News and Events - September/October/November/December- 2009

NSG_Blackcats

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Gurgaon kid 'doodles' to Google homepage​

NEW DELHI: Puru Pratap Singh, a class four student from Gurgaon, will have his moment on the Internet this Children's day as his created design or Doodle will be displayed on Google's homepage for a day. Puru Pratap Singh, is the winner of Google's Doodle contest for designing creative Google logos that appear on special days.

The picture by Puru, themed "My India -Full of Life" depicts the country's national bird Peacock, Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi and Kashmir as the crown of the country shaped to form the Google logo. His artwork was selected from over 4,000 entries across the country. Google India had announced the contest on August for designing a creative logo or Doodle for the website with the theme "My India."

Talking about the Doodle contest, Google India MD Shailesh Rao said, "This was first ever Doodle competition in India. This is the first 'made in India' Doodle." Besides, his artwork being showcased, the winner also gets a Rs 1,00,000 technology grant for his school.

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Manmohan Singh to visit US, Trinidad from tomorrow

Manmohan Singh to visit US, Trinidad from tomorrow

New Delhi, Nov 20 (ANI): The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, will leaves for a landmark visit to United States on Saturday.

On Sunday, his entourage will reach Washington from Geneva. He will be received at the Andrews Air Force base.

US President Barack Obama will welcome Dr. Singh to the White House on Tuesday morning as the first State Guest of his presidency.

The State Dinner is scheduled for Tuesday evening; soon after his ceremonial welcome at the White House, the first meeting between the two leaders in the United States and a press conference.

Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will host a lunch for Dr. Singh. He will also deliver an address to the Council for Foreign Relations and meet the Indian community in Washington during his four-day visit.

He will leave for Port-of-Spain to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) summit on November 26.

The visit to Washington is expected to highlight the strong and growing strategic partnership between the United States and India, and the friendship between the American and Indian people. (ANI)

Manmohan Singh to visit US, Trinidad from tomorrow
 

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ULFA trying to shift base to China: Assam CM

New Delhi: Hours after ULFA militants triggered the latest blasts in Assam, chief minister Tarun Gogoi today said that the banned north-east terror outfit is trying to shift base to China.

"I don't know whether ULFA has support from Chinese authorities but they are undoubtedly trying to shift their base to China," Gogoi told NDTV. A question on reports of ULFA shifting base was also fielded by minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor.
"We have been speaking to all our friendly neighbouring countries about the importance of ensuring that their territory is not used against India and certainly by the countries you have mentioned," he said.

Tharoor was asked by mediapersons about reports that the ULFA is moving bases from Myanmar and Bangladesh to China."All countries, we believe, understand the importance of cooperating with India in that regard. I don't have any further information beyond that but as a general proposition we do make it sure that our neighbours do not allow their territory to be misused in any way against our interests, just as we will not allow our territory to be used against them," he said.

The Assam police meanwhile dismissed ULFA's claim that it was not responsible for the twin blasts in Nalbari district, asserting that the outfit was behind the latest explosions.
"Preliminary investigations have showed that the ULFA is behind the blasts", Inspector General of Police (IGP-Law and Order) Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta told newsmen after visiting the blast sites here.

ULFA trying to shift base to China: Assam CM - dnaindia.com
 

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In loksabha-Defence Minister MrA K ANTONY

An expenditure of Rs. 56 lakhs was incurred by the Indian Air Force on conversion of eight AN-32 aircraft for VIP travel. The matter was examined in detail by the Public Accounts Committee of the 14th Lok Sabha and all aircraft have been demodified.

--The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a rapid and cost-effective “Swine flu virus H1N1 specific isothermal gene amplification assay” for reliable and early clinical diagnosis of H1N1 human patients.

--The Government proposes to set up a state-of-the-art optical fibre cable network for the defence forces. The estimated cost of the network is Rs. 9970 crores. This includes Rs. 1077 crores for the Air Force Network (AFNET) on which work is underway. The project will be implemented by BSNL. The proposed network will enable the Defence Forces to shift certain wireless links working in the coordinated frequency band to this network.


