Accra/United Nations: At least 69 people have been killed in bomb and gun attacks, blamed on an Islamist militant group, in two towns in Nigeria, the Red Cross said. The UN Security Council condemned it and and reiterated that "terrorism in all its forms and manifestations is criminal and unjustifiable".
The Nigerian Red Cross confirmed that at least 69 people were dead while unconfirmed sources say over 100 people were killed in the northern-eastern towns of Damaturu and Potiskum in Yobe State following bomb and gun attacks that have been blamed on the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram. "Boko Haram had told some media organisations early Friday of its intention to bomb several targets across the country. They followed up their threats with bombs that hit several targets, including churches and the headquarters of the Yobe State police," Nuhu Audu, an aid worker in Abuja told IANS on phone.
Audu said: "The total number of dead would not be known for days because conflicting figures (are) being churned out. Some people claim they counted over 100 dead bodies." He said there had been media reports that "some disturbances erupted on Friday night in Kurmi Bi village...one person was shot dead and another seriously injured by unknown gunmen in another attack behind the palace of the traditional ruler of the area, Agwam Bajju."
Boko Haram wants strict Shariah law across Nigeria, which has a majority Christian population in the South. The group also believes that Western education is not in tune with the teachings of Islam.
In August, the group bombed the UN headquarters in Nigeria, and has claimed responsibility for similar attacks in the northern states of the country in the past. Concerned about the attacks, President Goodluck Jonathan cancelled a trip Saturday to his home state of Bayelsa to attend his younger brother's wedding, his spokesman Reuben Abati said.
Abati said the presidency did not consider those who launched the attacks "true Muslims as the assault came during a holy period". Security has been beefed up in capital Abuja.
"...You know what has been happening in the North. The multiple attacks on Friday night won't be treated with kids' gloves. We have to be proactive. Yes, Abuja's security is going to be water tight as from today (Sunday)," the Punch newspaper quoted Federal Capital commissioner of Police Alhaji Suleiman Lawal as saying. The UN Security Council condemned the bomb attacks in northern Nigeria and said "terrorism in all its forms and manifestations is criminal and unjustifiable".
The condemnation was contained in a statement issued Saturday by Jose Filipe Moraes Cabral, Portugal's UN ambassador who holds the rotating Security Council presidency for November.
"The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the terrorist attacks that occurred in Damaturu and Potiskum, Nigeria, on Nov 4, 2011, causing numerous deaths and injuries," the statement said. "The members of the Security Council expressed their deep sympathy and condolences to the victims of these heinous crimes and their families, and to the people and government of Nigeria," the statement said.
"The members of the Security Council reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations is criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of its motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed and should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group," the UN Security Council said in the statement. "The members of the Security Council reaffirmed the need to combat by all means, in accordance with the charter of the United Nations, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts," it added.
Also on Saturday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the bomb attacks, reiterating his firm conviction "that no objective sought can justify this resort to violence".
Sunday 6 November 2011
Bengal doctor drunk on duty, Mamata promises action
KOLKATA: Callous behaviour of health employees continues to embarrass the state government. On Sunday morning, a doctor on duty was found to be attending patients in an inebriated condition at Baghajatin State General Hospital.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee reacted sharply to the incident, condemning the act and promising drastic action. An FIR has been lodged against the doctor at Patuli police station. A departmental probe was also instituted.
Incidentally, Mamata had made a surprise visit to this very hospital days after taking charge and promised sweeping changes. It has been five months since then.
On Sunday morning, patients at the emergency ward found doctor Prabir Kumar Ghosh (59) speaking incoherently. He looked ill and his breath reeked of alcohol.
Samar Ray, a patient suffering from knee pain, realized the doctor was drunk. Shocked, he told other patients and lodged a complaint with the hospital authorities. As the news spread, locals stormed into the hospital and demanded immediate action.
Drunk doctor confesses: Baghajatin State General Hospital doctor Prabir Kumar Ghosh was subjected to blood and urine tests at MR Bangur hospital after being found drunk on duty.
Ghosh claimed he had been treating patients with care since morning and there had been no negligence on his part. He confessed to having had alcohol and explained it was to get rid of joint pain.
After learning about the incident, Mamata Banerjee said: "The doctor looked unfit to treat patient. He does not look normal. He should be punished." She later termed the doctor's behaviour and aberration.
"If I sack the doctor, it will be difficult to find a replacement. In many hospitals, there is shortage of doctors. We want to adopt the public-private partnership model to improve health infrastructure," she said.
"But there was no system of punishing doctors and health staff for negligence. Often, health staff is reluctant to treat patients and misbehave. This will not be tolerated," she added.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee reacted sharply to the incident, condemning the act and promising drastic action. An FIR has been lodged against the doctor at Patuli police station. A departmental probe was also instituted.
Incidentally, Mamata had made a surprise visit to this very hospital days after taking charge and promised sweeping changes. It has been five months since then.
On Sunday morning, patients at the emergency ward found doctor Prabir Kumar Ghosh (59) speaking incoherently. He looked ill and his breath reeked of alcohol.
Samar Ray, a patient suffering from knee pain, realized the doctor was drunk. Shocked, he told other patients and lodged a complaint with the hospital authorities. As the news spread, locals stormed into the hospital and demanded immediate action.
Drunk doctor confesses: Baghajatin State General Hospital doctor Prabir Kumar Ghosh was subjected to blood and urine tests at MR Bangur hospital after being found drunk on duty.
Ghosh claimed he had been treating patients with care since morning and there had been no negligence on his part. He confessed to having had alcohol and explained it was to get rid of joint pain.
After learning about the incident, Mamata Banerjee said: "The doctor looked unfit to treat patient. He does not look normal. He should be punished." She later termed the doctor's behaviour and aberration.
"If I sack the doctor, it will be difficult to find a replacement. In many hospitals, there is shortage of doctors. We want to adopt the public-private partnership model to improve health infrastructure," she said.
"But there was no system of punishing doctors and health staff for negligence. Often, health staff is reluctant to treat patients and misbehave. This will not be tolerated," she added.
Friday 4 November 2011
PM returns, to face political storm over fuel price hike
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reached home on Saturday amid a political crisis after Trinamool Congress boss Mamata Banerjee threatened to withdraw support following Thursday's petrol price hike. The Prime Minister attended the crucial two-day G-20 summit in Cannes, which asked tax havens to adopt prudential norms for sharing of information to check money laundering and terror funding.
Banerjee held a parliamentary party meeting on Friday in Kolkata and announced that she wanted to withdraw from the central government and her decision would be conveyed to the Prime Minister after he returned from the Group of 20 meeting in Cannes, France.
But Singh defended the price hike in a statement in Cannes, pre-empting Banerjee.
“We must move in the direction of decontrolling more prices. I have no hesitation in saying that markets must find their own levels.”
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, too, said in Delhi that while prices of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas were controlled by the government, petrol was a de-controlled item.
A large section of the Congress saw Banerjee’s threat more as political posturing with an eye on her home audience, but the party did not want to take a chance and urged the government to “look into the matter very seriously”.
The reason: Other UPA allies, such as the DMK, NCP and National Conference, joined the anti-Centre chorus on Friday, sending an already jittery Congress scurrying for cover.
But party spokesperson Abhishek Singvhi said, “We are not here to fetter the jurisdiction and work of the government… we leave it to the discretion of the government to decide these steps.”
Once during the NDA regime, Banerjee actually went ahead and withdrew support in 2001, following a sting operation showing then party chief Bangaru Laxman accepting a bribe, but joined back in 2003.
Earlier in Kolkata, Banerjee said, “Petro prices were raised 11 times in the past 12 months. Never have we been consulted before the decisions that put common people in great distress.”
She called up rural development minister Jairam Ramesh around 9.30pm on Thursday to express her dissatisfaction. She also talked to commerce minister Anand Sharma in Kolkata on Friday morning.
According to Trinamool sources, Banerjee complained that the finance ministry had not only failed to control inflation, but had also allowed the situation to slip farther. She was also upset about the allies being kept in the dark on the price hike issue
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Banerjee held a parliamentary party meeting on Friday in Kolkata and announced that she wanted to withdraw from the central government and her decision would be conveyed to the Prime Minister after he returned from the Group of 20 meeting in Cannes, France.
But Singh defended the price hike in a statement in Cannes, pre-empting Banerjee.
“We must move in the direction of decontrolling more prices. I have no hesitation in saying that markets must find their own levels.”
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, too, said in Delhi that while prices of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas were controlled by the government, petrol was a de-controlled item.
A large section of the Congress saw Banerjee’s threat more as political posturing with an eye on her home audience, but the party did not want to take a chance and urged the government to “look into the matter very seriously”.
The reason: Other UPA allies, such as the DMK, NCP and National Conference, joined the anti-Centre chorus on Friday, sending an already jittery Congress scurrying for cover.
But party spokesperson Abhishek Singvhi said, “We are not here to fetter the jurisdiction and work of the government… we leave it to the discretion of the government to decide these steps.”
Once during the NDA regime, Banerjee actually went ahead and withdrew support in 2001, following a sting operation showing then party chief Bangaru Laxman accepting a bribe, but joined back in 2003.
Earlier in Kolkata, Banerjee said, “Petro prices were raised 11 times in the past 12 months. Never have we been consulted before the decisions that put common people in great distress.”
She called up rural development minister Jairam Ramesh around 9.30pm on Thursday to express her dissatisfaction. She also talked to commerce minister Anand Sharma in Kolkata on Friday morning.
According to Trinamool sources, Banerjee complained that the finance ministry had not only failed to control inflation, but had also allowed the situation to slip farther. She was also upset about the allies being kept in the dark on the price hike issue
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Thursday 3 November 2011
Hazare visits Rajghat, breaks his ‘maun vrat’
Social activist Anna Hazare on Friday broke his 19-day ’vow of silence’, saying it was not against any person or party but in the interest of his own health.
The 74-year-old Mr. Hazare broke his ‘maun vrat’ at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial Rajghat at around 7 am, saying ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ He was observing the vow of silence since October 16.
Mr. Hazare, who had reached Delhi on Thursday night to attend a meeting of the Standing Committee on Lokpal Bill, said, “My vow of silence was not against any person or party. After 12-day hunger strike at Ram Lila Maidan, my health weakened. So, there was no other way then ‘maun’ which Mahatma Gandhi has shown us. So when such a situation comes you should do maun.
“After maun my situation has improved. BP and weight is normal. We have to fight for Lokpal and corruption. I have regained new strength to fight. I am ready to fight,” he said.
Mr. Hazare had started his ‘maun vrat’ at his native village in Maharashtra for ‘atma shanti’ (peace of soul).
Team Anna had got engulfed in a series of controversies including financial misconduct, during Mr. Hazare’s 19-day ‘maun vrat’
He had last week held a meeting with prominent members in Ralegan Siddhi during which it was decided that the anti-corruption movement will have a constitution and its core members will have to adhere to certain norms.
Mr. Hazare had threatened to launch another hunger strike if a strong Lokpal Bill is not passed in Parliament’s Winter Session.
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Wednesday 2 November 2011
Pakistan gives India MFN status
Islamabad/New Delhi: Pakistan Wednesday granted the "Most Favoured Nation" (MFN) status to India, reciprocating a 15-year-old gesture. India Inc said the decision will push up trade sharply.
India had given Pakistan the MFN status in 1996 but Islamabad did not respond positively. Ties between the two countries deteriorated after the Mumbai terror attack in 2008 for which Pakistan was blamed.
Wednesday's decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. It said the move would help expand bilateral trade relations, Xinhua reported.
Hailing the decision, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) said the MFN status would have an exponential effect on growth of bilateral trade.
"It is a big moment which will not only double bilateral trade immediately but also put back life into the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA)," Rajiv Kumar, secretary general of FICCI, told IANS.
"Now trade which was being conducted via Dubai can take place openly. This would immediately reflect in the books," Kumar added.
India-Pakistan trade was logged at $2.5 billion in 2010-11 and the two countries are targetting to double this in the next five years.
When a country grants a foreign territory the MFN status, it signifies that import barriers would be lowered and import quotas raised for goods originating from that country.
