27 newly elected RS members sworn in

       New Delhi: Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat administered the oath of office to 27 newly elected and re-elected members of the Rajya Sabha here on Tuesday. Sushma Swaraj, Narayan Singh Kesari, Vikram Verma and Anusuiya Uike, all belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party, have been elected from the Madhya Pradesh. Balavant alias Bal Apte of the BJP, Praful Patel and Vasant Chavan, from the Nationalist Congress Party, Rajeev Shukla and Sushil Kumar Sambhajirao Shinde, from the Congress were members elected from Maharashtra. BJP General Secretary Arun Jaitley along with his party colleague Kanjibhal Manganbhai Patel were elected from Gujarat. Janeshwar Mishra from the Samajwadi Party and Kalraj Mishra from the BJP were elected from Uttar Pradesh. M.Rajasekara Murthy belonging to the Janata Dal (S) has been elected from Karnataka, along with K.B.Shanappa of the BJP. Sushila Tiriya from the Congress was elected from Orissa along with Bhagirathi Majhi of the BJP. Former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad belonging to the BJP has been elected from Bihar. Mahendera Sahni and Ali Anwar, both of the Janata Dal (United) and Rajniti Prasad of the Rashtriya Janata Dal were also elected from Bihar. Viplove Thakur, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Satya Vrat, all belonging to the Congress were elected from Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttaranchal, respectively. Dr.Barun Mukherjee of the All India Forward Bloc and Mukul Roy of Trinamool Congress were elected from West Bengal. Krishna Lal Balmikik from the BJP was elected to the Upper House from Rajasthan.

Metro service for Noida before Games (Go To Top)

      Noida (Uttar Pradesh): The Noida Authority today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to bring metro service facility in the satellite town before the Commonwealth Games. India will host the 2010 Commonwealth Games. According to the MoU, metro services will reach Noida by June 2009. The rail link will cover a total distance of seven km. It will have six stations from New Ashok Nagar in Delhi to the Noida city centre in Sector 32. The total cost of the project is Rs 736 crore. The agreement was signed by Noida Authority Chief Executive Officer Sanjiv Saran and DMRC Director (Project) C B K Rao here. In December last year, the UP Cabinet gave its nod to the Metro Rail project, whereby, Noida would be linked to the Delhi Metro in the second phase. Saran said that within two months of the first payment to DMRC, work would start on the project.

      The Delhi Metro started operating on December 24, 2002, becoming one of Asia's newest rapid transit systems. The Metro is currently running between Shahdara to Rithala covering a distance of 22 Km. There are 18 stations on this route. The Metro trains run from 6 a.m. till 10 p.m. The stations are Shahdara, Welcome, Seelampur, Shastri Park, ISBT (Kashmere Gate), Tis Hazari, Pul Bangash, Pratap Nagar, Vivekanand Puri and Inder Lok (earlier Tri Nagar), Kanhiya Nagar, Kesahv Puram, Wazir Pur, Kohat Enclave, Pitam Pura, Rohini East, Rohini West, and Rithala. Another line between Vishwavidyalaya-Central Secretariat covering a distance of 11 kms is operational. There are 10 stations on Line II. They are Vishwavidyalaya, Vidhan Sabha, Civil Lines, Kashmere Gate, Delhi Main, Chawri Bazar, New Delhi, Rajiv Chowk, Patel Chowk and Central Secretariat. In addition, Line III is also operational between Barakhamba - Dwarka covering a distance of 22.79 km. There are 22 stations on Line III. They are Barakhamba, Rajiv Chowk, R.K. Ashram Marg, Jhandewalan, Karol Bagh, Rajendra Place, Patel Nagar, Shadipur, Kirti Nagar, Moti Nagar, Ramesh Nagar, Rajouri Garden, Tagore Garden, Subhash Nagar, Tilak Nagar, Janakpuri (East), Janakpuri (West), Uttam Nagar East, Uttam Nagar West, Nawada, Dwarka Mor, Dwarka. The extension of Delhi Metro Barakhamba Road-Dwarka line within the Dwarka sub-city in south-west Delhi also became operational from April 1. The new section has six stations in Dwarka. These are Sector 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14. The last station in the section is at Sector-9. With the addition of the new section, 6.5 km is added to the Delhi Metro network that is now covering over 62 km.