Chindits: In Lok Sabha today
 

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Scientists should take technologies to rural India: Kadodkar

Mumbai: Technologies that are wealth and employment generators should be promoted in a big way in rural India and BARC scientists should go out of their way to work with external stakeholders and end users to do that, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission Anil Kakodkar said here on Wednesday.

"We need to work with external stakeholders and the end users directly in order to push the technologies developed at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) for wealth and employment generation of rural India," Kakodkar said at a two-day national symposium on "BARC technologies for development of rural India" whcih began today.


BARC has developed several technologies which are useful for the rural and urban India and the representatives of BARC Officiers Association (BARCOA) should promote without prejudice all the useful technologies for the benefit of the rural masses.

Quoting the examples of technologies like biodigester 'Nisargruna' for processing wet garbage and solar dryers, water purifiers or Trombay oilseeds and pulses varieties should be encouraged as packages for rural development, he said.

Kakodkar said, with the creation of Advance Knowledge and Rural Technology (AKRUTI) for village techno-preneurship by BARC, the scientific officers should not hesitate in taking initiatives to promote such technologies even if the technologies do not belong to their lab.

Kakodkar said BARC has already established over 150 biodigesters from Ladakh to Kerala and 15 AKRUTI centres, "but there is a need to have 500 Nisargruna and 150 AKRUTI centres soon and BARCOA has to play a crucial role in this.

Speaking on the occasion, Secretary, Rural Development of Maharashtra government Sudhir Thakare said the government will encourage those technologies which are affordable by people and those which are not misusable.

Science can be utilised in the field of increased and quality food production, pure drinking water and also using technologies for making effective and affordable toilets to stop open defecation, Thakare said.

Srikumar Banerjee, Director, BARC said there were newer opportunities for decentralised power for rural India and the Centre is making efforts to put a demonstration of Solar Tower for power generation and solar collector for heating pipes and these should be available soon. Several NGOs, farmers, and rural agricultural scientists from different parts of India are attending the symposium.

Scientists should take technologies to rural India: Kadodkar
 

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LED signals to replace lamps to improve visibility: Railways

With the threat of fog looming large this winter too, Railways have decided to improve the visibility of signals by replacing the conventional lamps with LED ones to help train drivers read them correctly, reduce train delays and mishaps.

"To improve visibility further, LED signals are being provided in lieu of existing signal lamps," said sources in Northern Railway, adding, 3,365 signals are being replaced in the ongoing financial year alone.Provisions for introducing other safety measures like putting 'retro-reflective tapes' on warning boards to improve visibility during night is also being undertaken. Besides, visibility test object is being provided at all stations under Northern Railways to check visibility during foggy days, sources said.

Northern Railways is witness to unusual train delays and cancellations during the month of December and January every year when dense fog reduces visibility.In early January this year, the problem led to cancellation of several trains for more than a fortnight

LED signals to replace lamps to improve visibility: Railways
 

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The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Nation | Paroled Praveen in a coma

Paroled Praveen in a coma

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Mumbai, Dec. 12: Praveen Mahajan, convicted of killing political stalwart brother Pramod, suffered brain haemorrhage late last night and slipped into a deep coma today, when he was to have returned to jail after a fortnight’s parole.

Praveen, 50, has been put on life support at the multi-speciality Jupiter Hospital in Thane, where doctors described his condition as “severely critical”.

Praveen, serving a life term for the murder of Pramod, complained of severe headache and dizziness before losing consciousness late on Friday at his Thane home.

“His blood pressure was unbelievably high. That led to a pontine (brain) haemorrhage,” said a doctor. “He is on ventilator and cannot move or communicate because of complete paralysis of nearly all voluntary muscles.”

Asked about the possibility of foul play, another doctor said: “That is ruled out as there is no external injury.”

Praveen, who was granted parole on medical grounds on November 27, had given several television interviews. “He was being seen by many as having taken undue advantage of the ill-health provision. The police had opposed his parole, saying he might try to jump it,” said Rakesh Maria, crime branch chief.
 