Pakistan would now loosen import restrictions from India. At present, Islamabad allows import of only 1,946 items from New Delhi. India does not permit trade in 850 items with Pakistan.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) claimed that Pakistan's decision would send trade soaring and reach a volume of $8 billion in less than five years.
"The MFN status will substantially reduce illegal and third country trade with the potential of raising official bilateral trade to $8 billion in less than five years," said Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General of CII.
"However, road blocks like stringent visa rules, difficulty in communication and opening of more trade routes still need to be addressed. As a next step, it is imperative to look at allowing bilateral investments to further strengthening economic cooperation and enhancing people to people contacts," added Banerjee.
The Pakistani government had hinted at granting the MFN status to India during the visit of its Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim in September.
The Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association welcomed the decision, saying this would help Pakistan gain a foothold in one of the fastest growing markets in the world.
But the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association said Pakistan should be cautious as both countries were rivals in the automobile industry.
There has been opposition from several quarters in Pakistan to granting MFN status to India over fears that its domestic market would be flooded by Indian imports.
"There are fears that Indian goods will swamp the Pakistani market but these are uncalled for. In my interaction with Pakistani businessmen they show confidence that they can hold up on their own. Also, the Pakistanis will have access to the much larger Indian market," said FICCI's Kumar.
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Sunday 30 October 2011
Indian GP: Vettel is historic first winner!
Greater Noida, (AFP): Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel admitted he had "mixed emotions" about his emphatic Indian Grand Prix victory on Sunday after two tragic deaths left motorsports in mourning.
India's Formula One debut started with a solemn minute's silence, and several drivers wore tributes to IndyCar's Dan Wheldon and MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli, who both died in races this month.
Vettel took time out from his celebrations to remember the two, whose deaths gave drivers a stark reminder of the risks involved in their sport. "For everyone who is a fan of motorsports it's been a hard time we had to go through," he said.
"On one hand I'm very happy and proud... but on the other hand you have to pay a certain respect to those two guys who lost their lives and our thoughts are with them, especially with their families. We should never forget those two very young, committed race drivers."
McLaren's Jenson Button, a rival of Wheldon's from the age of eight when they were both racing go-karts, dedicated the event to the memory of the two racers. "It's been a tough weekend for everyone in motorsport," said the Briton, who wore a black armband. "It's been very, very difficult especially with Dan."
"I think we should dedicate this first Indian race to Dan and also to Marco, another super-talented youngster who was the most amazing guy to watch on a bike."
Wheldon died in a fiery, multi-car pile-up on October 16, before Simoncelli veered into the path of two rivals at Malaysia's Sepang circuit a week later.
"You pray that every time nothing happens but sometimes you get reminded, and it's the last thing you want to see," Vettel said. "It's a bit mixed emotions and our thoughts are with them at this moment."
Vettel, who has already sealed the championship, won his 11th victory of the season with Button second and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso third.
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Thursday 20 October 2011
Gaddafi was 'killed in crossfire'
Libya's Col Muammar Gaddafi was killed in crossfire after being captured in his birthplace of Sirte, officials say.
Acting Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril said he had been shot in the head in an exchange between Gaddafi loyalists and National Transitional Council fighters.
He confirmed that Col Gaddafi, who had been taken alive, had died before reaching hospital.
Nato's governing body, meeting in the coming hours, is expected to declare an end to its Libyan bombing campaign.
Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that with the death of Col Gaddafi "that moment has now moved much closer".
"After 42 years, Col Gaddafi's rule of fear has finally come to an end," he said. "I call on all Libyans to put aside their differences and work together to build a brighter future."
Wild scenes of celebration continued late into the night in towns and cities across Libya at news of the colonel's death.
Groups of young men fired guns in the air, and drivers honked their horns in celebration.
In the capital, Tripoli, cars clogged the city centre.
Golden gun
Mr Jibril, number two in the National Transitional Council (NTC), held a news conference in Tripoli to confirm the colonel's death.
"We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Muammar Gaddafi has been killed," he said.
Video footage suggests Col Gaddafi was dragged through the streets.
Continue reading the main story
At the scene
Rana Jawad
BBC News, Tripoli
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Residents swarmed the streets of the capital, waving flags and cheering from the windows of their cars.
Tripoli's myriad of streets in various districts has been gridlocked for hours.
People and fighters manning checkpoints shouted out "God is Great", as some distributed mints and biscuits - later dubbed "revolutionary treats" - to passing cars.
There are many who will be wondering "what next?" for Libya as it embarks on a new era unobtainable for almost half a century.
But for many Libyans tonight, it is a time to rejoice.
Wild celebrations across Tripoli
It is unclear from the footage, broadcast by al-Jazeera TV, whether he was alive or dead at the time.
Later, Mr Jibril told journalists that a "forensic report" had concluded that the colonel had died from bullet wounds after he had been captured and driven away.
"When the car was moving it was caught in crossfire between the revolutionaries and Gaddafi forces in which he was hit by a bullet in the head," he said, quoting from the report.
"The forensic doctor could not tell if it came from the revolutionaries or from Gaddafi's forces."
Earlier, some NTC fighters gave a different account of the colonel's death, saying he had been shot by his captors when he tried to escape.
One NTC fighter told the BBC that he found Col Gaddafi hiding in a hole, and the former leader had begged him not to shoot.
The fighter showed reporters a golden pistol he said he had taken from Col Gaddafi.
Arabic TV channels showed images of troops surrounding two large drainage pipes where the reporters said Col Gaddafi was found.
US President Barack Obama said it was a "momentous day" for Libya, now that tyranny had fallen.
He said the country had a "long and winding road towards full democracy", but the US and other countries would stand behind Tripoli.
Col Gaddafi was toppled from power in August after 42 years in charge of the country.
He was making his last stand in Sirte alongside two of his sons, Mutassim and Saif al-Islam, according to reports.
Nato air strike
A body officials identified as that of Mutassim has been shown on Libyan TV.
A reporter for the Reuters news agency described how the body of Mutassim -- the former national security adviser -- had been laid out on blankets on the floor of a house in the city of Misrata, while local people jostled to take pictures of the corpse with their mobile phones.
The body of Col Gaddafi was also taken to Misrata.
There are conflicting reports as to the whereabouts of Saif al-Islam.
Acting Justice Minister Mohammad al-Alagi told the AP news agency Saif al-Islam had been captured and taken to hospital with a leg wound.
But another NTC official said his whereabouts were unknown.
Nato, which has been running a bombing campaign in Libya for months, said it had carried out an air strike earlier on Thursday.
French Defence Minister Gerard Longuet said French jets had fired warning shots to halt a convoy carrying Col Gaddafi as it tried to flee Sirte.
He said Libyan fighters had then descended and taken the colonel.
Proof of Col Gaddafi's fate came in grainy pieces of video, first circulated among fighters, and then broadcast by international news channels.
The first images showed a bloodied figure presumed to be Col Gaddafi.
Later, video emerged of the colonel being bundled on to the back of a pick-up truck after being captured alive.
None of the video footage has been independently verified
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Acting Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril said he had been shot in the head in an exchange between Gaddafi loyalists and National Transitional Council fighters.
He confirmed that Col Gaddafi, who had been taken alive, had died before reaching hospital.
Nato's governing body, meeting in the coming hours, is expected to declare an end to its Libyan bombing campaign.
Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that with the death of Col Gaddafi "that moment has now moved much closer".
"After 42 years, Col Gaddafi's rule of fear has finally come to an end," he said. "I call on all Libyans to put aside their differences and work together to build a brighter future."
Wild scenes of celebration continued late into the night in towns and cities across Libya at news of the colonel's death.
Groups of young men fired guns in the air, and drivers honked their horns in celebration.
In the capital, Tripoli, cars clogged the city centre.
Golden gun
Mr Jibril, number two in the National Transitional Council (NTC), held a news conference in Tripoli to confirm the colonel's death.
"We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Muammar Gaddafi has been killed," he said.
Video footage suggests Col Gaddafi was dragged through the streets.
Continue reading the main story
At the scene
Rana Jawad
BBC News, Tripoli
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Residents swarmed the streets of the capital, waving flags and cheering from the windows of their cars.
Tripoli's myriad of streets in various districts has been gridlocked for hours.
People and fighters manning checkpoints shouted out "God is Great", as some distributed mints and biscuits - later dubbed "revolutionary treats" - to passing cars.
There are many who will be wondering "what next?" for Libya as it embarks on a new era unobtainable for almost half a century.
But for many Libyans tonight, it is a time to rejoice.
Wild celebrations across Tripoli
It is unclear from the footage, broadcast by al-Jazeera TV, whether he was alive or dead at the time.
Later, Mr Jibril told journalists that a "forensic report" had concluded that the colonel had died from bullet wounds after he had been captured and driven away.
"When the car was moving it was caught in crossfire between the revolutionaries and Gaddafi forces in which he was hit by a bullet in the head," he said, quoting from the report.
"The forensic doctor could not tell if it came from the revolutionaries or from Gaddafi's forces."
Earlier, some NTC fighters gave a different account of the colonel's death, saying he had been shot by his captors when he tried to escape.
One NTC fighter told the BBC that he found Col Gaddafi hiding in a hole, and the former leader had begged him not to shoot.
The fighter showed reporters a golden pistol he said he had taken from Col Gaddafi.
Arabic TV channels showed images of troops surrounding two large drainage pipes where the reporters said Col Gaddafi was found.
US President Barack Obama said it was a "momentous day" for Libya, now that tyranny had fallen.
He said the country had a "long and winding road towards full democracy", but the US and other countries would stand behind Tripoli.
Col Gaddafi was toppled from power in August after 42 years in charge of the country.
He was making his last stand in Sirte alongside two of his sons, Mutassim and Saif al-Islam, according to reports.
Nato air strike
A body officials identified as that of Mutassim has been shown on Libyan TV.
A reporter for the Reuters news agency described how the body of Mutassim -- the former national security adviser -- had been laid out on blankets on the floor of a house in the city of Misrata, while local people jostled to take pictures of the corpse with their mobile phones.
The body of Col Gaddafi was also taken to Misrata.
There are conflicting reports as to the whereabouts of Saif al-Islam.
Acting Justice Minister Mohammad al-Alagi told the AP news agency Saif al-Islam had been captured and taken to hospital with a leg wound.
But another NTC official said his whereabouts were unknown.
Nato, which has been running a bombing campaign in Libya for months, said it had carried out an air strike earlier on Thursday.
French Defence Minister Gerard Longuet said French jets had fired warning shots to halt a convoy carrying Col Gaddafi as it tried to flee Sirte.
He said Libyan fighters had then descended and taken the colonel.
Proof of Col Gaddafi's fate came in grainy pieces of video, first circulated among fighters, and then broadcast by international news channels.
The first images showed a bloodied figure presumed to be Col Gaddafi.
Later, video emerged of the colonel being bundled on to the back of a pick-up truck after being captured alive.
None of the video footage has been independently verified
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Sunday 16 October 2011
Hillary Clinton :Learn from India, put economics in foreign policy
New York, Oct 15 (IANS) The United States should take a cue from the leaders of emerging powers like India and Brazil who put economics at the centre of their foreign policies, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged policymakers.
'When their leaders approach a foreign policy challenge -- just as when they approach a domestic challenge -- one of the first questions they ask is, 'how will this affect our economic growth?'' she told the Economic Club of New York Friday in what was billed as a major economics and foreign policy speech.
'We need to be asking the same question -- not because the answer will dictate our foreign policy choices, but because it must be a significant part of the equation,' she said declaring she is updating US foreign policy priorities to include economics 'every step of the way.'
The United States must position itself to lead in a world 'where security is shaped in boardrooms and on trading floors -- as well as on battlefields,' Clinton said noting 'We have seen governments toppled by economic crisis.'
The United States is 'modernising (its) agenda on trade, investment and commercial diplomacy to deliver jobs and growth for the American people,' she said. But Washington cannot compete if it is frozen in domestic political fights.
'Washington has to end the culture of political brinksmanship -- which, I can tell you, is raising questions around the world about our leadership.'
Asked how corporate strength could be used to benefit the creation of jobs and enhance economic growth in the United States, Clinton acknowledged 'It's not as though American companies go invest in China or India or Brazil and there's no benefit back home. there is.'
