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BJP openly backs Samiti, Advani to speak at
rally |
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New Delhi: Vowing
to intensify the agitation over the land
transfer issue, BJP leaders LK Advani and
Rajnath Singh will address a mass rally in
Jammu on August 25. The rally is being
planned by the Shri Amarnath Sangharsh
Samiti. The move is seen as open endorsement
of the stir by the BJP, which had till now
sought to distance itself from what it
described as a “nationalist upsurge” of the
people of Jammu. So far, local lawyers and
businessmen, backed by RSS-affiliated units,
have been spearheading the 58-day agitation.
Leaders like Advani, Rajnath, MM Joshi,
Jaswant Singh, Venkaiah Naidu, Arun Jaitley
and Sushma Swaraj met on Monday and decided
on a series of agitations to keep the issue
alive and turn the heat on the UPA. Jaitley
briefed them on the situation. Later, the
BJP national office bearers passed a
resolution that “the massive and peaceful
peoples’ protest, which is continuing in the
Jammu region, is not only unique but
unparalleled in the history of democractic
movements in the country”.
Spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said:
“People from every segment of society,
including those from every community and
faith, came out with the Indian flag to
protest against this meek surrender (by the
UPA) before patently anti-India demands.”
The party will reiterate that the issue is
“neither Hindu versus Muslim nor Jammu
versus the Kashmir Valley. It is essentially
nationalist versus separatist.” The BJP
leaders condemned the hoisting of the
Pakistani flag at places in Kashmir on
Independence Day and the statements from
Pakistan. They said “the nationalist
elements in the Kashmir valley (read Farooq
and Omar Abdullahs) must rise to the
occasion and firmly speak against the voice
of secession, which is only being encouraged
from across the border.” (Media Watch) |
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PM promises to protect Majuli from floods in Brahmaputra |
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Nagaon: Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh on Monday assured a delegation of
Sattradhikars (heads of Vaishnavite monasteries) of
Majuli that his government would leave no stone
unturned in protecting the erosion-affected island
from the fury of the Brahmaputra. He said the
government would make every effort to get Majuli
recognised as a World Heritage Site.
Dr. Singh gave these assurances to 24 Sattradhikars
who called on him at Jorhat town and submitted a
memorandum calling for a “sincere initiative” from
the government to provide both physical and cultural
protection to Majuli. However, the Majuli units of
the All-Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and the Asom
Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) observed a
“betrayal day” to protest against the non-inclusion
of Majuli in the itinerary of Dr. Singh.
Earlier, at the foundation laying function of the
Jorhat Medical College, Dr. Singh said he was
worried about the recurrence of floods in Assam and
the damage they caused. He said his government had
taken major initiatives to address this problem;
during the 11th Plan, 75 schemes at an estimated
cost of Rs. 430 crore had been sanctioned for flood
control in the State.
Dr. Singh said he hoped to be back in the northeast
soon in connection with the inauguration of the
Kumarghat-Agartala railway line which, he said, was
a major initiative taken by his government as a
national project. |
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Nepal President visits flood-affected areas |
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Kathmandu: Nepal President Ram
Baran Yadav visited the flood-affected areas of eastern
Terai today and said the government is planning to provide
separate settlements to the people displaced by the
Saptakoshi River.
This is Dr Yadav’s first visit outside the capital after
being elected to the presidency last month.
Heads of the regional security bodies informed him about the
problems arisen after the Saptakoshi river breached
embankments that displaced nearly 50,000 people in Sunsari
district in eastern Terai.
Dr Yadav flew to Nepal Army Eastern Headquarters at around
1000 hrs (local time) and inspected the inundated areas
where at least four villages are still under water.
The president will also meet the displaced families, local
political leaders and the security personnel during the
visit, it is said.
Dr Yadav is accompanied by President’s office secretary Ram
Hari Aryal, Prime Minister’s office secretary Dipendra
Bikram Thapa and spokesperson of Home Ministry Mod Raj Dotel.
Prime Minister Prachanda had visited the area last week. The
government has provided Rs 20 million for the victims and
various organisations are collecting donations for the
relief. (Agencies) |
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Strong earthquake jolts southern Tibet |
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Beijing: A magnitude-6.8 earthquake
that shook on Monday the mountainous Zhongba County in Xigaze
prefecture, close to India in southern Tibet, caused cracks in
some buildings, latest reports said.
However, there were no immediate reports of casualties,
state-run Xinhua news agency said. The quake hit the region 6.52
pm IST, according to a National Earthquake Network press
release. Zhongba County in the west of Xigaze has a population
of 18,000. A county government worker said the temblor was
strongly felt in some townships and cracks had appeared in some
buildings. Earlier, the death toll in the strong quake that
jolted southwest China’s Yunnan Province last week has risen to
five, the local government said.
One person in Yingjiang County died of heart attack while being
evacuated and another died of serious injuries in hospital, the
Yunnan Civil Affairs Department said, giving no other details.
Yingjiang was hit by a magnitude-5 tremor on Wednesday, followed
by quakes with magnitudes 4.9 and 5.9 on Thursday.
