India News: December 2005

Delhi's new Metro Line 3 open to public
Saturday, December 31, 2005 | MP

Delhi's Metro Line III is open to the public from today. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who had inaugurated the new 22.79-km Barakhamba-Dwarka section said that it had become a symbol of a really 'new' Delhi. The new metro line will reduce the commuting time between Connaught Place to Dwarka to 38 minutes. The project was completed in a record time of little over 7 years as against the allowed time of 10 years. With the Phase I coming to an end, Delhi government is working out on plans for the Phase 2 which would connect the metro to south Delhi upto IIT,Delhi.

Govt to fund Rs 715cr to Anti-Sikh riots victims
Friday, December 30, 2005 | MP

The Center government has agreed to fund Rs 715 crore towards the relief and rehabilitation aid for the 1984 anti Sikh riots victims. This is in addition to the amount that has already been paid by the State governments to the riot affected families. Over 20,000 families is said to have moved to Punjab following the riots. An aid of Rs 2 lakh will be given to each of these families. The government would also grant additional amount on compensation for the property damages.

Ganguly and others told to play Ranji games
Wednesday, December 28, 2005 | MP

The Board of Council for Cricket in India (BCCI) had directed the 4 players including Sourav Ganguly to play for the next round of Ranji Trophy matches beginning on January 3. The other players are Anil Kumble, Parthiv Patel and Virender Sehwag. The players have been asked to play for their respective state teams and would later join the Indian team in Pakistan on January 7th after the completion of the Ranji tournament. BCCI has said that the decision on this regard was made after consulting with the Indian Captain, Coach, BCCI President & the Selection Committee Chairman.

Global firms outsourcing more R&D jobs to India
Tuesday, December 27, 2005 | MP

After IT and call-centre jobs, Indian industry can look forward for R&D jobs. More international companies are thinking of outsourcing jobs related to research and development areas to India rather than Europe or China. This is a sure indication that India is thriving in favour of the outsourcing business. Apart from the call-centre, IT and business process assignments India is likely to continue in the offshoring business in domains like R&D, engineering and financial services.

BJP to decide on Advani's successor
Monday, December 26, 2005 | MP

BJP will decide on its new party President later this week at the annual gathering of the party leaders at the National Council meeting which is scheduled to begin from December 28th in Mumbai. The new chief will be appointed in place of L K Advani who will eventually quit the BJP President post after the party's silver jubilee celebrations. Reports indicate that Rajnath Singh is widely being considered for the new BJP chief's post.

Computer virus threat this X'mas season
Saturday, December 24, 2005 | MP

Internet surfers are warned of a new computer virus threat during this holiday season. The virus has been detected as "TROJ_SAMX.A" which comes as an email attachment called "MERRY CHRISTMASI.rar" that is being spammed via emails. Though the virus is rated of low risk, net users are advised to keep their anti virus programmes updated to ensure that their computers are secured from the virus attack.

INSAT 4A successfully launched
Thursday, December 22, 2005 | MP

India’s most advanced telecommunication satellite INSAT-4A was successfully launched from the space port of Kourou in French Guyana today at 4:03am. The satellite was placed in the orbit by Ariane-5, the European generic rocket. With the successful launch of INSAT 4A, the country has witnessed a very important milestone, said ISRO chief. Signals had been received from the satellite at the Master Control Facility at Hassan in Karnataka and is said to be functioning smoothly. INSAT 4A will help improve the Direct-to-Home (DTH) television services with around 140 to 150 DTH channels.

India-US to talk on nuclear pact
Tuesday, December 20, 2005 | MP

India and the United States will hold talks in Washington from Wednesday to discuss on the nuclear pact deal for bilateral cooperation in the civilian nuclear sector. India’s Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran is off to the US who will discuss India’s plan with the US officials for separation of the country’s civilian and military nuclear facilities. India is looking forward for the implementation of the July 18 agreement that would give us access to atomic technology for civilian nuclear energy thereby meet the growing energy demands of the country.

Intense cold wave hits North India
Monday, December 19, 2005 | MP

The intense cold wave continued to hit many parts of North Indian states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab,Haryana, Chandigarh and Rajastan claiming 38 lives in the region so far. The Meteorological Department had reported that more cold wave conditions are likely to occur in the next 48hrs. The minimum temperatures are said to be 2-4 degrees lesser than the normal average temperatures in the region with Srinagar recording a lowest of -5.6 degree Celsius. The dense foggy conditions had affected the rail and road traffic in many parts of North India.

Certain issues in WTO draft to be sorted out:India
Sunday, December 18, 2005 | MP

India in response to the release of WTO's initial draft said that the draft contains certain issues that needs to be sorted out before the final declaration. India also responded that the text contained some positive elements relating to agriculture issues in support to the developing nations. However India hopes that the final draft would come out with adequate changes after the discussions of the WTO meet.

Defence recruits to get online tests soon
Saturday, December 17, 2005 | MP

The government's defence department is planning to arrange online aptitude tests for those aspiring to join the Defence services. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will make the new format for the web based tests which will be available on the Internet. The new online test scheme is expected to come into effectwithin a years time. Applicants have to clear the aptitude tests before recruitemet into the Defence services.

Indian industry need to be more competitive: PM
Friday, December 16, 2005 | MP

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called on the industry leaders to be more competitve inorder to face the growing challenges of the world. Mr Singh asserted that the country could achieve success only if the industry and trade give way to greater competiton. The world respects only those who are strong, he said while talking to the media on his return from Kaula Lumpur.