'But the quality of the benefit, the amount of the benefit, and the durability of the benefit depend upon decisions we make here as to how we think about our competitive stance in this new challenging environment.'
The world's 'strategic and economic centre of gravity is shifting east', she said and the United States is now focusing more on the Asia-Pacific region.
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'When their leaders approach a foreign policy challenge -- just as when they approach a domestic challenge -- one of the first questions they ask is, 'how will this affect our economic growth?'' she told the Economic Club of New York Friday in what was billed as a major economics and foreign policy speech.
'We need to be asking the same question -- not because the answer will dictate our foreign policy choices, but because it must be a significant part of the equation,' she said declaring she is updating US foreign policy priorities to include economics 'every step of the way.'
The United States must position itself to lead in a world 'where security is shaped in boardrooms and on trading floors -- as well as on battlefields,' Clinton said noting 'We have seen governments toppled by economic crisis.'
The United States is 'modernising (its) agenda on trade, investment and commercial diplomacy to deliver jobs and growth for the American people,' she said. But Washington cannot compete if it is frozen in domestic political fights.
'Washington has to end the culture of political brinksmanship -- which, I can tell you, is raising questions around the world about our leadership.'
Asked how corporate strength could be used to benefit the creation of jobs and enhance economic growth in the United States, Clinton acknowledged 'It's not as though American companies go invest in China or India or Brazil and there's no benefit back home. there is.'
'But the quality of the benefit, the amount of the benefit, and the durability of the benefit depend upon decisions we make here as to how we think about our competitive stance in this new challenging environment.'
The world's 'strategic and economic centre of gravity is shifting east', she said and the United States is now focusing more on the Asia-Pacific region.
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Telangana shutdown Monday, rail blockade cut short
Train services were disrupted for the second consecutive day across Telangana but the JAC decided to cut short the blockade.
After a meeting of JAC steering committee, its leader M. Kodandaram told reports Sunday night that there would be no "rail blockade" Monday but appealed to people to make the shutdown a success.
Following the JAC's decision, the railway officials said train services would be restored in the region from Monday. However, MMTS or local train services in Hyderabad were cancelled in view of the shutdown.
Kodandaram said the shutdown was to protest "police excesses" during "rail roko", large-scale arrests and implicating the protesters in false cases.
He claimed that despite the government's "high-handed attitude and misuse of power" to suppress the protest, the "rail blockade" was a success. He alleged that police showed utter disregard to all directives of the Supreme Court and kept women protesters in the police stations.
"There were more policemen than passengers in some trains forcibly run by the railways," he said
Unlike the first day of "rail blockade" when largescale arrests were made, there were only sporadic protests in the region, which comprises 10 districts including Hyderabad.
Director General of Police S.A. Huda said 715 protesters were arrested on the second day of the blockade. Police booked 54 cases against the protesters. More cases under Railway Act were booked against Kodandaram at two police stations in Hyderabad.
As many as 126 trains remained cancelled for the second day though the authorities operated 20 trains as scheduled and restored a couple of trains cancelled earlier.
Monday's shutdown is likely to hit normal life in the region even as buses returned on the roads Sunday after nearly after a month.
Auto rickshaw drivers have also decided to go on 24-hour strike from Sunday midnight.
Acting tough, the police Saturday arrested over 3,000 people including 10 MPs and several legislators for participating in rail blockade.
Congress MPs Ponnam Prabhakar and S. Rajaiah were sent to judicial custody in Karimnagar and Warangal districts.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MP Vijayshanti, who was also sent to jail Sunday morning, was later released on bail by a railway court in Secunderabad.
TRS legislators Harish Rao and E. Rajender and dozens of others were also sent to judicial custody.
Following appeals from parents of students, the government teachers Sunday decided to call off their strike. Telangana teachers' Joint Action Committee said the teachers would resume classes Tuesday.
The teachers, however, would not sign in the register and would not take salaries as a mark of protest over the delay in formation of a separate Telangana state.
Over 120,000 teachers in Telangana were on strike for a month as part of the "people's strike" called by Telangana JAC.
The teachers of private schools also decided to resume their duties. The private schools and colleges also decided to re-open from Tuesday.
The decision came after the government threatened to de-recognize those who failed to do so. School Education Minister K. Partha Sarathi said that the government would wait till Tuesday in view of the shutdown.
As many as 10,000 buses of state-owned Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corp (APSRTC) returned to the roads of the Telangana region after 28 days.
All 60,000 employees returned to work here and in nine other districts of the region following the Saturday night decision by their leaders to defer the strike.
The decision brought immense relief to those who travel on buses. There had been virtually no public transport for 28 long days in the sprawling region.
According to APSRTC, the strike caused a daily loss of Rs.7 crore.
Government employees, teachers and workers of state-owned Singareni Collieries are on strike for the last 34 days.
Coal production was badly hit in Singareni, impacting power generation and supply in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Though JAC said only APSRTC was exempted from the strike, the decision of the teachers appear to have come as a blow to the movement.
The management of Singareni is also scheduled to hold talks with striking coal workers Monday. The government is hoping that its employees and Singareni employees would also end their strike soon.
JAC, which comprises groups fighting for separate statehood, now plans to target ministers and legislators, especially those belonging to the ruling Congress, for not quitting to press the demand for separate state.
JAC is also expected to soon finalise the date for a march to Hyderabad to keep the movement alive.
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After a meeting of JAC steering committee, its leader M. Kodandaram told reports Sunday night that there would be no "rail blockade" Monday but appealed to people to make the shutdown a success.
Following the JAC's decision, the railway officials said train services would be restored in the region from Monday. However, MMTS or local train services in Hyderabad were cancelled in view of the shutdown.
Kodandaram said the shutdown was to protest "police excesses" during "rail roko", large-scale arrests and implicating the protesters in false cases.
He claimed that despite the government's "high-handed attitude and misuse of power" to suppress the protest, the "rail blockade" was a success. He alleged that police showed utter disregard to all directives of the Supreme Court and kept women protesters in the police stations.
"There were more policemen than passengers in some trains forcibly run by the railways," he said
Unlike the first day of "rail blockade" when largescale arrests were made, there were only sporadic protests in the region, which comprises 10 districts including Hyderabad.
Director General of Police S.A. Huda said 715 protesters were arrested on the second day of the blockade. Police booked 54 cases against the protesters. More cases under Railway Act were booked against Kodandaram at two police stations in Hyderabad.
As many as 126 trains remained cancelled for the second day though the authorities operated 20 trains as scheduled and restored a couple of trains cancelled earlier.
Monday's shutdown is likely to hit normal life in the region even as buses returned on the roads Sunday after nearly after a month.
Auto rickshaw drivers have also decided to go on 24-hour strike from Sunday midnight.
Acting tough, the police Saturday arrested over 3,000 people including 10 MPs and several legislators for participating in rail blockade.
Congress MPs Ponnam Prabhakar and S. Rajaiah were sent to judicial custody in Karimnagar and Warangal districts.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MP Vijayshanti, who was also sent to jail Sunday morning, was later released on bail by a railway court in Secunderabad.
TRS legislators Harish Rao and E. Rajender and dozens of others were also sent to judicial custody.
Following appeals from parents of students, the government teachers Sunday decided to call off their strike. Telangana teachers' Joint Action Committee said the teachers would resume classes Tuesday.
The teachers, however, would not sign in the register and would not take salaries as a mark of protest over the delay in formation of a separate Telangana state.
Over 120,000 teachers in Telangana were on strike for a month as part of the "people's strike" called by Telangana JAC.
The teachers of private schools also decided to resume their duties. The private schools and colleges also decided to re-open from Tuesday.
The decision came after the government threatened to de-recognize those who failed to do so. School Education Minister K. Partha Sarathi said that the government would wait till Tuesday in view of the shutdown.
As many as 10,000 buses of state-owned Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corp (APSRTC) returned to the roads of the Telangana region after 28 days.
All 60,000 employees returned to work here and in nine other districts of the region following the Saturday night decision by their leaders to defer the strike.
The decision brought immense relief to those who travel on buses. There had been virtually no public transport for 28 long days in the sprawling region.
According to APSRTC, the strike caused a daily loss of Rs.7 crore.
Government employees, teachers and workers of state-owned Singareni Collieries are on strike for the last 34 days.
Coal production was badly hit in Singareni, impacting power generation and supply in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Though JAC said only APSRTC was exempted from the strike, the decision of the teachers appear to have come as a blow to the movement.
The management of Singareni is also scheduled to hold talks with striking coal workers Monday. The government is hoping that its employees and Singareni employees would also end their strike soon.
JAC, which comprises groups fighting for separate statehood, now plans to target ministers and legislators, especially those belonging to the ruling Congress, for not quitting to press the demand for separate state.
JAC is also expected to soon finalise the date for a march to Hyderabad to keep the movement alive.
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Friday 14 October 2011
Rail roko in Telangana begins, KCR's son, daughter in detained
Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K Chandrasekhar Rao's son KT Rama Rao, his daughter Kavitha and several other pro-Telangana activists have been taken into preventive custody even as the three-day rail roko campaign across the state began today. Reports say Congress MP Rajaiah has been arrested in Kazipet.
Some protesters have also been detained for trying to block the tracks at Hyderabad's Sitafal Mandi station, according to reports.
TV reports said that about 124 trains have already been cancelled.
Telangana Congress MPs on Friday asserted that they would participate in the 'rail roko' scheduled to be held in the region for three days from Saturday in support of the separate statehood demand, despite appeals from the party not to do so.
"We are participating in the rail roko," Congress Lok Sabha member G Vivek said.
He demanded that the state government postpone the Group-II examination for recruitment of various posts in the state government and stop the arrests of Telangana agitators.
Earlier, some Telangana Congress MPs met state home minister P Sabita Indra Reddy and complained about the tough talk of state DGP to take action against those who crossed the limits during the rail blockade.
The comments of the DGP are provocative, Congress MP M Jagannath alleged.
The state ministers should also take active part in the agitation, Congress MP Madhu Yashki Goud said.
State Congress president Botsa Satyanarayana on Saturday appealed the Congress MPs not to take part in the 'rail roko'.
Meanwhile, Congress MLA and former minister Jupally Krishna Rao has submitted his resignation from the post in support of the Telangana demand.
Meanwhile, TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao demanded that the ministers quit in support of the separate statehood goal, party sources said.
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Some protesters have also been detained for trying to block the tracks at Hyderabad's Sitafal Mandi station, according to reports.
TV reports said that about 124 trains have already been cancelled.
Telangana Congress MPs on Friday asserted that they would participate in the 'rail roko' scheduled to be held in the region for three days from Saturday in support of the separate statehood demand, despite appeals from the party not to do so.
"We are participating in the rail roko," Congress Lok Sabha member G Vivek said.
He demanded that the state government postpone the Group-II examination for recruitment of various posts in the state government and stop the arrests of Telangana agitators.
Earlier, some Telangana Congress MPs met state home minister P Sabita Indra Reddy and complained about the tough talk of state DGP to take action against those who crossed the limits during the rail blockade.
The comments of the DGP are provocative, Congress MP M Jagannath alleged.
The state ministers should also take active part in the agitation, Congress MP Madhu Yashki Goud said.
State Congress president Botsa Satyanarayana on Saturday appealed the Congress MPs not to take part in the 'rail roko'.
Meanwhile, Congress MLA and former minister Jupally Krishna Rao has submitted his resignation from the post in support of the Telangana demand.
Meanwhile, TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao demanded that the ministers quit in support of the separate statehood goal, party sources said.
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Thursday 13 October 2011
Andhra Pradesh CM to sack government staff agitating for Telangana
Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government is all set to sack its employees agitating for the separate statehood to Telangana. Government employees in Telangana have been on strike for the past 30 days and the authorities are now ready to crack the whip.
Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has apparently received hints from the Congress high command that there is no possibility of the issue of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh being settled in near future. And since the employees are hellbent on continuing the strike till the government announces a separate state of Telangana, the Centre is learnt to have asked the CM to deal with the protesters with an iron hand.
Sources said the CM has prepared the blueprint of an action plan to deal with the employees on strike after getting a green signal from governor ESL Narasimhan. As per the strategy, the government would take disciplinary action against Telangana Employees Joint Action Committee leaders K. Swamy Goud, C. Vithal, Srinivasa Goud and Telangana RTC union leaders Ashwathama Reddy and Thomas Reddy. They would possibly face charges of violating service rules, staging a revolt against the government and obstructing the employees from discharging their duties.