Twenty-nine people were seriously injured in the tremors that
destroyed 31,000 residential buildings and damaged 130,000
others, forcing the evacuation of 1.25 lakh people in Dehong Dai
and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture and Baoshan City. (Agencies) |
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Young girls change Shumang Leela tradition in Manipur |
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Imphal : A month-long Shumang
Leela workshop jointly organised by the All Manipur State
Shumang Leela Council and the Theatre Centre Manipur in
Imphal, attracted young artists from all over the state.
Shumang Leela, the traditional courtyard theatre of Manipur,
is a play where traditionally men enacted various roles of
women. But in the workshop around 85 young artistes
participated, which included women making a deviation from
the tradition. Courtyard theatre provides a platform to a
lot of talented youngsters to earn while they learn which is
not the case with the traditional theatre.
The workshop aims to preserve the Moirang Parva (an oldest
form of Shumang Leela), which is also recognised as the
origin of Shumang Leela movement in the state.
“Our aim and objective of organising this workshop is to
preserve, promote and propagate this kind of traditional
theatre form,” said Naba Wareppa, project director of the
workshop.
(Media Watch) |
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Don’t feel
complacent with Beijing show: P T Usha |
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Kozhikode : India should explore
the available talent at the junior level if it has to put up
a better performance in the 2012 London Olympics, former
sprint ace P T Usha said today.
“While all of us are quite proud to see our contingent
returning with three medals, I do not think that we can feel
complacent about out performance,” she told the media.
When a country like Jamaica with a population of 28 lakh can
come out with such a good show, why not India, she asked.
India has abudant junior talent in many disciplines
including athletics but it was for the authorities concerned
to spot them soon if India should put up a better show in
London, she said.
About Tinta Luka, a product of her own athletics school
here, Usha said she would prove her mettle at the next
Olympics. Eighteen-year-old Luka is being prepared by Usha
for the next Olympics in the 800 m event after her sterling
performance in the recently-concluded World junior athletics
event.
On Usain Bolt, the ‘Payyoli Express’ said he proved what one
can do if trained properly. “Jamaica provides training from
the primary school level and particularly concentrates on
athletics,” she said.
Applauding China’s 100-medal achievement, the former ace
sprinter, who missed an Olympic bronze by a whisker in 1984
in Los Angeles, said China has been working for this for the
past 18 years ever since it hosted the Asiad in Beijing. “We
have to start working on a warfooting if we have to give a
better performance in London and that is possible provided
the right application is there,” she said. (Agencies) |
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Indian
junior karate team |
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Chennai: A 17-member Indian
contingent will participate in the Asian Karate Federation’s
junior and cadet championships, to be held at Kota Kinabalu
in Malaysia from August 25 to 31.
R. Thiagarajan, All India Karate Federation president, is
the chef-de-mission of the team. P.R. Ramesh is the chief
delegate, Vispy Kapadia the chief coach, and Kanagaraj the
manager.
The team:
Kata: Boys: 16-17: Ramesh Vignesh; 18-20: Aniket Gupta;
Team: Gunasekaran Sabari Karthik, Vishnu Vardhan and Darshan
Dayanand.
Girls: 16-17: I.K. Heena; 18-20: Valena Valentina. Team:
Divya Gupta, Nisha Gurung and Sushmita Rawat.
Kumite: Boys: 16-17: Karthik Soundra Kumar (50-55kg) and
Arnav Kavadia (70-75kg); 18-20: Harsh Pandya (50-55kg),
Gunasekaran Sabari Karthik (55-60kg), Darshan Dayanand
(60-65kg), Vicky Yadav (65-70kg), Arshad Amin (70-75kg),
Basant Sharma (75-80kg) and Nobin Jomoh (+80kg).
Girls: 18-20: Valena Valentina. (Agencies) |
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Leading names for Northern
India Open golf |
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New Delhi : Leading amateurs of
the country will vie for honours in the LG Northern India
Open amateur golf tournament beginning at the Delhi Golf
Club course from Tuesday.
Gagan Verma, Saurabh Bahuguna, defending champion Abhishek
Jha, Vikram Rana and Manav Das are among the top 20 players
from the Order of Merit confirming their participation.
This is the fifth leg of the LG amateur golf tour that
comprises 13 events spread over 11 cities.
The field consists of 80 players comprising 40 from the
Order of Merit and the rest from the qualifying round where
123 aspirants were in contention.
(Agencies) |
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Dasmunsi
releases books on Khudiram Bose, Rajguru |
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New Delhi : Information and
Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi on Monday
released two books on martyrs Khudiram Bose and Rajguru
here.
The book on Khudiram Bose titled, “Martyr Extraordinaire -
Khudiram Bose” has been written by Hitendra Patel, a faculty
member of Santiniketan University. The book on Rajguru,
which is in Hindi, titled, “Ajeya Krantikari Rajguru” has
been written by a lawyer Anil Verma.
Grand nephew of Khudiram Bose, Debasis Roy and grand nephew
of Rajguru, Satyasheel Rajguru were also present on the
occasion.
The books have been published by the ministry’s publication
wing Publications Division. (Agencies) |
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