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Army
confirms Chinese intrusion in Ladakh
New Delhi:
Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor on Monday admitted that
there has been Chinese incursion in Ladakh in Jammu and
Kashmir. "There has been one intrusion of the Chinese helicopter
some time back," Gen Deepak Kapoor said. "The number of
intrusions that has taken place so far in 2009 are almost
the same that happened last year along both north and south
banks (of Pangong lake). They have been taken up at regular
border meets," Gen Kapoor added. Two Chinese helicopters
reportedly violated the Indian air space recently in Ladakh.
According to reports, the helicopters air-dropped some canned
food in a barren land at Chumar, northeast of Leh, along
the border on June 21. The MI series helicopters were reported
by residents living along the Pangong lake. The Chinese
People's Liberation Army has been crossing over into the
Indian side in this region quite frequently with August
reporting the maximum number of incursions. According to
reports, the Chinese Army had made 223 intrusions last year.
Army spokesperson Northern Command, Colonel Kachari, said,
"It has happened. That is confirmed. But there is nothing
alarming in it. I have given a written reply and that is
the correct version."
ISRO
to launch Mars mission by 2013 Top
New Delhi:
Indian Space research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G Madavan
Nair said on Monday that India would launch a mission to
Mars by 2013. The ISRO has begun the preparations for sending
a spacecraft to Mars. Earlier on Aug 13 the Union Government
sanctioned seed money of Rs 10 crore for Mars project, to
carry out various studies on experiments to be conducted,
route of the mission and other related details necessary
to scale the new frontier. On Sunday ISRO called off the
maiden lunar mission after Indian Deep Space Network at
Byalalu near Bangalore lost control over the Chndrayaan-I
spacecraft. Though Chandrayaan-I was slated to be a two-year
mission, Nair claimed that ISRO scientists have achieved
nearly 95% of Chandrayaan's scientific goals in less than
a year.
Nair said, "The
net result is that the lunar station has lost radio contact
with the craft and we are not receiving any signal. So we
had to terminate the mission with this sequence...we made
all attempts but our attempts were not succeed. About 95
percent of the objectives of the scientific experiments
have been completed and we have more than 70,000 images
of the moon, especially the most critical regions are in
our custody," he added. The 79-million dollar mission was
launched amid national euphoria last October, putting India
in the Asian space race alongside China. A probe vehicle
landed on the moon a month later and sent back images of
the lunar surface. But a critical sensor in the main craft,
orbiting the moon, malfunctioned in July, raising fears
that the two-year mission might have to be curtailed. One
of the mission's main aims was to look for Helium 3, an
isotope which is very rare on earth but could be an energy
source in the future in nuclear fusion. The ISRO has plans
to send a manned mission to space in four years' time and
eventually on to Mars.
Assembly
polls in Maharashtra, Haryana, Arunachal on Oct 13 Top
New Delhi:
Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday announced Electronic
Voting Machines will be used in all the three States-- Maharashtra,
Haryana, and Arunachal Pradesh -- that undergo elections
on October 13. The single-phased elections will be held
for total 438 State Assembly seats-- 288 (Maharashtra),
90 (Haryana), and 60 (Arunachal). Addressing a press conference,
Chief Election Commissioner Naveen Chawla said that the
three States of Maharashtra, Haryana, and Arunachal Pradesh
will undergo Assembly elections of October 13 and the counting
will be held on October 22. He added that "The decision
has been taken after considering the all the factors including
public holidays, academic calendar, climatic conditions,
time required to deployment of forces etc." The voting will
be done through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Use of
any religious place for election campaigning and seeking
votes on the basis of religion or Jaati will amount to violation
of code of conduct for elections, the CEC said. The notification
of the election would be issued on September 18, the last
day for filing of nomination will be September 25, scrutiny
of nomination will be held n September 26, and the last
day for withdrawing of nomination will be September 29.
The election process will complete on October 25. The Election
Commissioned also prohibited police personnel or officials
from being appointed in their home cities. Chawla said the
election Commission has decided to hold the election as
per the electoral roll prepared for the General elections
held in May. But still the commission has decided to hold
a special round of revision as per 1-1-2009. "No official
having a controversial record will be appointed during the
poll process," said the CEC. Over 7, 55,000 people in Arunachal
Pradesh, 1,20,63,000 in Haryana, and over 7,56,34,000 people
are registered in the electoral roles. The election commission
will set up 2,061 booths I Arunachal Pradesh, 12,894 in
Haryana and 82,028 booths in Maharashtra for the polling.
The Election Commission has also directed its all State
Election Boards to start help lines for public. There are
82,028 (Maharashtra), 12,894 (Haryana), and 2,061 (Arunachal
Pradesh) polling centres in the three states. The percentage
of people having voter identity cards in three States is
67 % (Maharashtra), 99% (Haryana), and 87 % (Arunachal Pradesh).