The leaders would be first arrested and then sent to judicial remand, which enables the government to suspend them immediately. After that, they would be expelled from service as per the government service rules.
The ongoing strike in the Telangana region has not only affected educational institutions, public transport and government administration but also the judiciary.
For the past two days, judicial employees of different courts have been on strike, forcing adjournment of all pending cases.
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Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has apparently received hints from the Congress high command that there is no possibility of the issue of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh being settled in near future. And since the employees are hellbent on continuing the strike till the government announces a separate state of Telangana, the Centre is learnt to have asked the CM to deal with the protesters with an iron hand.
Sources said the CM has prepared the blueprint of an action plan to deal with the employees on strike after getting a green signal from governor ESL Narasimhan. As per the strategy, the government would take disciplinary action against Telangana Employees Joint Action Committee leaders K. Swamy Goud, C. Vithal, Srinivasa Goud and Telangana RTC union leaders Ashwathama Reddy and Thomas Reddy. They would possibly face charges of violating service rules, staging a revolt against the government and obstructing the employees from discharging their duties.
The leaders would be first arrested and then sent to judicial remand, which enables the government to suspend them immediately. After that, they would be expelled from service as per the government service rules.
The ongoing strike in the Telangana region has not only affected educational institutions, public transport and government administration but also the judiciary.
For the past two days, judicial employees of different courts have been on strike, forcing adjournment of all pending cases.
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Anna hits back at Congress, BJP; no to joining politics
Anna Hazare tonight hit back at Congress leader Digvijay Singh saying the charge of RSS support to his anti-corruption campaign was an attempt to defame him and ruled out joining politics or becoming a Presidential candidate.
"I know very well that people throw stones only at those trees which bear fruits. People see the world in the colour of the glasses they wear. I think that the colour of your spectacle is wrong and you should change it," he said in his eight-page letter.
The 74-year-old Gandhian has sought to puncture the points raised by Singh in his two letters in which the Congress General Secretary had claimed RSS was backing Hazare's Lokpal campaign and that he was surrounded by associates who are anti-Congress.
Hazare told Singh that if the government brings Jan Lokpal bill in the winter session of Parliament and strives to bring the Lokayukta Act in each state, then there was no need to agitate or to tell people not vote for Congress.
Referring to Singh's allegation that BJP was planning to make him a candidate in the Presidential elections next year, Hazare said "I neither have the capacity nor the desire to become the President of India and wonder why Congress and BJP were talking in the air".
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Wednesday 12 October 2011
Pak to give India Most Favoured Nation status
New Delhi: Pakistan has, in principle, agreed to give India Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status, a basic international trading procedure that has been languishing on the margins for the last two decades, but which will now allow both countries to conduct normal trade with each other.
The trade concession is likely to see the day when Pakistan commerce minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim comes to Delhi for talks with his Indian counterpart Anand Sharma in September. A letter from Sharma inviting Fahim to Delhi was carried by India's high commissioner to Pakistan, Sharad Sabharwal, when he returned to Islamabad last week after the conclusion of the foreign minister-level talks between SM Krishna and Hina Rabbani Khar.
Perhaps it was the stardust that Khar threw in the eyes of the media during her visit to Delhi, which caused both sides to miss the seminal reference to MFN status hidden deep inside the joint statement, issued at the conclusion of the bilateral conversation.
The Indian and Pakistani media seemed so overcome by the designer memorabilia adorning Khar -- Roberto Cavalli sunshades, Birkin bag and South Sea/Mikimoto pearls -- that it failed to comprehend the fundamental nature of the shift that seems to be taking inside Pakistan today.
Clause number 12 of the joint statement, then, refers to both ministers agreeing that an increase in trade and economic engagement between the two countries would be mutually beneficial.
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IIT students' satellite 'Jugnu' to be launched into space
A satellite built by students of IIT Kanpur, 'Jugnu', was launched with the latest version of India's indigenous Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday.
The satellite designed by a group of students and teachers from the institute in collaboration with scientists from the ISRO scientists is one of the smallest satellites built till date.
Students, felt that they were given a golden opportunity to work on a project and got a chance to look at India's space research programme closely.
It took the team three years to give the satellite 'Jugnu' its final shape.
"This was a good experience for everyone. All of us got to learn a lot of things in the last three years. We got to meet with the scientists of ISRO, the chairman and the director as well," said Shantanu, a student.
"Apart from being knowledgeable, it was also a fun experience for us as we all worked together as a team. All of us performed as a team," he added.
Team Jugnu was upbeat about the fact that such a small satellite has been made with some of the latest technologies available.
"This satellite is of about three kilograms in weight. This satellite functions in just three watts of power. There are two small computers implanted into the satellite," said Professor Vyas, project head of 'Jugnu'.
"There is also an infra-red camera, a GPS (Global Positioning System) unit, an inertia measurement unit and also other things which have been put into a satellite for the first time, that too in such a small satellite. It is a complex system and it is a good platform to test small and micro technologies," he added.
Apart from 'Jugnu', the PSLV carried two other smaller satellites for launching into the orbit. This was ISRO's third rocket launch from India in 2011.
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Tuesday 11 October 2011
Congress core group discusses Telangana
New Delhi, Oct 11 (IANS) The Congress core group met here Tuesday evening to discuss political developments, including the volatile situation in agitation-hit Telangana region, party sources said, adding that more consultations will be held before a decision on the vexed issue.
The meeting, held at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence, was attended by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister P.Chidambaram and Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is in charge of party affairs in Andhra Pradesh.
In a move to reach a decision on the demand for separate statehood to Telangana, the prime minister and Mukherjee had held a series of meetings with party leaders from the state in the past few days.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi leader K. Chandrasekhar Rao also met Manmohan Singh here last week.
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The meeting, held at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence, was attended by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister P.Chidambaram and Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is in charge of party affairs in Andhra Pradesh.
In a move to reach a decision on the demand for separate statehood to Telangana, the prime minister and Mukherjee had held a series of meetings with party leaders from the state in the past few days.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi leader K. Chandrasekhar Rao also met Manmohan Singh here last week.
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Pentagon to test Indian’s next-gen chip
Raj Dutt, an Indian-American, IIT-Kharagpur alumnus, has developed a next-generation energy-efficient computer chip that has caught the attention of the Pentagon, which is testing its application in the ambitious F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.
The breakthrough technology by Dutt, Chairman and CEO of privately-held APIC Corp and Photonic Corp, helps computer processors consume up to 90 per cent less energy and run up to 60 per cent faster.
"The significance of the technology is that information transfer on the semiconductor chip as well as between components, will now be done using light photons instead of just electrons," Dutt told PTI.
There are many advantages in size, weight and especially power consumed, he explained during his recent trip to Washington, where he met visiting Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Photons do not generate heat, thus thy do not need to be cooled. For electronics, cooling is one of the largest cost components.
"Photonic interconnects do not generate heat and use less size than electronic copper interconnects, so more transistors can be put onto a chip. Most significantly, we have figured out how to do this using the same economical process used in manufacturing semiconductor chips today, enabling them to be stamped out by the millions," Dutt said.
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Monday 10 October 2011
LK Advani to begin 38-day long yatra today
Advani, who is slated to cover around 300 km a day in his special rath or modified bus, said the yatra will mobilise public opinion on electoral and judicial reforms, black money and scams faced by the UPA government.
The campaign begins on Tuesday from the birth place of Jayaprakash Narayan at Sitab Diara village on the Bihar-Uttar Pradesh border.
On questions about his yatra being linked to the prime ministerial sweepstakes in the BJP, Advani did not give a categoric yes or no.
"Who will be Prime Minister, the party will decide when the time comes. Three years are still left for the elections. However, the (UPA) government has been run in a way that it can fall anytime. People are tolerating it," Advani said.
"There is no dearth of leaders (in the BJP capable of being prime minister)," he said.
Attacking the government, Advani said the leadership given by the UPA had made people unhappy and angry.
"The anger among people has been increasing due to price rise, corruption, black money. Deficiency in leadership by UPA government has led to lack of faith in the political leadership. The damage that the country's democracy has suffered during UPA, it had never suffered earlier," Advani said.
Attacking the UPA for cash-for-votes scandal of 2008, he said it was a "turning point" in the image of the country's democracy.
"There has been ethical decline in UPA's conduct of government... It has been principal reason for anger among people and scepticism about politics itself," he said.
Advani, who was flanked by party leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, said his yatra will focus on "clean politics and good governance".
Noting that he had raised the issue of black money during the campaign for the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, Advani said it will be a major issue during his yatra.
He accused the government of suppressing details of those holding accounts in Swiss banks "to save embarrassment" to a few individuals and demanded that their names be made public.
Advani alleged that facts regarding Swiss accounts have been held back even from the Enforcement Directorate, and that the Income Tax department has been asked to quietly deal with the issue to bury it.
Advani said while judicial reforms should be aimed at efficiency, elimination of arrears and appointment of men of highest integrity, there was a need to curb excessive use of money power in elections and criminalisation of politics.
On the remarks of Anna Hazare's associate Arvind Kejriwal about supremacy of the individual over parliament, Advani said: "Parliament is the highest representative to people."
Dismissing Congress leader Digvijay Singh's statement that the BJP intends to put Hazare as its presidential candidate, Advani said there had been no discussion on the issue in the party.
He denied reports of rift with Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and said he will take part in the yatra.
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Sunday 9 October 2011
CBI raids on Maran brothers '2G SCAM'
Stocks of Sun TV tanked 7 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in early trade on news of raids by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) across homes and offices of the Maran brothers. Sun TV Network is owned by former Union minister Dayanidhi Maran's brother Kalanidhi Maran.
The raids are being conducted in New Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai. The CBI has also registered a first information report (FIR) against the Maran brothers.
There have also been raids at the premises of Suneeta Reddy of the Apollo group, though she has not been named in the FIR. Ms Reddy holds 26 per cent stake in Maxis. Apollo Hospitals Enterprises stocks were down nearly 1.5 per cent on the BSE.
Mr Maran is being investigated for allegedly pressuring the former owner of Aircel to sell his company to T Ananda Krishnan, an industrialist from Malaysia when he was the Union Telecom Minister. Mr Ananda Krishnan is known to be close to Mr Maran and his brother, Kalanidhi. The CBI says that after he bought Aircel, the entrepreneur invested crores of rupees in Kalanidhi Maran's company, Sun Networks.
Dayanidhi Maran was forced to step down as Union Textile Minister in May this year after the CBI implicated him. Last month, the investigating agency told the Supreme Court that it planned to file a formal case soon against Mr Maran for misusing his office when he was Telecom Minister.
The complaint against Mr Maran was filed by C Sivasankaran, the former owner of Aircel, who alleges that as Telecom Minister, Mr Maran delayed the sanction of licences critical for his business and coerced him to sell Aircel to Mr Ananda Krishnan in 2005.
Sources have told NDTV that the CBI has evidence of criminal misconduct against Mr Maran, and has found evidence of quid pro quo in the Aircel-Maxis deal.
Mr Maran was replaced by A Raja as Telecom Minister, who is now in jail for selling mobile network licences and spectrum at throwaway prices in 2008 to companies that were ineligible.
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The raids are being conducted in New Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai. The CBI has also registered a first information report (FIR) against the Maran brothers.
There have also been raids at the premises of Suneeta Reddy of the Apollo group, though she has not been named in the FIR. Ms Reddy holds 26 per cent stake in Maxis. Apollo Hospitals Enterprises stocks were down nearly 1.5 per cent on the BSE.
Mr Maran is being investigated for allegedly pressuring the former owner of Aircel to sell his company to T Ananda Krishnan, an industrialist from Malaysia when he was the Union Telecom Minister. Mr Ananda Krishnan is known to be close to Mr Maran and his brother, Kalanidhi. The CBI says that after he bought Aircel, the entrepreneur invested crores of rupees in Kalanidhi Maran's company, Sun Networks.
Dayanidhi Maran was forced to step down as Union Textile Minister in May this year after the CBI implicated him. Last month, the investigating agency told the Supreme Court that it planned to file a formal case soon against Mr Maran for misusing his office when he was Telecom Minister.
