India News: April 2006

Taliban kills kidnapped Indian
Sunday, April 30, 2006 | MP

Taliban in a brutal act killed abducted Indian engineer,Suryanarayana who was kidnapped 2 days ago at Afghanistan. His beheaded body was left found in southern Afghanistan. India strongly condemned the act terming it as "pre-meditated" and "inhuman act". Meanwhile Taliban spokesman said Suryanarayana was shot dead as he tried to escape but Afghan Interior Ministry officials denied the claim, saying that it was not an accidental killing as the body had been beheaded.

Office of profit: Somnath refuse to resign
Saturday, April 29, 2006 | MP

Even after many complaints being lodged on the office of profit issue, Lok Sabha Speaker Somanth Chatterjee maintained that he would not step down from his post.Trinamool Congress leaders has been demanding Chatterjee's resignation on the office of profit issue' 'I am not holding any office of profit. Therefore, I refuse to resign,' Chatterjee told reporters. Besides CPI-M to which Somnath belong, had also maintained that the post of Chairman of the SSDA was not an ofice of profit.

Oil price hike to affect importing nations:India
Monday, April 24, 2006 | MP

India has indicated that the rising global oil prices would have a serious impact on the oil importing nations,the developing countries in particular. This was highlighted by the Secretary of Economic Affairs of Government of India. "A sustained escalation of global energy prices would have a serious impact on the welfare for a large number of oil importing developing countries, which may suffer from negative resource flows, he said. The rising oil price trend would result in reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for the developing nations a much more tedious task.

Indian economy on accelerated growth, says Ahluwalia
Saturday, April 22, 2006 | MP

Economist and Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said that the Indian economy would continue to be on an accelerated trend in the coming years. This could be contributed by the upsurge in investments, low inflation rate and ample foreign exchange. Ahluwalia said this during a session at the United States India Business Council-CII event held at Washington. "India can get to a ten per cent growth rate but the questions that are to be posed are over what period and the kind of policies that are needed to be put in place to achieve this objective. We are quite clear that this acceleration will not come from simply business as usual," he said.

Pramod Mahajan faces bullet injuries
Saturday, April 22, 2006 | MP

BJP leader and party General Secretary Pramod Mahajan faced three bullet injuries after allegedly being shot by his younger brother at his residence in Mumbai. He was taken to the Hinduja hospital where he was operated upon on the injuries. Mahajan suffered three injuries at the chest and stomach. Police officials confirmed that the incident occurred following a family dispute over property.

ICC ODI rankings: India at third, Dhoni at top
Thursday, April 20, 2006 | MP

The latest ICC one-day international rankings listed India retaining the third position in the table. India's wicket keeper cum batsman, M S Dhoni found the top position in the ODI rankings. This Jharkand player has a statistics 42 matches being played with a strike-rate of 103 runs per hundred balls. Among the other Indian batsmen in the top 10 list includes Rahul Dravid at 9th position while Yuvraj Singh is listed at 10th.

India rejects US proposal for cap on N-tests
Tuesday, April 18, 2006 | MP

India made its position clear stating that the US proposal to put cap on its nuclear testing will have no place in a proposed bilateral agreement. India at the same time maintained that it would stay committed to the unilateral moratorium on further tests. Among the elements suggested by the US in its preliminary draft agreement referred that US would stop cooperation if India were to set off a nuclear explosive device. New Delhi maintained that it will sign the treaty only if it is universal with all countries dismantling their nuclear devices.

Rare view of Uranus for 3 days
Monday, April 17, 2006 | MP

Sky gazers can get a rare glimpse of planet Uranus which is otherwise barely visible by a naked eye. This planet can be viewed for three days, from April 17 to 19 as Venus and Uranus will come close in the early daylight sky. Uranus will be favorably located next to planet Venus and can be best viewed in the early dawn before sunrise. Venus will serve as a guide post and Uranus can be seen very next to the Venus in the sky. If viewed with a binoculars or a small telescope one would see a diamond-bright Venus in a small half-moon phase and Uranus will be seen beside it as a tiny blue-green disk.

