Kalpana Chawla's death anniversary observed

    New Delhi/Chandigarh: It was an atmosphere full of grief when several people gathered on Wednesday to pay their tribute to Kalpana Chawla, the Indian-American astronaut from Karnal, on her third death anniversary. She had died in the Columbia space shuttle tragedy in 2003. Kalpana was the first India-born crewmember of a U.S. space mission and the country's second astronaut after Rakesh Sharma, who visited space on a Soviet mission in 1984. A book was released on Kalpana's life and achievements during the memorial service. Her schoolteacher, Daljit Madan and students paid floral and poignant tributes. Since 1998 the International Space School Foundation at NASA has been inviting two students from Tagore Bal Niketan in Karnal, the alma mater of Kalpana Chawla, each year for the summer programme, which has 35 participants from all over the world. "I want to be an aeronautical engineer and Kalpana plays an important role in that as she has impressed me a lot, taught me a lot. She used to say 'Follow your dreams' and she was just like that," said Medhavi Salwan, a student in the memorial service at New Delhi by Rupa & Co, a publishing house. "Kalpana always said that she was not born in any corner of the world. The whole world is her native land. I just want to keep her alive in the whole universe. She is not dead, I would say," said Medhavi. "We felt that it was important for the United States embassy to be present at the memorial service for Kalpana Chawla. She represents the best of both of our nations. And what an example for Indians, Americans and women all over the world! So we wanted to be here to pay respect to the memory of Kalpana Chawla," said Robin D Diallo, the Secretary of Culture from the Embassy of the United States in New Delhi.

   Kalpana has come to stay as a role model for all the students. Her decision to take up aeronautical engineering was an unusual one in her times. But she has inspired her generation out to reach the stars. SC Sharma, her professor and head of the department of aeronautical engineering in Chandigarh remembers her and the contribution she made as a role model. "For the last two years girl students have been topping aeronautical engineering. Many girl students have joined the stream. Everybody, especially the parents say that their child has a desire to act, function, learn, and perform like Kalpana Chawla. When they enter my office they say that their daughter also desires to become Kalpana Chawla," says Sharma. 41-year-old Kalpana Chawla, a symbol of national pride, was one among the crew of seven aboard the Columbia when it broke up high over Texas as it was preparing for its descent. It was Chawla's second shuttle mission. She moved to the United States in 1983 and joined NASA in 1988.

Uma Bharati launches BJP (Rashtriya) party  (Go To Top)
by R.C.Sahu

   Bhopal: Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharati, who was ousted from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on charges of misconduct and indiscipline, on December 2, 2005, today announced the launch of her new party called the Bharatiya Janata Party (Rashtriya). According to sources close her, Bharati is expected to use her popularity as a mass base leader to topple the Madhya Pradesh Government headed by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan. "Only time will tell if she can succeed. But considering her popularity as a mass leader and hold over BJP Legislators, she is certainly in a position to give sleepless nights to BJP leaders in the state," a newspaper report quoted a senior leader, as saying.

   Bharati's decision to launch her own party comes after nearly two months of locking horns with senior BJP leaders, including former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajapyee and former BJP President L.K.Advani, whom she accused of compromising the BJP's ideology for the sake of power. Her constant diatribes against the BJP leadership over the past six months led to disciplinary action being taken against her in December last year. Her expulsion from the party prompted her into launching two successive yatras or movements to win public support to her cause and ideals Prior to this, Bharati has been a very senior leader of the BJP and a Cabinet Minister in the Government of Prime Minister Vajpayee. She held the following portfolios; Union minister of state for Human Resource Development (1998-99), Tourism (1999- 2000), Youth Affairs and Sports (2000-2002), Coal and Mines (2002-2003). In 2003, she led BJP to big win in MP state assembly elections and was elected from Bara Malehra and became state's first woman Chief Minister.

   Her political fortunes took a downturn in 2004, when she received a summons from a Karnataka Sessions Court over her decision to unfurl the tricolour at the disputed Idgah Maidan in Hubli. This led to her resignation as chief minister. Sources disclosed that Bharati has begun contacting disgruntled BJP leaders. Moreover, her supporters feel that Rajnath Singh's appointment as BJP chief would help her garner support in Uttar Pradesh as Kalyan Singh is uncomfortable with his rise and wil support Bharati. The BJP insiders revealed, that Bharati is likely to field former Union Minister Prahlad Patel who is her aide against Shivraj Singh Chauhan, who will contest to enter the State Assembly. Patel had given a tough fight to Union Minister Kamal Nath from Chhindwara in the last Lok Sabha poll. The BJP has 173 (Member of Legislative Assembly) MLAs. Bharati's litmus test will come true when she will have to field candidates in constituencies that will have Lok Sabha by-polls following the resignation of Congress and BJP Members of Parliament in the wake of cash-for-query scandal.