The complaint against Mr Maran was filed by C Sivasankaran, the former owner of Aircel, who alleges that as Telecom Minister, Mr Maran delayed the sanction of licences critical for his business and coerced him to sell Aircel to Mr Ananda Krishnan in 2005.
Sources have told NDTV that the CBI has evidence of criminal misconduct against Mr Maran, and has found evidence of quid pro quo in the Aircel-Maxis deal.
Mr Maran was replaced by A Raja as Telecom Minister, who is now in jail for selling mobile network licences and spectrum at throwaway prices in 2008 to companies that were ineligible.
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Mumbai stun Bangalore in CLT20
With all the injuries and replacements at the start of the tournament, one wouldn't have given Mumbai Indians a chance of getting to the knockouts at the Champions League, let alone winning it today.
On a slow wicket at the Chidambaram Stadium with just 139 runs to defend, Harbhajan Singh led Mumbai astutely. He took 3-20 and Royal Challengers Bangalore were crushed by 31 runs in a low-scorer.
Bangalore started the chase strongly with Tillakaratne Dilshan and Chris Gayle adding 38 in four overs. In the next 10, they made 39-5. Harbhajan and Chahal choked the runs dry on a wicket that seemed considerably slower than earlier.
Mumbai raised their fielding a notch, took the catches that mattered. By the end, Bangalore had fallen so far behind the required rate, it's hard to tell looking at the scoreboard that they were ever in the chase.
Harbhajan gambled by giving Lasith Malinga a third over in his first spell. Malinga delivered with his first ball. Dilshan swung across the line and missed. Gayle fell to a dubious LBW to Harbhajan when his front leg was a long way down the wicket. Mumbai had a foot in the door.
Mayank Agarwal and Virat Kohli, still feeling the effects of batting on the Chinnaswamy belter, didn't last long and were caught in the deep slogging slow turners. Arun Karthik and Mohammad Kaif fell the same way but they were under considerable pressure from the mounting run-rate.
Three run-outs dented Mumbai before they could steer the innings to substantiality. It wasn't sensational fielding but Mumbai's sloppiness. Opener Sarul Kanwar was ball-watching at the non-striker's end when he ignored Aiden Blizzard's call and got him out.
Suryakumar Yadav was promoted above Kieron Pollard and batted usefully for 24. Then he backed up too far and Vettori ran him out in his follow-through. The big wicket was James Franklin's (41) and some lazy running with Pollard cost him his wicket.
In the next over by Vettori, Mumbai fell apart. Pollard strange half-hearted loft couldn't clear mid-on. Harbhajan Singh was given not-out by Kumar Dharmasena to plumb LBW first ball. But he was given LBW to a faster delivery next ball which clearly seemed heading down the leg-side.
This loss extends Bangalore's poor run in T20 finals. They had lost IPL finals in 2009 and 2011.
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Tuesday 4 October 2011
India signs historic pact with Afghanistan; to train, equip Afghan security
India came out of its Afghan closet this evening, when it promised Afghan President Hamid Karzai it would assist in the “training, equipping and capacity building programmes for Afghan national security forces”.
The line, tucked away inside the strategic partnership document signed by Karzai and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is significant because it enhances India's role in the Af-Pak region by several notches, that too at Afghanistan's request.
While Delhi has been training Afghan police and even army jawans in recent years, these have been in small numbers and very much behind a cloak of reticence.
But 10 years after US forces threw out the Taliban from Kabul, Delhi seems to have finally emerged from its reticence, by promising to deliver what Afghanistan wants.
This, combined with the $2-billion aid that Delhi has already promised during the PM's recent visit to Kabul, makes India one of the biggest donors in Afghanistan.
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The line, tucked away inside the strategic partnership document signed by Karzai and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is significant because it enhances India's role in the Af-Pak region by several notches, that too at Afghanistan's request.
While Delhi has been training Afghan police and even army jawans in recent years, these have been in small numbers and very much behind a cloak of reticence.
But 10 years after US forces threw out the Taliban from Kabul, Delhi seems to have finally emerged from its reticence, by promising to deliver what Afghanistan wants.
This, combined with the $2-billion aid that Delhi has already promised during the PM's recent visit to Kabul, makes India one of the biggest donors in Afghanistan.
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A Decade of Greenpeace in India
Although Greenpeace has been actively campaigning in India since 1995, it was only in 2001 that the international non-governmental environmental organization was formally registered in Chennai, India. Greenpeace has offices in over 40 countries and is run by an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Greenpeace first stretched its wings in India in 1996 with a campaign against toxic waste trade imports, pressuring the Government of India to sign and ratify the Basel Convention and to ban the movement of hazardous toxic waste from developed industrialized nations to developing countries. In 1997, Greenpeace attempted to register itself in India but failed. Recent Greenpeace campaigns, most memorably the organization’s strident and colorful protest against genetically modified BT Brinjal, have gained much visibility and compelled the government to reverse its initial decision. This exclusive slideshow chronicles the significant campaigns carried out by Greenpeace during its eventful decade in India.
Blowing hot over nuclear disarmament
A Greenpeace balloon with the slogan ‘Nuclear Disarmament Now!’ floats above the Taj Mahal in a protest against nuclear testing in India in 1997. Greenpeace was denied entry into India following this protest.
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Monday 3 October 2011
No promise from PM, Telangana agitation to intensify: TRS
New Delhi/Hyderabad, Oct 3 (IANS) After failing to get any assurance from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over a separate Telangana state, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao Monday rejected his appeal to call off the strike and decided to intensify the agitation.
KCR, as Rao is popularly known, told reporters that he may also go on a 'fast unto death' to intensify the movement for a separate state.
'The strike will not be called off under any circumstances,' he told reporters after meeting the prime minister in New Delhi. 'The strike would continue till there is a roadmap for separate Telangana,' he added.
The public agitation called by Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) to press for a Telangana state in Andhra Pradesh entered its 21st day Monday.
'We are not satisfied. The prime minister did not give any assurance. We will continue to fight,' said the MP, who was leading a delegation of JAC leaders.
The delegation urged the prime minister to direct the state government to pay salaries to striking employees on humanitarian grounds. It also complained that the government was deliberately resorting to power blackouts for farmers in Telangana and using repressive methods against the leaders of Telangana movement.
The TRS chief, who also met Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Communist Party of India general secretary A. B. Bardhan, accused Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy of misleading the people on the issue.
The prime minister's meeting with the TRS chief comes amidst talk in political circles that the Congress is diluting its position on the half-century old dispute and may move towards a solution without losing political face.
Earlier, the prime minister met a delegation of Congress MPs and legislators from the Andhra Pradesh region but did not give any assurance to them.
During the 30-minute meeting, the Congress delegation told the prime minister that the central government should announce a time-frame for arriving at a decision on the issue, an MP, who was in the delegation, told IANS.
Manmohan Singh told the Congress MPs that his government will make all efforts to find a solution to the long-standing demand.
He said that he would talk to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and place their demands before the Congress core committee.
The delegation is also learnt to have complained against Andhra Pradesh chief minister's hostile stand to the Telangana demand.
Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is in charge of Congress affairs in Andhra Pradesh, had Friday submitted a detailed report on the volatile situation in the state to Sonia Gandhi.
The report had recommended further consultations on the Telangana issue. That was endorsed by the Congress core group, which met Friday.
The TRS chief, who has been camping in Delhi, Sunday held a sit-in at Rajghat here in support of his party's demand for the creation of a new Telangana state.
He also questioned the government's stance to hold 'further consultations' on the issue
In Andhra Pradesh, pro-Telangana activists forcibly stopped vehicles moving from coastal Andhra towards Hyderabad and hurled stones at private buses, damaging at least 20 of them in Nalgonda district, police said.
Some activists were injured when police hit them with batons at Nakrekal while one police official sustained critical injuries in stone pelting by the mobs. There were no reports of injuries to the passengers. Demanding separate statehood to Telangana, activists also damaged a police vehicle.
Meanwhile, the chief minister warned that the leaders of the Telangana movement would be responsible for any crop damage due to electricity shortage, citing the ongoing general strike for a separate Telangana.
The chief minister singled out the TRS chief and Telangana JAC convener M. Kodandaram for his attack.
'If crops are damaged, Kodandaram and KCR will be responsible,' he said, urging the people of Telangana to strongly oppose them.
The indefinite strike in coal mines of state-owned Singareni Collieries as part of the general strike in Telangana has affected coal production and hit electricity generation at thermal power stations.
Authorities have imposed power cuts on domestic, agriculture and industrial sectors. A one-hour blackout has been imposed on farmers, who earlier got seven hours of free electricity every day.
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KCR, as Rao is popularly known, told reporters that he may also go on a 'fast unto death' to intensify the movement for a separate state.
'The strike will not be called off under any circumstances,' he told reporters after meeting the prime minister in New Delhi. 'The strike would continue till there is a roadmap for separate Telangana,' he added.
The public agitation called by Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) to press for a Telangana state in Andhra Pradesh entered its 21st day Monday.
'We are not satisfied. The prime minister did not give any assurance. We will continue to fight,' said the MP, who was leading a delegation of JAC leaders.
The delegation urged the prime minister to direct the state government to pay salaries to striking employees on humanitarian grounds. It also complained that the government was deliberately resorting to power blackouts for farmers in Telangana and using repressive methods against the leaders of Telangana movement.
The TRS chief, who also met Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Communist Party of India general secretary A. B. Bardhan, accused Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy of misleading the people on the issue.
The prime minister's meeting with the TRS chief comes amidst talk in political circles that the Congress is diluting its position on the half-century old dispute and may move towards a solution without losing political face.
Earlier, the prime minister met a delegation of Congress MPs and legislators from the Andhra Pradesh region but did not give any assurance to them.
During the 30-minute meeting, the Congress delegation told the prime minister that the central government should announce a time-frame for arriving at a decision on the issue, an MP, who was in the delegation, told IANS.
Manmohan Singh told the Congress MPs that his government will make all efforts to find a solution to the long-standing demand.
He said that he would talk to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and place their demands before the Congress core committee.
The delegation is also learnt to have complained against Andhra Pradesh chief minister's hostile stand to the Telangana demand.
Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is in charge of Congress affairs in Andhra Pradesh, had Friday submitted a detailed report on the volatile situation in the state to Sonia Gandhi.
The report had recommended further consultations on the Telangana issue. That was endorsed by the Congress core group, which met Friday.
The TRS chief, who has been camping in Delhi, Sunday held a sit-in at Rajghat here in support of his party's demand for the creation of a new Telangana state.
He also questioned the government's stance to hold 'further consultations' on the issue
In Andhra Pradesh, pro-Telangana activists forcibly stopped vehicles moving from coastal Andhra towards Hyderabad and hurled stones at private buses, damaging at least 20 of them in Nalgonda district, police said.
Some activists were injured when police hit them with batons at Nakrekal while one police official sustained critical injuries in stone pelting by the mobs. There were no reports of injuries to the passengers. Demanding separate statehood to Telangana, activists also damaged a police vehicle.
Meanwhile, the chief minister warned that the leaders of the Telangana movement would be responsible for any crop damage due to electricity shortage, citing the ongoing general strike for a separate Telangana.
The chief minister singled out the TRS chief and Telangana JAC convener M. Kodandaram for his attack.
'If crops are damaged, Kodandaram and KCR will be responsible,' he said, urging the people of Telangana to strongly oppose them.
The indefinite strike in coal mines of state-owned Singareni Collieries as part of the general strike in Telangana has affected coal production and hit electricity generation at thermal power stations.
Authorities have imposed power cuts on domestic, agriculture and industrial sectors. A one-hour blackout has been imposed on farmers, who earlier got seven hours of free electricity every day.
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India debuts world's cheapest tablet computer at $35 tomorrow
NEW DELHI: The world's cheapest tablet computer, which will be unwrapped on Wednesday, will go on sale in India starting December, the maker of the device has said.
Created for use by students, the tablet will first be made available to colleges at Rs 1,750 apiece ($35) although it costs Rs 3,000 to produce. The difference will be subsidised by the government as part of an ambitious plan to make information and communication technologies an integral part of education.
