malicious poisoning is not involved in this," said Asrani. The disease is said to have struck the hill station for the first time. At present over 3,75,000 monkeys are estimated to be in Himachal Pradesh, out of which two thousand live in Shimla. Monkeys live in a poor hygienic conditions in the temple. Asrani said monkeys are given proper diet. But they also eat food given by visitors and passers-by, which cause diseases in them. Hefty fines imposed to stop the visitors from feeding monkeys has not made much impact as the practice is part of religious belief.

Sonia may visit Pak, says Natwar Singh (Go To Top)

          Jaipur: Congress president Sonia Gandhi may visit Pakistan accepting an invitation by President Pervez Musharraf, External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh indicated here today. "Soniaji has been invited to Pakistan and I hope a programme would be chalked out for her visit," Singh said at a function in the PCC office here to felicitate him. "I believe that Soniaji would go to Pakistan where she would certainly receive a big welcome from its people," he said. Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, Singh said, had visited Pakitan when Indian cricket team was playing there and both received warm welcome there. "You can imagine how big reception Soniaji would get in Pakistan when she goes there," he added.

Pak successfully test-fires Haft V Ghauri (Go To Top)

          Islamabad/New Delhi: Pakistan successfully test fired its Hatf V Ghauri medium-range, nuclear-capable ballistic missile today. The missile test was carried out early this morning in the presence of Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, reported the state-run TV-channel PTV World. The missile has a range of up to 1500 km. Responding to the news, India said that it had taken note of the missile test, and its implications on regional security.

Somnath Chatterjee appointed Pro-Tem Speaker (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Veteran parliamentarian and CPI (M) leader Somnath Chatterjee has been appointed as the Pro-Tem Speaker of the 14th Lok Sabha during its brief session from June 2-9. Informed sources said Chatterjee would administer oaths to all the 543 newly-elected members of the Lower House. The first two days of the session will be exclusively for the oath-taking of the members, the sources added. Chatterjee's formal election as the Communist Speaker of the Lok Sabha is almost certain as the Congress, Left and other supporting parties have endorsed his name for the post.

           The convention is that the senior-most member of the House usually presides till a new Speaker is elected. In 1952, the senior-most member G V Mavalankar also became the first Speaker of the Indian Parliament. In the recent elections, Chatterjee was elected for a record 10th time to the Lok Sabha from the Bolpur constituency in West Bengal. Meanwhile, the 201st session of the Rajya Sabha will take place from June 4.

No major changes in foreign policy: Natwar Singh (Go To Top)

          Jaipur: External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh on Saturday ruled out the possibility of major changes taking place in India's foreign policy, asserting that New Delhi would continue to maintain friendly ties with all countries, including China, the United States, Pakistan and other countries. Speaking at a reception organized in his honour at the headquarters of the Rajasthan Congress party, Singh said that ties with Washington would continue to be close, as it was India's largest trading partner. On Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's reported difference on Singh's assertion that the 1972 Simla Agreement was the ''bedrock'' of bilateral ties, the Foreign Minister said:'' I humbly request the Pakistan President to consult his Foreign Minister''. Asserting that New Delhi's friendly relations with Pakistan will continue, he said India was prepared to continue the dialogue process on every aspect.

Forex reserves decline for first time (Go To Top)

          Mumbai: India's foreign exchange reserves declined for the first time in the current fiscal by 56 million dollars to 118.57 billion dollars for the week ended May 21. The country's foreign currency assets were also down by 74 million dollars to 113.09 billion dollars during the period under review, according to a Reserve Bank of India's weekly report on Saturday. Gold reserves and special drawing rights remained static at 4,191 million and two million dollars, respectively.

Homage paid to Charan Singh (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: India on Saturday paid homage to its "son of the soil", former Prime Minister Choudhry Charan Singh on his 17th death anniversary. Many dignitaries, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, visited Kisan Ghat, Charan Singh's mausoleum, to pay respects to the farmers' leader. A staunch critic of political succession, Charan Singh often said "leaders should not be imposed". He was of the opinion that leaders should emerge through hard work and service of the masses and by earning their respect. Charan Singh came to active politics through district board elections and was a popular leader with the rural masses. He became the fifth Prime Minister after forming his socialist party, Lok Dal. Born in 1902, Charan Singh served as Prime Minister for a brief period from July 28, 1979 to January 15, 1980. He passed away after protracted illness in 1987.