'Medha's health condition critical' (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: Former Prime Minister VP Singh has expressed his concern over the deteriorating health condition of Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) activist Medha Patkar, as she entered the seventh day of her hunger strike on Tuesday. Singh, who visited Patkar at the site of hunger-strike at Jantar Mantar in the heart of the capital this morning, demanded proper rehabilitation for people displaced by the Sardar Sarovar Dam that is being constructed by the Narmada Control Authority (NCA). NBA activists led by Medha Patkar have opposed the NCA's decision to raise the height of the dam, as they believe it would lead to the displacement of another 35,000 people, mostly tribals, from the Narmada Valley. Expressing solidarity with the agitators, Singh said he had talked to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh seeking his intervention to ensure that the displaced persons were rehabilitated properly.

      Environmentalists have over the years fiercely opposed the Sardar Sarovar dam project on the Narmada river saying that the fallout of displacing millions of people by the project far outweighs the benefits flowing from the dam. Estimates say at least 40,000 families have already been displaced in the reservoir area of the Sardar Sarovar dam and thousands more are in the wait. Meanwhile, thousands of tribals took to streets in Imphal on Monday to protest against the construction of a proposed dam on Barak River. Manipuri tribals say that the Tipaimukh project would render thousand of families homeless, as it would submerge over 60 villages in its vicinity. Government, however, asserts that the project is aimed at power generation on a very high scale.

Probe into wardrobe malfunction (Go To Top)

      Mumbai: The Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, RR Patil, has ordered an enquiry into the wardrobe malfunction incident at the Lakme Fashion Week held in Mumbai last week. The media is abuzz with news about the show. More than which designer was the best or which model was the most gorgeous, the news about the wardrobe malfunctions flooded the media. With mishaps taking place almost everyday of the fashion week, the show attracted attention for all the wrong reasons. Fashion shows to most people of the subcontinent are just a mere skin show, and the media got its share of spice. First, the TV cameras caught Carol Gracias with her top falling off half while displaying Bennu Sehgal's creations. Carol quickly pulled up her gold-and-green embroidered bustier, but the cameras had already recorded the embarrassing moment. Former Miss India finalist, Gauhar Khan, experienced a similar embarrassing moment when the zipper of her skirt came off, exposing her butt. She was also captured on MMS with her torso exposed. "There's no need to put a ban, but still why did the model's clothes fall on the ramp, whether it was an accident or done deliberately, this will be enquired into. If it's done deliberately, then strict legal action will be taken and a crime case will be registered against the designer and the organiser. First, we shall see the clippings of how the clothes fell, and then, if need be, a further inquiry will be done," said RR Patil, Deputy Chief Minister, Maharashtra. Though people are having a good time watching the embarrassing moments on their MMS clippings or on TVs, the fashion industry needs to act a little more responsibly to avoid such incidents in future.

Municipal councillor shot in Baramulla (Go To Top)

      Srinagar: Wali Mohammad Dar, a municipal councillor in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla District, was shot dead by militants this morning. Sources said that Dar was shot dead at point blank range in old Baramulla town 55 kms from Srinagar at around 10.30 a.m. Further details are awaited.

Doctors resent UK's new visa policy (Go To Top)

      London: Overseas doctors in the United Kingdom are in real trouble with the UK Government's new visa regulations coming into effect beginning this July. The UK Government has introduced new regulations effective from July 2006 curtailing all training arrangements for overseas doctors. Instead of Permit Free training, they will be required to have work permit for any post they apply. To protest against the new rules in a peaceful and democratic manner British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) is leading a march of International Medical Graduates (IMGs) here in front of the UK's Department of Health on April 21. Overseas doctors associations and the United Kingdom Association of International Doctors (UKAID) are also participating in the march. This march is being co-ordinated by Consultant Paediatrician from London Dr Satheesh Mathew. While, at present, doctors are enabled to train in Foundation Programmes, in Senior House Officer and equivalent grades and in Specialist Registrar and equivalent grades. For immigration purposes they are considered as being in training, and not in employment in the UK. As per the new regulation, this will no longer be the case. All these would now be considered as employment posts for immigration purposes. This means that these doctors will need to meet the requirements of an employment category of the Immigration Rules, such as the work permit provisions.

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