TCS tops among IT firms
Thursday, December 15, 2005 | MP

IT major TCS continues to top among the leading software firms with a market capitalisation of Rs 81,040.88 crore. The company stands fourth in position after ONGC, Reliance Industries and NTPC in terms of market capitalisation. TCS has regained its postion ahead of Infosys Technologies which has Rs 78,534.16 crore towards market
capitalisation.

Ganguly dropped
Thursday, December 15, 2005 | MP

Saurav Ganguly was dropped from India's test cricket squad yesterday, out of the 15-man squad for the third test against Sri Lanka starting in Ahmedabad on Sunday after scoring 40 and 39 in the second test in New Delhi. Ganguly was sacked as captain and omitted from the one-day squad in October following a prolonged batting slump and a damaging row with coach Greg Chappell. India squad: Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Mahendra Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Wasim Jaffer, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Ajit Agarkar, Irfan Pathan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Murali Kartik.

Kalam launches India-U.S. EDUSAT network
Friday, December 9, 2005 | MP

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam launched the India-U.S. Universities EDUSAT network, a programme to enhance the academic cooperation between India-US Universities. The programme is intended to help students for higher education and research. "It is indeed a renewal programme of long standing scientific cooperation between the two countries. This cooperation indeed should result in the virtual university system.” Said Kalam while addressing the students and faculty via the live video conference during the inaugiral function.

Internet users in India soars up
Friday, December 9, 2005 | MP

An industry study in the country revealed that the number of Internet users in India has significantly increased in the recent years. Though the Internet users are relatively low in India there has been a 54% rise in the statistics making it to 34.5 million Internet users in the country. There has also been a remarkable rise in the number of internet cafes in the various cities and towns across the country. The increasing trend of online shopping and online ticket booking and trading facilities are said to have a notable impact on the Internet surfers in India.

Natwar hands over resignation letter
Wednesday, December 7, 2005 | MP

After much pressure from the opposition former external minister Natwar Singh has resigned from the Union Cabinet. His resignation letter was handed over at Prime Minister's residence who is currently on a Russia visit. The same was sent to the PM by fax to his hotel room in Moscow. Opposition partys huge protest has forced Mr Singh to resign who infact wanted to step down after PM's return from Moscow. He also maintained that he have not violated any law in letter and spirit.

BJP expells Uma Bharati
Monday, December 5, 2005 | MP

Uma Bharati who had been suspended by the BJP for questioning the leadership of new Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan was expelled from the party for disorderliness and anti-party activities. She was given a show cause notice for explanation for her in disciplinary actions. The party said it took the action against Uma Bharati as she was causing disturbance to the state's smooth governance.

UAE may cancel job ceiling rule for Indian workers
Monday, December 5, 2005 | AA

UAE may relax the 34 per cent ceiling on employment of workers of a single nationality in a company if negotiations between the Indian mission and the UAE government bear fruits. India's Ambassador to the UAE Chandra Mohan Bhandari said high-level discussions in this regard were on between the UAE government and Indian missions, and a decision is expected soon. "I had discussions with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs as well as the Ministry of Interior, and I have requested that the ceiling regulation be relaxed. The UAE authorities assured us that they would consider the proposal, and we are expecting a positive response from them" he was quoted as saying in the Khaleej Times.

Adidas to enter India with its eye-wears
Monday, December 5, 2005 | AA

Adidas India Marketing Pvt Ltd would soon enter a new segment through launch of its eye-wears in India this month. ''We are going to make India the hub of our South Asian operations by early 2007. For this, we are going to significantly expand our activities in the Indian market,'' Andreas Gellner, company managing director, said here. The company will be a joint venture of sports-gear makers Adidas India Pvt Ltd and Magnum International Trading Co. Ltd,. A new plant at Chennai is planned.The company will also enter the high-end eye-wears to be imported from Austria. ''We are going to enter the eye-wear segment later this month. These will be high-end eye-wears, priced between Rs 5,000-9,000 and having lot of technical features,'' Gellner said.

Natwar Singh removed from Cong Steering Committee
Monday, December 5, 2005 | AA

Union Minister K Natwar Singh was late tonight removed from the Congress Steering Committee at a meeting of the Steering Committee presided over by Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Fresh allegations regarding the Volcker Committee report on the scam are appearing and Singh here had said "there has been a great deal of speculation in the media about why I have not resigned. It is not because of any love of office that I am not resigning. To resign now would look, to many people, as an admission of guilt." Singh had caused embarrasment to the congress party and the action by the steering committee is an indication of their displeasure on this issue.

Dual citizenship for NRIs becomes operational
Saturday, December 3, 2005 | MP

The dual citizenship scheme for Non-resident Indians, has finally become operational with the Indian Government launching the scheme on Friday. The scheme is available to all overseas Indians whose parents or grandparents migrated from India before 1950 or persons of Indian origin (PIOs) residing in other countries to be granted Indian citizenship except for those in Pakistan and Bangladesh. The application form could be downloaded from the ministry of home affairs’ Web site. The processing is said to take about a month. However the scheme will be formally launched by the Prime Minister by presenting the first dual citizenship to a PIO during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas event that is to be held in Hyderabad from January 7-9, ’06.

EC plans for parallel polls in 5 states
Friday, December 2, 2005 | MP

The Election Commission has plans to conduct assembly elections in 5 states around the same time whose term of assemblies are ending next year. Chief Election Commissioner B B Tandon informed that it was a general policy of the EC to have a schedule and hold the polls simultaneously as some of the states were finishing their assembly tenure around the same time. This would include states like West Bengal and Tamil Nadu whose assembly terms are expiring by mid June 13.