President Kalam arrives in Philippines
by Gaurav Srivastava

     Manila: Giving a boost to India's look-east policy, President A.P.J Abdul Kalam arrived in Philippines capital Manila today on a four-day state visit, the first by an Indian head of state to this country in 15 years. Kalam will be formally received by Filipino President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Saturday, after which the two leaders will have a one-to-one meeting on bilateral issues of common interest, including ways to enhance trade and investment between the two countries. Officials of both countries are expected to sign several agreements, including ones relating to the fields of tourism, health and medicine.

   Manila is looking forward to large Indian investment in its health and technology sectors. The important Memoranda of Agreement likely to be signed are on defense and tourism cooperation, abolition of the visa requirements, renewable energy, and on health. The Filipino Government is also keen to have military cooperation with India with a focus on joint naval exercises to fight the menace of Islamic-backed terrorism. Filipino president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo recently had unveiled a 365 million dollar plan to modernize the country's armed forces over the next decade and finds India as its potential supplier. Manila is seeking to equip its military in amore advanced manner to combat its fight against Maoist guerillas and growing terrorist activity in the region. Kalam is also scheduled to address a joint session of the Philippines Congress on Monday becoming the fourth head of the state to do so after U.S. President George Bush, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. Kalam will also visit the University of the Philippines, College of Nursing in Manila, the International Rice Research Institute in Los Baqos, Laguna, and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology in Quezon City. Philippines and India are both the members of the East Asia Summit and share a good amount of bilateral exchanges between them. The past one year has seen greater engagements between the two nations with the year starting well with the visit of former Filipino President Ramos to India. The Indian Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram and Chief Election Commissioner Mr. B.B. Tandon had also visited the Philippines this January.

Lalu Yadav shifts from CM's bungalow  (Go To Top)
by Ajay Kumar

     Patna: Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi moved out of the 1, Anne Marg, the official residence of the Chief Minister of Bihar on Thursday evening, after two months of procrastination and several legal notices to vacate the premises in the wake of the defeat of his wife Rabri Devi in last years Bihar Assembly elections. Bihar's Housing Department had first served a notice on former Chief Minister Rabri Devi on November 24, 2005 to vacate the house. Since then, several notices were served on her, but each time, the former First Couple of the state avoided shifting to their allotted house in the 10, Circular Road for one reason or the other. Lalu had also refused to shift to his new house on the ground that the renovation works were not completed in his new house. However, Lalu has now accepted the auspicious factor to be the motive behind his delay saying, "He had chosen this day to shift as Basant Panchami is celebrated according to Hindu calendar." NDA led coalition government in Bihar had earlier ordered the District Magistrate of Patna, B. Rajendra and the Senior Superintendent of Police, Kundan Krishnan to forcibly evict Lalu and his family from 1 Anne Marg. Apart from their luggage, the former first family of Bihar, had to make arrangements to shift around 50 cows to an alternate shelter. Lalu had said earlier that the new residence does not have ample space to accommodate the bovines and they will need a new shelter in Patna. In a humoristic mood Lalu told the reporters, "Everything has been shifted except for a few goats and cowdung." While leaving his former residence in which he had 15 years, Lalu turned nostalgic.

Communal tension in Dhar, curfew clamped  (Go To Top)

     Dhar (Madhya Pradesh): Curfew has been clamped in the communally sensitive Madhya Pradesh town of Dhar following clashes between the police and Hindu devotees at the disputed Bhojashala (Bhojshala) temple on Friday. Earlier in the day the police were forced to charge baton and fired tear gas shell to disperse the Hindu devotees who had gathered at the Bhojashala Temple on the occasion of annual "yagna" which takes place on Basant Panchami day every year. According to sources the Hindu devotees became angry when the administration allegedly stopped them to install a photograph of "Goddes Saraswati" inside the Bhojashala Temple premises. Hundreds of Hindu came out of the Bhojashala Temple premises with the Photograph of the "Goddes Saraswati" chanting slogans against the local administration. The police sources said that the situation in the town is tense but well in control.

   As per special order issued by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) this year, Hindus were allowed to perform Pujas today at the Bhojashala Temple (Bhojshala) premises from sunrise to 1230 pm and also from 0330 pm to sunset, while Muslims were allowed to offer Friday namaz at the same place from 1 pm to 3 pm. Normally on the occasion of Basant Panchami festival, Hindus offer prayers at the Bhojshala for the whole day, but in this year, Basant Panchmi has fallen on a Friday, giving rise to tense situation. Usually, Hindus pray at the site every Tuesday and Muslims offer namaz on Fridays. Bhojashala, an 11th century temple, which was later converted into a mosque by the Muslim rulers, has been constant source of tension in the city. And despite several rounds of negotiations with the leaders of both the communities, no agreement was reached on the request that Hindus be allowed exclusively to perform puja at the Bhojashala Temple on the festival. Elaborate security arrangements were made to deal with any eventuality, with nearly 4000 police personnel being deployed. An annual "yagna" takes place on Basant Panchami day, when Goddess Saraswathi is propitiated at the 11th-century edifice that is under the control of the Archaeological Survey of India, Oover the past decade, the town witnessed communal riots over the issue. On January 31, prohibitory orders were imposed. Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code will be in force until February 10. Arms licenses have been suspended and people told to deposit weapons at police stations. However the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan promised that his Government would respect the sentiments of both communities.

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