The tablet, will run on Google's Android platform, with WiFi connectivity for internet access and cloud storage. It will have 256 MB of RAM, a 2GB SD memory card, a 32 GB expandable memory slot and two USB ports.
A Canadian of Indian descent, Suneet Singh Tuli, the chief executive of the company making the device, declined to disclose its retail price, but said it will cost as much as "a vegetarian meal for two at a five-star hotel in Delhi".
Tuli is the founder of Datawind, a UK-based company which also makes the PocketSurfer, a handheld device to surf the web.
"We wanted to show the world when China can break price points, India can do it better," Tuli said.
The cheapest tablets available globally are at about $99 for an HP TouchPad and $199 for Amazon's Kindle Fire. In India, tablets currently start from $99 for Pepper, a tablet launched last month by Devraj group of companies. The Wespro ePad is available at Rs 7,000.
From Laptop to Tablet
HCL Pad based on Android sells for about 10,000. Bharti Airtel and Reliance have also launched tablets priced about 10,000 and 13,000, respectively.
The so-called $35 tablet being made by Datawind is a brainchild of human resources minister Kapil Sibal and a team of technologists from IIT Rajasthan.
The device is being launched two years after it showed off a $10 computer, which turned out to be little more than a storage device.
The $35 device was earlier slated to be a laptop, but it changed its form over the three years it was being created.
The tablet will be assembled in India and the government will waive duties to help minimise the cost of production. One lakh tablets have been ordered initially and about a million pieces will be produced in the next stage if the pilot works well.
The low internal memory, at 256MB, may make the tablet slow in accessing the already slow speeds of internet in Indian colleges. Only about half the 25,000 colleges have been linked to the internet under the government's National Mission of Education. Out of these, less than 15% of the colleges have broadband with speeds of at least 512 kbps.
Earlier, the government had invited an expression of interest from Indian companies, but the tender was issued afresh as earlier vendors were not being able to deliver at the price point which the government wanted.
Gartner analyst Vishal Tripathi said it will be difficult for others to meet the price of $35 for retail sales. "The tablet is largely subsidised. We will wait till launch to give a verdict," he said.
HCL Infosystems first won the tender to make the tablets, but the deal fell through after the company realised that it could not meet the price expectations of the government. India debuts world's cheapest tablet computer at $35 tomorrowCheck out Brand Equity's Most Trusted Brands List 2011
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Created for use by students, the tablet will first be made available to colleges at Rs 1,750 apiece ($35) although it costs Rs 3,000 to produce. The difference will be subsidised by the government as part of an ambitious plan to make information and communication technologies an integral part of education.
The tablet, will run on Google's Android platform, with WiFi connectivity for internet access and cloud storage. It will have 256 MB of RAM, a 2GB SD memory card, a 32 GB expandable memory slot and two USB ports.
A Canadian of Indian descent, Suneet Singh Tuli, the chief executive of the company making the device, declined to disclose its retail price, but said it will cost as much as "a vegetarian meal for two at a five-star hotel in Delhi".
Tuli is the founder of Datawind, a UK-based company which also makes the PocketSurfer, a handheld device to surf the web.
"We wanted to show the world when China can break price points, India can do it better," Tuli said.
The cheapest tablets available globally are at about $99 for an HP TouchPad and $199 for Amazon's Kindle Fire. In India, tablets currently start from $99 for Pepper, a tablet launched last month by Devraj group of companies. The Wespro ePad is available at Rs 7,000.
From Laptop to Tablet
HCL Pad based on Android sells for about 10,000. Bharti Airtel and Reliance have also launched tablets priced about 10,000 and 13,000, respectively.
The so-called $35 tablet being made by Datawind is a brainchild of human resources minister Kapil Sibal and a team of technologists from IIT Rajasthan.
The device is being launched two years after it showed off a $10 computer, which turned out to be little more than a storage device.
The $35 device was earlier slated to be a laptop, but it changed its form over the three years it was being created.
The tablet will be assembled in India and the government will waive duties to help minimise the cost of production. One lakh tablets have been ordered initially and about a million pieces will be produced in the next stage if the pilot works well.
The low internal memory, at 256MB, may make the tablet slow in accessing the already slow speeds of internet in Indian colleges. Only about half the 25,000 colleges have been linked to the internet under the government's National Mission of Education. Out of these, less than 15% of the colleges have broadband with speeds of at least 512 kbps.
Earlier, the government had invited an expression of interest from Indian companies, but the tender was issued afresh as earlier vendors were not being able to deliver at the price point which the government wanted.
Gartner analyst Vishal Tripathi said it will be difficult for others to meet the price of $35 for retail sales. "The tablet is largely subsidised. We will wait till launch to give a verdict," he said.
HCL Infosystems first won the tender to make the tablets, but the deal fell through after the company realised that it could not meet the price expectations of the government. India debuts world's cheapest tablet computer at $35 tomorrowCheck out Brand Equity's Most Trusted Brands List 2011
www.ShopaMagic.com
www.ONSSolutions.com
Russia vows to scrap chemical weapons soon
"The Russian Federation puts the highest priority on disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction...We will continue to put maximum effort into the fulfillment of this labour-intensive and technically complex task in as short time as possible," the ministry said in a statement.
Russia signed the Chemical Weapons Convention banning the development, production, stockpiling, transfer, and use of chemical arms in 1993, and ratified it in 1997. The country has so far destroyed about half of its chemical weapons arsenal, which totals 40,000 tonnes.
"At the same time, there is still a large amount of work on destruction of remaining chemical weapons arsenals ahead of us, and for that purpose we are continuing to increase the capacity of existing destruction facilities...and search for additional resources," the statement said.
Moscow has allocated $7.18 billion from the federal budget for the implementation of the programme, and has built six chemical weapon destruction plants across the country.
According to previous reports, Russia aims to finish all the remaining work under the project, including decontamination and equipment dismantlement, by 2016-2017.
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Pak is major source of makeshift bombs in Afghanistan: report
Washington, Oct 4 (PTI) Pakistan is a major source of makeshift bombs being used by terrorists in Afghanistan, a media report said.
More than 80 per cent of the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are homemade explosives using calcium ammonium nitrate fertilizer produced in Pakistan, according to Navy Captain Douglas Borrebach, Deputy Director (Resources and Requirements) at Pentagon''s Joint IED Defeat Organization, ''The USA Today'' reported.
"The border is a sieve. You can do your checkpoints, but that''s not going to help stem the supply," Borrebach told The USA Today.
Top American Senator Robert Casey, who travelled to Pakistan in Afghanistan, has met top Pentagon officials in this regard, urging them to press Pakistan take action against such IEDs.
"From June through August, US troops detected or were hit by 5,088 improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the most for any three-month period since the war began in 2001," the report said.
Choking off the source of fertilizer is critical, Borrebach said.
"How do we work with Pakistan to be able to reduce the amount of calcium ammonium nitrate coming across the border? That''s the key to this," Borrebach said.
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More than 80 per cent of the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are homemade explosives using calcium ammonium nitrate fertilizer produced in Pakistan, according to Navy Captain Douglas Borrebach, Deputy Director (Resources and Requirements) at Pentagon''s Joint IED Defeat Organization, ''The USA Today'' reported.
"The border is a sieve. You can do your checkpoints, but that''s not going to help stem the supply," Borrebach told The USA Today.
Top American Senator Robert Casey, who travelled to Pakistan in Afghanistan, has met top Pentagon officials in this regard, urging them to press Pakistan take action against such IEDs.
"From June through August, US troops detected or were hit by 5,088 improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the most for any three-month period since the war began in 2001," the report said.
Choking off the source of fertilizer is critical, Borrebach said.
"How do we work with Pakistan to be able to reduce the amount of calcium ammonium nitrate coming across the border? That''s the key to this," Borrebach said.
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Sunday 2 October 2011
Festive beat begins with people flocking to pandals
JAIPUR: The four days of Durga Puja began on Sunday -- the sixth day of the full moon that follows Mahalaya and ends with the Vijaya Dashami. According to Hindu scriptures, Durga, wife of Lord Shiva, emerged when evil forces threatened the very existence of Creation.
Durga killed the powerful demon Mahishasur. Durga Puja is celebrated with joy all over the nation especially in eastern India. Pink City joined the celebration of triumph of good over evil with pomp and splendour on Sunday -- blending seamlessly into the local Navratri celebrations at various pandals.
Artisans from distant Paschim Banga (West Bengal) have come to this city to make the images or idols - the focus of worship for the four days.
One such artisan is Amit Pal who has been in the profession of making idols for past 25 years. He is the second generation in his family involved with this art. After rendering his services to many famous clubs in Kolkata he moved to Jaipur and has been coming regularly since 2002.
"Sawapanda, who is now president of Durga Bari Association, sent someone to Kolkata to find a good artisan. I was chosen as the lucky one and was blessed with the opportunity to make the pratima (idol) in Jaipur for the association," recalls Amit.
Today, Amit Pal and his team have earned a name and now are making idols for many clubs in the state capital, including Raja Park and Vaishali Nagar.
"It is the blessing of the Almighty my association with this city, which started with one club and has now reached four. It's not just about numbers, but the trust that Bengali community in Jaipur has shown me and my colleagues and that teaches us to be humble," says Amit.
Idol-making is an intensive art and involves many stages till the complete "statue" is prepared. Every year Amit along with his team comes to Jaipur two months ahead of the Puja. Pinto Pal, younger brother of Amit, says "It takes at least a month to complete an idol. First, we make a structure of bamboo which is then filled with dry grass. Once it is done we start pasting it with wet clay. After it is dry we paste it with another layer of fine clay followed by painting and decoration. To complete on deadline we even have to work for 15-16 hours a day".
Interestingly, to make idols for clubs in Jaipur everything, from clay to paint comes from Kolkata. Amit says, "This year we brought 1,200 kg of fine clay from the banks of Ganga. Even paint and decorating materials are brought from kolkata. It helps us as we are used to that type of soil and also that it has special properties which other clay lacks".
In times of competition, when every pandal works hard to attract crowds, making idols for more than once club in the same city demands lot of creativity. "We have not repeated a single design in our work in the past eight years and every 'statute' made by us is different from the other. Thinking for the next year's design will start just after two or three months. All clubs now leave everything on us to decide," says a proud Amit.
Talking about this year's theme at Durga Bari, Amit said it is based on the Dokra art which originated some 300 years ago at a place between Bardhaman and Bankura district in West Bengal. "Dokra art is known for its metallic finish though it started with making sculptures from bamboo. With time artisan innovated and started using clay".
When artisans all over India are going global and making money, Amit feels the real satisfaction is in when art gets appreciated. "Everyone wants money to survive and we are no exception. However, the real joy is when people like our work and appreciate our concept. With work we have build a faith and I feel Durga Bari is my second home. I consider this to be my greatest reward".
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Durga killed the powerful demon Mahishasur. Durga Puja is celebrated with joy all over the nation especially in eastern India. Pink City joined the celebration of triumph of good over evil with pomp and splendour on Sunday -- blending seamlessly into the local Navratri celebrations at various pandals.
Artisans from distant Paschim Banga (West Bengal) have come to this city to make the images or idols - the focus of worship for the four days.
One such artisan is Amit Pal who has been in the profession of making idols for past 25 years. He is the second generation in his family involved with this art. After rendering his services to many famous clubs in Kolkata he moved to Jaipur and has been coming regularly since 2002.
"Sawapanda, who is now president of Durga Bari Association, sent someone to Kolkata to find a good artisan. I was chosen as the lucky one and was blessed with the opportunity to make the pratima (idol) in Jaipur for the association," recalls Amit.
Today, Amit Pal and his team have earned a name and now are making idols for many clubs in the state capital, including Raja Park and Vaishali Nagar.
"It is the blessing of the Almighty my association with this city, which started with one club and has now reached four. It's not just about numbers, but the trust that Bengali community in Jaipur has shown me and my colleagues and that teaches us to be humble," says Amit.
Idol-making is an intensive art and involves many stages till the complete "statue" is prepared. Every year Amit along with his team comes to Jaipur two months ahead of the Puja. Pinto Pal, younger brother of Amit, says "It takes at least a month to complete an idol. First, we make a structure of bamboo which is then filled with dry grass. Once it is done we start pasting it with wet clay. After it is dry we paste it with another layer of fine clay followed by painting and decoration. To complete on deadline we even have to work for 15-16 hours a day".