Chawla said a camera will be installed in each and every
polling booth and the CD will remain with the custody of
the District Election Officer (DEO). Any individual, who
would like to have a copy of the CD, can get the same from
the DEO by paying the prescribed fee. He also asked the
DEO to retain a master copy of the CD, so that it will help
the commission to produce the details in case of any writs
were filed in the court relating the election disputes.
India's
GDP records 6.1 pc growth in first quarter Top
New Delhi:
India managed a reasonable economic growth of 6.1 percent
during the first quarter of the current fiscal despite the
global financial crisis impacting manufacturing and services
sectors. Country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate
during April-June 2009 at 6.1 percent was higher than 5.8
percent in the previous quarter. India witnessed a 7.8 percent
economic expansion during the corresponding period of the
last fiscal. According to sources, mining and electricity
in industrial sector, and financing among services sector
posted higher growth of 7.9, 6.2 and 8.1 percent, respectively,
in the first quarter of this fiscal, against 4.6, 2.7 and
6.9 percent a year ago. Infrastructure development and community
services also managed to register a growth of 7.1 and 6.8
percent against 8.4 and 8.2 percent, in the last fiscal.
However, agriculture and manufacturing industry expanded
at a slower rate of 2.4 and 3.4 percent respectively. The
growth of hotels, trade, transport and communication was
significantly lower at 8.1 percent against 13 percent in
the last fiscal, sources said. Earlier, on Saturday speaking
in a function of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce
and Industry (FICCI) in Bangalore, Planning Commission Deputy
Chairman, Montek Singh Ahluwalia said drought situation
prevailing in the country might prevent from achieving seven
percent growth this year. "Seven percent growth rate this
year is unlikely. People are talking about six and six-and-a-half
percent growth, which we agree and I think is reasonable,"Ahluwalia
said. Ahluwalia expressed confidence that "The economy should
be able to rebounce by 2010. It would be normal in the 12th
Plan."
Australia
promises zero-tolerance for violence against Indians Top
New Delhi:
Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who
is on a five-day visit to India, on Monday assured that
zero-tolerance for violence against Indian students has
been adopted in Australia. Gillard, who is also Minister
for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, called
on her Indian counterpart Kapil Sibal here. "We also talked
about the concerns that there have been for Indian students
visiting our country and are there for the purpose of education.
I have advised Sibal that our local police have cracked
down. We have zero-tolerance for violence against Indian
students in Australia. We want Indian students in our country
to be safe and feel welcomed," Gillard told reporters. She
added that Australian institutes that are not providing
quality education to Indian students would be driven out
of business. "We are making sure that every provider of
education in Australia to Indian students is a quality provider.
We will go through a process of re-registering providers
and to those who aren't providing a quality education to
Indian students, we will make sure that they are driven
out of business and no longer they are providing education.
We want every provider to be a quality provider," said Gillard.
Gillard said that she is in the country to take its relationship
with India to the front rank of their international partnerships.
"Relationship between Australia and India is a very special
relationship for us. We want to ensure that we are building
on that good relationship today. We are building on a strategic
partnership for the future and education collaboration and
exchange will be an important part of that strategic partnership,"
said Gillard. Meanwhile, Union Human Resource Development
Minister Kapil Sibal said that Gillard has assured him that
the Indian students who were targeted by mobs a couple of
months ago in Australia would be taken care of. "They have
assured us that either they will be accommodated in another
educational institution to continue their studies or they
shall be compensated for the loss of money that has been
caused on account of the fact that education institutions
have been closed," said Sibal. Several Indian students have
been targeted in separate incidents over the past few months
that have sparked angry reactions among the Indian community
in Australia and in India itself.
Pirates
attack ship with Indian crew in Gulf Top
Manama (Bahrain):
A traditional wooden ship with Indian crew sailing from
the United Arab Emirates toward Bahrain was targeted by
the sea pirates in Persian Gulf waters on Friday late night.
The details of the attack started coming out only after
three day. According to sources the Bahraini dhow was intercepted
on Friday night by another ship with an armed crew. This
was the first act of piracy reported inside the Gulf since
the issue of piracy came to the forefront of international
attention off the Somali coast in recent years. The four
pirates threatened the six-man Indian crew with guns and
assaulted them before taking their cargo of fish and mobile
phones, sources added. The crew could not confirm the nationality
of the pirates. The Indian sailors were unharmed and were
released near Bahraini port on Sunday, sources said. In
recent months Somali pirates had expanded their operations
beyond the Somali coast and the Gulf of Aden reaching areas
as far as the east coast of Oman and the Arabian Sea. According
to the study of London-based International Maritime Bureau
(IMB), piracy attacks around the world were doubled in the
first six months of 2009. The IMB recorded 240 as compared
to 114 reported in the same period last year. In July the
US Navy 5th Fleet Command in Bahrain warned against increased
pirate activity off the Somali coast when the monsoon season
ends. The fleet had established a combined task force with
NATO and European Union forces in January to counter the
piracy activity in and around the Gulf of Aden, Red Sea,
Arabian Sea, and Somalia basin. Russia, China, and India
also sent warships to the area to help protect and convoy
vessels.
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