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http://www.ptinews.com/news/420297_-People-will-revolt-against-delay-in-justice-delivery-

'People will revolt against delay in justice delivery'

STAFF WRITER 16:15 HRS IST

Bangalore, Dec 12 (PTI) Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan today warned that long periods of delay in disposing of cases would lead people to "revolt" and the legal system to crumble, as he made a strong pitch for doubling the number of subordinate courts to 35,000.

"We cannot have a backlog for long periods of time...

people will revolt... system will crumble," Balakrishnan said at a conference on "Alternative Dispute Resolution- Conciliation and Mediation" here.

He expressed the view that though people have confidence in the judiciary as they "feel they will get justice today or tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, how long they can wait?"

"We cannot have this much of delay at any cost. It should be reduced," Justice Balakrishnan said.

The CJI blamed fewer number of courts and a significant number of vacancies of Judges as the reasons responsible for pendency of large number of cases.
 

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India needs 35,000 courts: CJI

India needs 35,000 courts: CJI

Express News Service
First Published : 13 Dec 2009 04:57:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 13 Dec 2009 07:16:31 AM IST


Karnataka Chief Justice PD DInakaran felicitating Chief
Justice of India KG Balakrishnan at Raj Bhavan in Bangalore
on Saturday.


BANGALORE: “India needs 35,000 subordinate courts to dispose cases, the present courts are not adequate to dispose the backlog of cases,” Chief Justice of India, Justice KG Balakrishnan said at the inauguration of the conference on ‘Alternative Disputes Resolution-Conciliation and Mediation’ on Saturday.

The CJI said, “At present we have only 16,000 subordinate courts in the country, of which 14,000 are working.” In last two years, 200 additional judges were filled up to all the High Courts, more vacancies should to be filled up in the subordinate judiciary, he added. “I requested all states to fill up at least ten per cent of the posts in existing vacancies.” In India, litigations are inexpensive compared to western Countries, so people are not much interested in alternative dispute forums unlike western countries, he added. The Chief Justice said, “Grama Nyayalayas will come in future, but we can not have a backlog of cases for long periods. So we have to adopt the alternative dispute resolution system,” CJI suggested.

CM BS Yeddyurappa said the mediation centre in Bangalore had achieved 61 per cent success in disposing cases. The state government will give all help to the state judiciary for its work of administration of justice, the CM assured. Supreme Court judge Justice P Sathasivam Supreme said that the mediation centres are doing well in settling the disputes amicably, its scope can be widened by including cases of real-estate, constructions, banking, partnership disputes and consumerrelated cases. The role of advocates is also important in resolving the cases through the alternative dispute resolution system and for the refund of court fee, the state government should amend the Central Court Fee act, Justice Sathasivam said.

Justice Dalveer Bhandari, Supreme Court judge said that over 40 lakh cases are pending in all the High Courts, and 2.71 crore cases in the lower courts. Vacancies of judicial officers should be filled up and it was the duty of the respective state governments to provide infrastructure to courts, Justice Dalveer Bhandari said.

Governor Dr HR Bhardwaj, Union Law minister M Veerappa Moily, TR Viswanathan, advisor to Union Law Minister and member of the Governing Council of International Centre For Alternative Dispute Resolution and Justice N Kumar, judge of the High Court were present.
 

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http://www.ptinews.com/news/428951_Aircraft-damaged--PM-changes-plane-for-Copenhagen

Aircraft damaged, PM changes plane for Copenhagen

STAFF WRITER 19:39 HRS IST

New Delhi, Dec 17 (PTI) In a bizarre incident, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's special aircraft scheduled to carry him to Copenhagen was today hit by a hydraulic trolley loaded with food, forcing him to opt for another aircraft and delaying his departure by three hours.

The mishap occurred at the VVIP area of Delhi airport around 12.30 PM when the trolley hit the cargo door of Air India's 747-400 damaging it while the loading operations were in progress.

The security and other officials held an emergency meeting at the airport and decided to use an alternate aircraft for the Prime Minister's travel which resulted in a three-hour delay. The plane took off at 5.45 PM.