PM, Sonia launch employment scheme (Go To Top)

    Anantpur (Andhra Pradesh): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi today launched the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in Andhra Pradesh's Anantpur District, which aims to provide at least 100 days of local employment in a fiscal year to every rural household. Addressing the inaugural function, Sonia Gandhi, who is also the National Advisory Council (NAC) Chairperson, said "We have completed our promise. If Indira Gandhi would have been alive today, she would have been very happy at the achievement." She said that the scheme would give a legal right to the people of rural areas who are unemployed, so that they can earn their bread and butter. Stressing on the need for proper implementation of the scheme, Gandhi added, the implementation of the scheme is more important rather then their quality. The citizen can access to the progress in this regard through the Right to Information Act. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 was notified on September 7, 2005. The Act has been enacted for securing the livelihood of the people in rural areas by guaranteeing 100 days of employment in a financial year to a rural household. The formal launch would mark the notification on the NREGA with effect from February 2 in the districts selected for the first phase which include 23 in Bihar, 20 in Jharkhand, 13 in Andhra Pradesh, 7 in Assam, 11 in Chhattisgarh, 18 in Madhya Pradesh, 22 in Uttar Pradesh, 19 in Orissa and 12 in Maharashtra, and within four years the entire country will be covered.

    With the notification, rural households in these districts will have the right to register themselves with the local Gram Panchayat as persons interested in getting employment under the Act. A path-breaking law, guaranteeing employment to rural households, the NREGA provides a social safety net for vulnerable groups and an opportunity to combine growth with equity. The Gram Panchayat, after proper verification, will register households and issue job cards to registered households. The job card is the legal document that entitles a person to ask for work under the Act and to get work within 15 days of the demand for work, failing which Unemployment Allowance would be payable. The NREGA marks a paradigm shift from all earlier and existing wage employment programmes because it is an Act, not just a scheme. It provides a legal guarantee to work.

Singapore University to open Bangalore campus  (Go To Top)
by Gaurav Srivastava

    Singapore: An agreement between renowned National University of Singapore (NUS) and India's top science university Indian Institute of Science (IIS) was formalised on Wednesday in the presence of visiting Indian President A.P.J.Abdul Kalam. Kalam is on a three-nation tour of Singapore, Philippines and South Korea. The Memorandum of Understanding signed between both the institutes allows NUS to open a campus in India's southern Bangalore city. "It will be a college where we will send some graduate students to be interns in some high-tech companies. At the same time they'll take some courses at IIS (Indian institute of Science)," said Tan Chorn Chuan, Deputy President and Provost of NUS. A sizeable number of Indian students are studying in Singapore for various undergraduate and postgraduate courses. According to the MoU, NUS students will have a chance to work full-time there and soak in the vibrancy of entrepreneurship while studying part time in areas of science, technology and business. This is NUS's fifth overseas college.

    The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a leading university in the Asia-Pacific region. Acknowledged as one of the finest universities in the world, National University of Singapore (NUS) is a comprehensive university offering a broad- based curriculum underscored by multi-disciplinary courses and cross-faculty enrichment. NUS has 13 faculties, with an enrolment of more than 23,000 undergraduate and 8,000 graduate students as of August 2005. The University actively promotes innovation and entrepreneurship. NUS enjoys a close teaching-research nexus with 13 national- level, 12 university-level and more than 60 faculty-based research institutes and centres. The University is strongly committed to advancing knowledge and fostering innovation, educating students and nurturing talent in the service of country and society. Abu Jalwala, an Indian law student studying at NUS said the move would widen the prospects for students of both the countries. "I think we have a lot to learn from them and they have a lot to learn from us. So it would be excellent if there'll be a mutual movement of professionals and teachers," said Jalwala. India's top management school IIM Bangalore too is all set to set up a centre in Singapore. India's ties with Singapore date back to the founding of the city-state, when British colonial administrator Sir Stamford Raffles arrived to establish a trading outpost in 1819. Over the recent years, Singapore firms have increased their presence in India, the world's second-most-populous nation and Asia's fourth-largest economy. India and Singapore signed a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) in June last year, which is the largest trading partner in ASEAN with India, with a trade of 7.17 billion dollars. The CECA is an integrated package comprising a free trade agreement, a bilateral agreement on investment promotion and protection, an improved double taxation avoidance agreement and a work programme for cooperation in healthcare, education, media and tourism.

Back to Headlines                  Go To Top