Narmada dam:PMO to decide on suspension of work
Sunday, April 16, 2006 | MP

The Prime Minister's Office claimed that it was yet to decide on the suspension of construction work at the Sardar Sarovar Project on river Narmada. "The Prime Minister discussed the issue with everybody but he has not taken any decision yet," said PM's media advisor. But PMO made it clear that the rehabilitation of people would remain a priority while it continue with the construction work at the dam as per the Supreme court ruling on the issue.

High alert as serial blasts rock Delhi, Srinagar
Saturday, April 15, 2006 | MP

Serial blasts that rocked Srinagar and Delhi's historic Jama Masjid on Friday triggered high alert across the country. Security has been beefed up in and around important religious shrines and vital installations. A red alert was sounded in Delhi, Mumbai, Kashmir and all communally sensitive districts of Uttar Pradesh.Additional security officials are deployed in key areas in view of the series of terror attacks.

Emigration Clearance necessary to Thailand
Friday, April 14, 2006 | AA

The Government of India has withdrawn the exemption given from the operation of Section 22 of the Emigration Act, 1983 to every citizen of India going to Thailand, according to a notification issued by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs. Indian citizens desiring to visit Thailand and having `Emigration Check Required’ stamp on their passports should obtain clearance from any of the offices of Protector of Emigrants located at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Chandigarh before departure to the airport.

Bahrain to start embassy in India
Friday, April 14, 2006 | AA

The Government of Bahrain would soon be opening its embassy in New Delhi, Mr. E. Ahamed, Union Minister of State for External Affairs, stated in Doha. A letter in this regard has been received from Mr. Sheikh Khalid bin Ahamed al Khalifa, Foreign Minister of Bahrain.

JD(U) will remain with NDA: Sharad Yadav
Friday, April 14, 2006 | MP

Sharad Yadav after being selected as the new Janata Dal(U) President ruled out all speculations of JD(U) breaking away from NDA and said that the party would continue to remain with the National Democratic Alliance. He also maintained that Fernandes will continue as the party convener." I want to make this clear. We have been and will continue to be part of the NDA and our senior leader George Fernandes will continue in the post of NDA convener", said Yadav.

PG medical entrance exams not to be cancelled
Thursday, April 13, 2006 | MP

Supreme Court has ruled out the Center government's request for cancellation of the All India Post Graduate Medical Entrance Examinations. The government has previously asked for canceling the exams on view of findings of student malpractices in the entrance test. As per the court decision, the first round of counseling is scheduled as on April 21 with rearrangements in the merit lists.

Rupee crashes
Wednesday, April 12, 2006 | AA

The rupee today tumbled against the US dollar and ended at a three-and-a half month low of Rs 45.19/20 per dollar due to heavy dollar demand by select PSU banks and also due to heavy selling by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) in the Indian stock markets.

Coach Chappell in praise for Dhoni
Wednesday, April 12, 2006 | MP

Indian cricket coach Greg Chappel lauded youngster Mahendra Singh Dhoni not only his talent on the field but also for his leadership qualities. This came during the felicitation function organised by the Jharkhand Cricket Association before the Jamshedpur ODI match. It was local boy Dhoni who was the prime attaction in the function. "He is a very good judge of a situation, sums it up very quickly and just gets on with it. He takes the leadership well on and off the field. I'm sure he's going to be a leader in this association and a leader in the community and that's very important, "said Chappell.

India announces $50 mn aid to Afghanistan
Tuesday, April 11, 2006 | MP

India has announced another $50 million aid to Afghanistan to promote business and economical ties between the two countries. With this India's contribution to this war hit country has reached $650 million. The announcement came in view of the Afghan President Hamid Kharzai and his team of delegates visiting India on a 4 day tour to strengthen the bilateral trade and economic cooporation.

Laxmi Mittal tops as richest Asian in Britain
Monday, April 10, 2006 | MP

British based businessman and NRI, Laxmi Mittal, Chairman of Mittal Steel, has topped again as the richest Asian in Britian this year with wealth worth 14.8 billion pounds. Mittal who heads the world's largest steel company was listed in the top position in 2005 too. The Hinduja group heads, Sri Chand Hinduja, and Gopi Chand Hinduja, maintains the position of the second richest Asians in Britain.