An embarrassed Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel rushed to the airport and ordered a high-level inquiry. "Let the inquiry report come. Then we will know whether there was anything mala fide in this," he said. .
 

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http://www.ptinews.com/news/429031_Advani-likely-to-quit-tomorrow--Rajnath-on-Saturday

Advani likely to quit tomorrow, Rajnath on Saturday

STAFF WRITER 20:18 HRS IST

New Delhi, Dec 17 (PTI) A generational change in the BJP hierarchy may be on the anvil with L K Advani all set to quit as Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha tomorrow and party President Rajnath Singh stepping down on Saturday.

57-year-old Sushma Swaraj, deputy leader of the party in Lok Sabha, is tipped to succeed Advani (83), who makes way under an RSS conceived move to usher in younger leadership against the backof the debacle in Lok Sabha polls.

Advani may be made the Chairman of BJP Parliamentary Party, a post to be created by amending the parliamentary party constitution. A two-thirds majority is a must to make such an amendment.

Soon after Lok Sabha defeat, the BJP veteran had suggested to the party top brass to choose a new leader of opposition, but it was ignored and he was chosen for the post.
 

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Jaswant quits as PAC chairman - India - The Times of India

Jaswant quits as PAC chairman
Mohua Chatterjee, TNN 17 December 2009, 03:53am IST

NEW DELHI: Expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh resigned as chairman of Public Accounts Committee (PAC), making way for the BJP to regain the post, that by convention has been offered to the Opposition.

While two senior party leaders, Yashwant Sinha and Gopinath Munde, are members of PAC, from among whom the next chairman is to be named, party sources said Munde, an OBC, could be given the post.

Singh submitted his resignation to Speaker Meira Kumar last Monday and it has been accepted, though Singh will continue officially till December 31, he told reporters in Parliament on Wednesday.

He also said that he would complete three reports that were being prepared by the committee by December 24, on NREGA, mid-day meal scheme and the Scorpene deal.

Singh's resignation came as an unexpected development since he had earlier turned down requests from his erstwhile party leaders to step down from the post, after being expelled from BJP. Since the post is offered to the main Opposition party, BJP leaders had asked him to quit as he no longer belonged to the party. The BJP-led NDA put pressure on him by boycotting PAC meetings but he was steadfast.

"I wanted to establish a point, that has been established, which is the primacy of autonomy of functioning of parliamentary committees," said Singh, who was appointed PAC chairman on August 6 and expelled from his party on August 19, for going against the party line in his book, `Jinnah -- India, Partition, Independence'.

Singh had refused to resign and the Speaker had also maintained that there was no provision to remove PAC chairman unless he did so on his own or was unable to function. With a good number of members boycotting PAC meetings, functioning of the committee was certainly hindered.

Singh told reporters on Wednesday he believed that it was incorrect for political parties to ask chairmen of committees to vacate their seats. "This too is an encroachment on propriety and prerogative of Parliament and its committees as parties could say write this in the report or don't write it."

Asserting that he had not resigned under pressure from BJP, Singh said, "The day political parties start deciding as to when a member will demit chairmanship of a committee, that day autonomy of parliamentary committees shall be finished."
 

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'Indian Ocean' lead singer Asheem Chakravarty passed away

Indian Ocean frontman dies of cardiac arrest at 53 - India - The Times of India

Indian Ocean frontman dies of cardiac arrest at 53
TNN 26 December 2009, 04:31am IST

NEW DELHI: Indie rock fans from across the country said goodbye to the 'man with the golden voice' after Asheem Chakravarty, singer and percussionist for Indian Ocean, died in Delhi on Friday after a cardiac arrest.

The 53-year-old had suffered a heart attack in October this year and though he came out of coma, he had not recovered from it. "He had another heart attack and breathed his last at around 2 in the afternoon," Amit Kilam, the band's drummer, told TOI.

The band's Twitter page also posted the news. "We deeply regret to inform you that our band mate Asheem Chakravarty passed away on 25th December in Delhi," the tweet said. On social networking sites such as Facebook, fans posted memories of 'Asheemda' as he was popularly known. "The eyes are wet, ears are deaf and I only hear the golden voice. One of the saddest Christmas for fans," said Rushi Pandya.