Interestingly, to make idols for clubs in Jaipur everything, from clay to paint comes from Kolkata. Amit says, "This year we brought 1,200 kg of fine clay from the banks of Ganga. Even paint and decorating materials are brought from kolkata. It helps us as we are used to that type of soil and also that it has special properties which other clay lacks".
In times of competition, when every pandal works hard to attract crowds, making idols for more than once club in the same city demands lot of creativity. "We have not repeated a single design in our work in the past eight years and every 'statute' made by us is different from the other. Thinking for the next year's design will start just after two or three months. All clubs now leave everything on us to decide," says a proud Amit.
Talking about this year's theme at Durga Bari, Amit said it is based on the Dokra art which originated some 300 years ago at a place between Bardhaman and Bankura district in West Bengal. "Dokra art is known for its metallic finish though it started with making sculptures from bamboo. With time artisan innovated and started using clay".
When artisans all over India are going global and making money, Amit feels the real satisfaction is in when art gets appreciated. "Everyone wants money to survive and we are no exception. However, the real joy is when people like our work and appreciate our concept. With work we have build a faith and I feel Durga Bari is my second home. I consider this to be my greatest reward".
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www.ONSSolutions.com
Andhra on boil
As TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao brought the Telangana issue to New Delhi, holding a sit-in at Rajghat, and as the shutdown in Andhra Pradesh entered the 20th day, the Congress was veering around to the idea of bifurcating the state.
While it was earlier not willing to consider anything more than the Srikrishna Committee’s suggestion of a statutory Regional Council, it now believes “things have gone much beyond”. Even making Hyderabad a joint capital for 10 years or more is reportedly on the table.
As per the party’s assessment, if Telangana is denied, the legislators who have quit, along with Jagan Mohan Reddy loyalists, could force the Kiran Reddy regime out.
On the other hand, if Andhra is bifurcated, the Congress believes, Reddy could survive and the party could also come to power in the new state with the TRS.
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While it was earlier not willing to consider anything more than the Srikrishna Committee’s suggestion of a statutory Regional Council, it now believes “things have gone much beyond”. Even making Hyderabad a joint capital for 10 years or more is reportedly on the table.
As per the party’s assessment, if Telangana is denied, the legislators who have quit, along with Jagan Mohan Reddy loyalists, could force the Kiran Reddy regime out.
On the other hand, if Andhra is bifurcated, the Congress believes, Reddy could survive and the party could also come to power in the new state with the TRS.
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Friday 30 September 2011
Telangana crisis: Congress in a bind, more talks today
New Delhi/Hyderabad: The Congress leadership at the Centre seems to be caught in a bind over the issue of statehood for Telangana. A meeting of the Congress core group led by Sonia Gandhi ended without any major decisions yesterday. Today, more talks will take place between top Telangana leaders and the Prime Minister.
The core group of the Congress - the first attended by Mrs Gandhi since she returned from an operation in the US - met for nearly two hours yesterday, referencing a report submitted to her by Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is also in charge of Andhra Pradesh for the Congress.
Mr Azad has spent the last few months touring the state, and meeting with representatives of its three regions - Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana. His report calls for more consultations. The Congress may send a team to Andhra Pradesh to gauge the situation.
The general strike called by pro-Telangana activists in the region has entered the 19th day today. Trains and buses in this part of Andhra Pradesh have been delayed or cancelled and businesses have been forced to shut down. Activists are now increasing their presence and pressure tactics both in Hyderabad and Delhi. Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhara Rao, who is the face of the pro-Telangana movement, will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj today along with a delegation of Telangana political Joint Action Committee to press for an early decision in favour of the separate statehood.
Just as leaders from Telangana are determined to win a new state, politicians from the two other regions of Andhra Pradesh are heavy-set in their opposition to a partition of Andhra Pradesh as it currently exists. The tug of war is pivoted at least partly on who would get Hyderabad - the economically-prosperous state capital that thrives on its IT industry.
Sources say the Congress may depute a small team of leaders to travel to Andhra Pradesh for another ground report. After that, a meeting of all political parties could be called by the Home Minister to discuss whether Andhra Pradesh should be divided.
Many of the leaders from Telangana have in the last few days positioned themselves in Delhi in anticipation of "a favourable report." Among them are several Congressmen, who met with the government's senior-most minister Pranab Mukherjee late on Thursday night. The Congress is in power in Andhra Pradesh. Its dilemma of whether to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh has to account for its own leaders from Telangana, who are being pressured by voters to quit if they cannot deliver a new state. In a symbolic gesture in July, nearly 100 legislators including ministers, and more than a dozen MPs quit their offices. Their resignations were not accepted on the grounds that they had been made "under duress."
But over the last few days, the tension has been inching its way towards the danger mark. Pro-Telangana activists have been surrounding the homes and office of Congress leaders, a pressure tactic bordering on intimidation.
K Chandrasekhara Rao arrived in Delhi on Friday night. "We are here to meet the honourable Prime Minister and complain regarding ill-treatment of our MLAs, and also to say that our movement is very peaceful and democratic, and today is the 18th day. For the past few weeks, police is brutally behaving and the Chief Minister is behaving like a dictator, so we wanted to see the Prime Minister and explain to him, and also to ask him to expedite the Telangana matter. We are planning to meet Leader of Opposition, Sushma Swaraj. Tomorrow we will take a call on how to go about the meeting... it's a kind of memorandum which we will give to the Prime Minister," KCR said after landing in Delhi.
In 2009, KCR's 11-day hunger-strike fuelled an aggressive campaign that resonated with students at Osmania University in Hyderabad. Violent protests that threw students into the ring with policemen became a daily feature. And in December 2009, Home Minister P Chidambaram made a surprise announcement that the Centre had agreed to a Telangana state.
However, political parties soon opposed this - leaders from Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema said they were not in favour of their state being partitioned. So the government suspended all plans and set up the Srikrishna Committee in February 2010 with the challenging agenda of determining "what all sections of society" feel about the division of their state. The committee delivered its report on the last day of 2010. The 505-page report lists six options, of which it holds the sixth as the most workable - "a united Andhra Pradesh with constitutionally-allocated regional rights to help the socio-economic development of the Telangana region."
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The core group of the Congress - the first attended by Mrs Gandhi since she returned from an operation in the US - met for nearly two hours yesterday, referencing a report submitted to her by Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is also in charge of Andhra Pradesh for the Congress.
Mr Azad has spent the last few months touring the state, and meeting with representatives of its three regions - Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana. His report calls for more consultations. The Congress may send a team to Andhra Pradesh to gauge the situation.
The general strike called by pro-Telangana activists in the region has entered the 19th day today. Trains and buses in this part of Andhra Pradesh have been delayed or cancelled and businesses have been forced to shut down. Activists are now increasing their presence and pressure tactics both in Hyderabad and Delhi. Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhara Rao, who is the face of the pro-Telangana movement, will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj today along with a delegation of Telangana political Joint Action Committee to press for an early decision in favour of the separate statehood.
Just as leaders from Telangana are determined to win a new state, politicians from the two other regions of Andhra Pradesh are heavy-set in their opposition to a partition of Andhra Pradesh as it currently exists. The tug of war is pivoted at least partly on who would get Hyderabad - the economically-prosperous state capital that thrives on its IT industry.
Sources say the Congress may depute a small team of leaders to travel to Andhra Pradesh for another ground report. After that, a meeting of all political parties could be called by the Home Minister to discuss whether Andhra Pradesh should be divided.
Many of the leaders from Telangana have in the last few days positioned themselves in Delhi in anticipation of "a favourable report." Among them are several Congressmen, who met with the government's senior-most minister Pranab Mukherjee late on Thursday night. The Congress is in power in Andhra Pradesh. Its dilemma of whether to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh has to account for its own leaders from Telangana, who are being pressured by voters to quit if they cannot deliver a new state. In a symbolic gesture in July, nearly 100 legislators including ministers, and more than a dozen MPs quit their offices. Their resignations were not accepted on the grounds that they had been made "under duress."
But over the last few days, the tension has been inching its way towards the danger mark. Pro-Telangana activists have been surrounding the homes and office of Congress leaders, a pressure tactic bordering on intimidation.
K Chandrasekhara Rao arrived in Delhi on Friday night. "We are here to meet the honourable Prime Minister and complain regarding ill-treatment of our MLAs, and also to say that our movement is very peaceful and democratic, and today is the 18th day. For the past few weeks, police is brutally behaving and the Chief Minister is behaving like a dictator, so we wanted to see the Prime Minister and explain to him, and also to ask him to expedite the Telangana matter. We are planning to meet Leader of Opposition, Sushma Swaraj. Tomorrow we will take a call on how to go about the meeting... it's a kind of memorandum which we will give to the Prime Minister," KCR said after landing in Delhi.
In 2009, KCR's 11-day hunger-strike fuelled an aggressive campaign that resonated with students at Osmania University in Hyderabad. Violent protests that threw students into the ring with policemen became a daily feature. And in December 2009, Home Minister P Chidambaram made a surprise announcement that the Centre had agreed to a Telangana state.
However, political parties soon opposed this - leaders from Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema said they were not in favour of their state being partitioned. So the government suspended all plans and set up the Srikrishna Committee in February 2010 with the challenging agenda of determining "what all sections of society" feel about the division of their state. The committee delivered its report on the last day of 2010. The 505-page report lists six options, of which it holds the sixth as the most workable - "a united Andhra Pradesh with constitutionally-allocated regional rights to help the socio-economic development of the Telangana region."
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Thursday 29 September 2011
Telangana crisis: Bandh in Hyderabad, talks in Delhi
New Delhi/Hyderabad: As the general strike in support of a separate Telangana state enters its 18th day today, Congress central leadership is meeting some of its leaders from the region to find a solution to the crisis.
Last evening, senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee met some Telangana Congress MPs who are camping in Delhi and have refused to return to Hyderabad till there is a definite word from the UPA leadership on formation of Telangana.
Mr Mukherjee is said to have assured the delegation that he will take up the issue with the Prime Minister and the Congress president on priority basis. The leaders are likely to meet the PM and President today itself. Congress in charge of Andhra Pradesh, Ghulam Nabi Azad, is expected to submit an internal report on Telangana crisis to the party in a day or two.
Meanwhile, the Telangana Joint Action Committee has called a bandh in Hyderabad today. Protesters have now shifted their focus on putting pressure on elected representatives and ministers in the Congress government to resign. For this, the protesters are gheraoing their homes and not allowing them to move around freely in the Telangana region.
Labour Minister Danam Nagender faced the ire of the protesters yesterday as the members of the Telangana Joint Action Committee sat outside his residence in Hyderabad.
"We demand that Danam Nagender must immediately resign from his post," said a protester.
"They have no right to ask for my resignation or that of any other Congress leader. Minister Komti Reddy resigned but people still threw chappals on him. What is their fate if this is how resigned MLAs and ministers are treated," said Mr Nagender.
These activists also surrounded the homes of many other Congress elected representatives in several Telangana districts.
"If our Congress leaders were good, then by now a Bill on Telangana would have been presented in Parliament and Telangana state would have been formed," said another protester.
This is being seen as an attempt by TRS-led pro-Telangana groups to pressurise the elected representatives asking them to resign and join the strike or face the ire of the people.
"It is a demand by the people of Telangana, not KCR alone. It is a popular demand that all Telangana public representatives must resign, so that the Centre is moved and the issue is solved," TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao said on Thursday.
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Last evening, senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee met some Telangana Congress MPs who are camping in Delhi and have refused to return to Hyderabad till there is a definite word from the UPA leadership on formation of Telangana.
Mr Mukherjee is said to have assured the delegation that he will take up the issue with the Prime Minister and the Congress president on priority basis. The leaders are likely to meet the PM and President today itself. Congress in charge of Andhra Pradesh, Ghulam Nabi Azad, is expected to submit an internal report on Telangana crisis to the party in a day or two.
Meanwhile, the Telangana Joint Action Committee has called a bandh in Hyderabad today. Protesters have now shifted their focus on putting pressure on elected representatives and ministers in the Congress government to resign. For this, the protesters are gheraoing their homes and not allowing them to move around freely in the Telangana region.