Students unhappy over reservations in IIT,IIMs
Sunday, April 9, 2006 | MP

HRD Minister Arjun Singh's move on extending reservation for backward classes in higher educational institutions like IITs and IIMs have created tension among many of the students and people of academic community in the country.The center's decision allowing another 27% reservation in the 20 central universities,IIMs,IITs and NITs is believed to bring down the general category seats significantly. If the move is implemented this would lead to a loss of 1,330 seats in the general category in the IITs. Many of the primier institues also expressed concern over the proposal saying that the academic qualilty of the institutes would be compromised by the move.

Indian export boom to generate 2crore jobs
Saturday, April 8, 2006 | MP

If the Indian exports continue to rise in the present growth rate, the export industry could bring in over 2crore jobs to the country by 2009-10. This was indicated by a study conducted by Research & Information System for Developing Countries, released by Commerce Minister Kamal Nath. Thy stidy projects that if India achieves $150 billion exports target by 2009-10, it could lead to a total of 1.36 crore additional jobs. This include direct as well as indirect jobs created by the export related sectors.

Sensex crosses 11,900 mark
Friday, April 7, 2006 | MP

Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) trading witnessed new highs today with sensex crossing the 11,900 mark during the early trading hours. The zoom in index was accounted with heavy buying of IT stocks, IT major Infosys Technologies in particular. The Sensex gained 186.73 points and Nifty shot up by 40.60 points to touch 3,555.50 for the first time. Also other IT shares like Tata Consultancy, Satyam Computers, HCL technology, Wipro etc made significant gains.

Govt urges Mehda Patkar to end fast
Thursday, April 6, 2006 | MP

The Union Cabinet has expressed concern over the health condition of the Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar and urged her to call off her fast. She was taken to hospital following failing conditions of her health. Earlier Prime Minister too requested her to call off the fast who has entered her eight day of hunger strike against the government's decision to increase the height of the Sadar Sarovar Dam in Madhya Pradesh. Govt has also promised to implement the Supreme Court directives for the rehabilitation of the people displaced by the dam site.

BJP unveils agenda on twin yatras
Wednesday, April 5, 2006 | MP

BJP on Tuesday projected its agendas on the twin yatras which is being planned to start from April 6th. BJP chief Rajnath Singh and opposition leader L K Advani alleged on the Congress-led UPA government's failure and said that the yatra was meant to highlight on these issues and to educate the people on the number of new challenges that the country has been facing ever since the UPA's rule. The yatra agenda included protest against the politics of "minority appeasement", preserving national security from jihadi terrorism, corrupt free governance, to protect common man, the poor and farmers from unemployment, debt etc.

Assam polls peaceful; 68pc turnout
Tuesday, April 4, 2006 | MP

The voting in the first phase of Assembly polls in Assam ended peacefully amidst tight security deployed across the polling booths in the state. 68 percent turnout was recorded in the 65 of the 126 constituencies in the State on Monday's elections. There were total of 9,723 polling stations in the first phase for the 92 lakh electorate.

IIMs hike fees
Monday, April 3, 2006 | MP

The premium B schools,Indian Institute of Managements in the country has increased the fees for the coming academic years.The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), has increased its two-year post-graduate programme (PGP) course fee by 12 per cent, from Rs 1.58 lakh to Rs 1.77 lakh,which will come into effct from this academic year starting in June 2006. The Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore has also hiked the fee for its management programme by 15% to Rs 1.75 lakh from Rs 1.5 lakh.IIM-A and IIM-B has not hiked their fees in the last 3 years while the newer IIM's at Indore, Kozhikode, Lucknow and IIM-C has hiked their fees in the last year.

VAT enforced in 5 more states
Sunday, April 2, 2006 | MP

The Value-Added Tax system has come into force in 5 more states in the country. From April 1st, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have adopted the VAT system while Uttar Pradesh still denied implementing the system. With this VAT is operational in all the states except Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. VAT, aimed at bringing uniformity in tax rates, has two main slabs of 4 % and 12.5 % and is enforced only on value-additions to products.

PM for poll campaign in Assam
Saturday, April 1, 2006 | MP

With the first and second phase of Assam assembly elections scheduled for April 3rd and April 10th, the Congress party is strengthening its poll campaign in Assam. After Sonia Gandhi's launch of party campaign in Assam on Thursday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be visiting Assam for two days to campaign for the Congress party's candidates ahead of the of the elections. Singh, also a Rajya Sabha member from the state, is expected to address four public meetings during his visit to Assam.