Labour Minister Danam Nagender faced the ire of the protesters yesterday as the members of the Telangana Joint Action Committee sat outside his residence in Hyderabad.
"We demand that Danam Nagender must immediately resign from his post," said a protester.
"They have no right to ask for my resignation or that of any other Congress leader. Minister Komti Reddy resigned but people still threw chappals on him. What is their fate if this is how resigned MLAs and ministers are treated," said Mr Nagender.
These activists also surrounded the homes of many other Congress elected representatives in several Telangana districts.
"If our Congress leaders were good, then by now a Bill on Telangana would have been presented in Parliament and Telangana state would have been formed," said another protester.
This is being seen as an attempt by TRS-led pro-Telangana groups to pressurise the elected representatives asking them to resign and join the strike or face the ire of the people.
"It is a demand by the people of Telangana, not KCR alone. It is a popular demand that all Telangana public representatives must resign, so that the Centre is moved and the issue is solved," TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao said on Thursday.
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India, Pak agree to work on simplifying visa rules
Commerce minister Anand Sharma and his Pakistani counterpart Makh-doom Muhammed Amin Fahim have agreed that there is a need for liberalising business visa regime.
The visa regime is a major irritant between businessmen from both countries as the visas are given for specific districts and not the country as practiced by most nations in the world, said Pakistan senator Haji Ghulam Ali, who is also the president of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI)
“We have urged the concerned officials on both sides to expeditiously conclude the liberal business visa regime by November which will rapidly expand the vistas of bilateral commerce,” said Sharma.
His Pakistan counterpart has recognised that the grant of most favoured nation (MFN) status to India would be a key step in expanding bilateral trade relations.
Sharma informed business leaders from India and Pakistan at a session hosted by Ficci that he will visit Pakistan soon with a business delegation.
Sharma pointed out that trade in petroleum, energy and commodities would be significant steps for building long-term stake in each other’s economy.
“Strengthening the border infrastructure remains a high priority for us and I was happy to be informed that the Integrated Check Post which is being constructed at the Attari-Wagah Border at a cost of Rs 150 crore will be operational by the end of the current year," said Sharma.
Later, Sharma told reporters that central banks from both countries are likely to discuss about opening up of bank branches in each other's territory.
Early next year, Pakistan will be chairing the Safta ministerial meeting and this meeting is being touted as a key event, which may give shape a new direction to SAFTA regional framework.
According to Ficci's status paper on status of India-Pakistan economic relations, India is reducing peak tariff rates for Pakistan to 8 per cent by January 1, 2012. The rates would be further reduced to 5 per cent in 2013.
Fahim told reporters: "Let us make a short negative list and strive for a longer list of friends."
Pakistan has recently announced its intention to move over from the positive list to negative list on trade with India.
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The visa regime is a major irritant between businessmen from both countries as the visas are given for specific districts and not the country as practiced by most nations in the world, said Pakistan senator Haji Ghulam Ali, who is also the president of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI)
“We have urged the concerned officials on both sides to expeditiously conclude the liberal business visa regime by November which will rapidly expand the vistas of bilateral commerce,” said Sharma.
His Pakistan counterpart has recognised that the grant of most favoured nation (MFN) status to India would be a key step in expanding bilateral trade relations.
Sharma informed business leaders from India and Pakistan at a session hosted by Ficci that he will visit Pakistan soon with a business delegation.
Sharma pointed out that trade in petroleum, energy and commodities would be significant steps for building long-term stake in each other’s economy.
“Strengthening the border infrastructure remains a high priority for us and I was happy to be informed that the Integrated Check Post which is being constructed at the Attari-Wagah Border at a cost of Rs 150 crore will be operational by the end of the current year," said Sharma.
Later, Sharma told reporters that central banks from both countries are likely to discuss about opening up of bank branches in each other's territory.
Early next year, Pakistan will be chairing the Safta ministerial meeting and this meeting is being touted as a key event, which may give shape a new direction to SAFTA regional framework.
According to Ficci's status paper on status of India-Pakistan economic relations, India is reducing peak tariff rates for Pakistan to 8 per cent by January 1, 2012. The rates would be further reduced to 5 per cent in 2013.
Fahim told reporters: "Let us make a short negative list and strive for a longer list of friends."
Pakistan has recently announced its intention to move over from the positive list to negative list on trade with India.
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Wednesday 28 September 2011
China 'shadow-boxing' US at sea
Philippine ex-president Fidel Ramos has said that China's recent assertiveness over sea disputes was motivated by a desire to challenge US power, as he predicted more tensions to come.
On a visit to Washington, Ramos described China and the United States as "shadow-boxing" over the South China Sea and East China Sea where Beijing has growing friction with countries including the Philippines, Vietnam and Japan.
"China's proximate aim, it seems to me, is to limit American freedom of access" and "erode the credibility of Washington's security guarantees to the East Asian states, including and especially the Philippines," Ramos, who was president from 1992 to 1998, said at the Heritage Foundation think-tank.
"We, where we come from, expect South China Sea tensions to continue because the root cause is really China's perceived need to break out from under the strategic dominance of the Western allies," Ramos said yesterday.
However, Ramos said he did not expect military confrontation due to the vast US military superiority over China. He called for governments to shift away spending from the military to fighting "real enemies" such as poverty.
Ramos was visiting Washington as part of 60th anniversary commemorations of the Mutual Defense Treaty between Washington and its former colony.
Elsewhere in the region, the United States also has security pacts with Australia, Japan, South Korea and Thailand.
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On a visit to Washington, Ramos described China and the United States as "shadow-boxing" over the South China Sea and East China Sea where Beijing has growing friction with countries including the Philippines, Vietnam and Japan.
"China's proximate aim, it seems to me, is to limit American freedom of access" and "erode the credibility of Washington's security guarantees to the East Asian states, including and especially the Philippines," Ramos, who was president from 1992 to 1998, said at the Heritage Foundation think-tank.
"We, where we come from, expect South China Sea tensions to continue because the root cause is really China's perceived need to break out from under the strategic dominance of the Western allies," Ramos said yesterday.
However, Ramos said he did not expect military confrontation due to the vast US military superiority over China. He called for governments to shift away spending from the military to fighting "real enemies" such as poverty.
Ramos was visiting Washington as part of 60th anniversary commemorations of the Mutual Defense Treaty between Washington and its former colony.
Elsewhere in the region, the United States also has security pacts with Australia, Japan, South Korea and Thailand.
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Pranab Clarifies on 2G Note
Amid the controversy over a finance ministry note on Home Minister P Chidambaram’s stand on 2G spectrum allocation, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stating that the March 2011 note was actually part of a background paper prepared after inter-ministerial consultations.
Mukherjee is said to have pointed out that the background paper had been prepared with the purpose of coordinating the government’s response on the 2G spectrum allocation issue. Officials of several ministries including law, finance and telecom, as also the cabinet secretariat and PMO were involved in the exercise, the finance minister’s letter is said to have noted.
Mukherjee is learnt to have informed party and ministerial colleagues at a late evening meeting that there is nothing new in his letter to the Prime Minister. He has only put in writing what he had told the PM at a meeting in New York on Sunday
A day after the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) witnessed sharp exchanges, with opposition party members accusing the government of keeping the finance ministry note from the committee, union ministers Pawan Bansal, Rajeev Shukla and V Narayanasamy, accompanied by JPC chairman P C Chacko, called on Mukherjee late in the evening to discuss the issue.
Mukherjee was said to have explained to them that the said finance ministry note was a background paper and it had “nothing new” from what was already in the public domain and, therefore, there was no need to present it in the JPC. Their meeting, however, remained inconclusive and they are likely to have another round of discussion on Thursday to finalise their stand on this issue in the JPC.
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Mukherjee is said to have pointed out that the background paper had been prepared with the purpose of coordinating the government’s response on the 2G spectrum allocation issue. Officials of several ministries including law, finance and telecom, as also the cabinet secretariat and PMO were involved in the exercise, the finance minister’s letter is said to have noted.
Mukherjee is learnt to have informed party and ministerial colleagues at a late evening meeting that there is nothing new in his letter to the Prime Minister. He has only put in writing what he had told the PM at a meeting in New York on Sunday
A day after the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) witnessed sharp exchanges, with opposition party members accusing the government of keeping the finance ministry note from the committee, union ministers Pawan Bansal, Rajeev Shukla and V Narayanasamy, accompanied by JPC chairman P C Chacko, called on Mukherjee late in the evening to discuss the issue.
Mukherjee was said to have explained to them that the said finance ministry note was a background paper and it had “nothing new” from what was already in the public domain and, therefore, there was no need to present it in the JPC. Their meeting, however, remained inconclusive and they are likely to have another round of discussion on Thursday to finalise their stand on this issue in the JPC.
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BJP: Govt will collapse on its own
Demanding that heads should roll in the government over corruption, BJP today said Home Minister P Chidambaram is as culpable as A Raja in the 2G spectrum scam and alleged that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was protecting “tainted ministers”.
The party rejected the Prime Minister's contention that Opposition was trying to destabilise the government, saying it did not have the numbers to do so but the “collapse” was taking place due to its own contradictions.
At a press conference held to take on the UPA government after Singh's statement yesterday, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and her Rajya Sabha counterpart Arun Jaitley made a scathing attack on the Prime Minister, alleging that the files clearly show he had “full knowledge” and was not in the dark about the 2G spectrum allocation scam.
Demanding Chidambaram's resignation, the BJP leaders said “the last word has not been said on 2G” and the “2G saga is continuing”.
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The party rejected the Prime Minister's contention that Opposition was trying to destabilise the government, saying it did not have the numbers to do so but the “collapse” was taking place due to its own contradictions.
At a press conference held to take on the UPA government after Singh's statement yesterday, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and her Rajya Sabha counterpart Arun Jaitley made a scathing attack on the Prime Minister, alleging that the files clearly show he had “full knowledge” and was not in the dark about the 2G spectrum allocation scam.
Demanding Chidambaram's resignation, the BJP leaders said “the last word has not been said on 2G” and the “2G saga is continuing”.
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Monday 26 September 2011
Kenya's Nobel peace laureate Wangari Maathai dies
NAIROBI: Kenya's Wangari Maathai, who won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize for her environmental work, has died of cancer, the campaigning movement she founded announced on Monday.
"It is with great sadness that the family of professor Wangari Maathai announces her passing away on 25th September 2011 at the Nairobi hospital after a prolonged and bravely borne struggle with cancer," the Green Belt Movement said in a statement.
Born in 1940, Maathai became a key figure in Kenya since founding the movement in 1977, staunchly campaigning for environmental conservation and good governance.
Since its founding, her organisation has planted some 40 million trees across Africa. In the 1970s, she also headed the Kenya Red Cross.
Maathai won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize for her environmental work and reforestation in her native Kenya.
She was the first woman in east and central Africa to earn a PhD, and also the first African woman and Kenyan to receive the Nobel Peace prize.
Aside from her conservation work, Maathai was in 2002 elected an MP then named the environment assistant minister, a position which she held between 2003 and 2005.
Outside Kenya, Maathai was involved in efforts to save central Africa's Congo basin forest, the world's second largest tropical forest.
Maathai, who was divorced, leaves behind three children and a grandchild.
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"It is with great sadness that the family of professor Wangari Maathai announces her passing away on 25th September 2011 at the Nairobi hospital after a prolonged and bravely borne struggle with cancer," the Green Belt Movement said in a statement.
Born in 1940, Maathai became a key figure in Kenya since founding the movement in 1977, staunchly campaigning for environmental conservation and good governance.
Since its founding, her organisation has planted some 40 million trees across Africa. In the 1970s, she also headed the Kenya Red Cross.
Maathai won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize for her environmental work and reforestation in her native Kenya.
She was the first woman in east and central Africa to earn a PhD, and also the first African woman and Kenyan to receive the Nobel Peace prize.
Aside from her conservation work, Maathai was in 2002 elected an MP then named the environment assistant minister, a position which she held between 2003 and 2005.
Outside Kenya, Maathai was involved in efforts to save central Africa's Congo basin forest, the world's second largest tropical forest.
Maathai, who was divorced, leaves behind three children and a grandchild.
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