Asheem was one of the founder members of Indian Ocean, one of the country's oldest most popular fusion rock bands known for hits like Kandisa and Bandeh from the Black Friday soundtrack.

After quitting a career in advertising Asheem (along with Sushmit Sen) formed Indian Ocean. He played the tabla, tarang and other percussion instruments while also being a vocalist for the band. His melodies contributed in a large part to Indian Ocean's signature sound. Concert regulars also rave about the way he improvised on stage.

Band members told TOI that though it's impossible to replace Asheem, whose vocal range was unbounded or limitless like his name, they would honour all their commitments.
 

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Tune in, tune out

Tune in, tune out

Abhilasha Ojha / New Delhi December 27, 2009, 0:40 IST

Some trends of the decade in popular music, encompassing hits, losses, challenges, rivalries, victories, tv, movies — and himesh reshammiya.

When I met them years ago in what they called their “jamming adda” (den), it wasn’t hard to sense the camaraderie of the members of Indian Ocean. And while many other music bands battled intense ego issues and were on the verge of falling apart, the members of Indian Ocean remained in sync with one another. That may be one reason why the band’s music mesmerised everyone. “Most importantly,” Asheem Chakravarty told me, in their habitual den in Karol Bagh, “our music puts a smile on our own faces”.

Two days ago, when I opened the newspapers to see the news of Chakravarty’s passing away (he was just 53) due to cardiac arrest, I remembered that occasion in Karol Bagh when I had spent a day observing and chatting with the band. I also remember that Chakravarty was playing with a little girl, not more than six years old, who was the band’s domestic helper’s daughter and whose education the band was quietly funding, without finding it necessary to talk about it with the press.

INDIPOP WENT POP
As I sit down to write about the trends in Indian music in the last decade, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that one of the biggest stories, especially in the non-film music category, is the manner in which Indian Ocean has not just survived but also thrived, without diluting its music in any way. “[The music of Indian Ocean] is a sound that reflects the individual tastes of our band members and distinguishes our musical personalities,” Chakravarty had said.

Many such statements from him indicated the stiff challenges that music bands had faced in the last decade. Many bands — Palash Sen’s Euphoria, for instance — had, in fact, succumbed in the effort to survive the onslaught of music companies, trading in their original sound for what they began calling “Hind-rock”. Others like Silk Route couldn’t replicate the success of their first album and went into oblivion (Mohit Chauhan, the band’s lead singer, eventually went solo). Bands like Indian Ocean and Parikrama, however, managed to sing and perform on their own terms, although it wasn’t easy for them to get albums released by the popular music companies.

Till the mid-2000s, Indi-pop remained a huge trend, what with music companies (Archies Music, Universal, Sony BMG and T-Series, to name a few) heavily promoting a new breed of artistes in the non-film music category; music channels like Channel V and MTV initiating programmes specifically to promote newer artistes from India; and event management agencies going the whole hog to find ways to get Indian artistes to perform at live shows all over the world. Today, sadly, music channels are busy promoting reality shows and showcasing film music. What’s more, music companies like Archies Music have folded, and many others don’t want to touch music bands, what with piracy issues and illegal downloading of music, which has led to their downfall.

How Indian Ocean as a brand — and not just a band — survived is one of the biggest stories in Indian music. Even as the decade draws to a close, perhaps the hardest and most shocking blow is the fact that Chakravarty will no longer be there to lend his valuable inputs to the band and to Indian music as a whole.

RAHMAN AND “JAI HO”
While Indian Ocean’s survival (the band did the music for Anurag Kashyap’s Black Friday and, so it is said, were to begin recording music for an Aamir Khan film in 2010) is a triumph of sorts in Indian music, in the popular music category, the man who completely rocked the music scene in the last decade is none other than A R Rahman. His music continued to captivate listeners and audiences, but the clincher was his work in Slumdog Millionaire, for which Rahman won India the Oscars. Other versions of the song came out too (the Indian National Congress used one in its national campaign in the 2009 general elections), and Rahman even sang an English version with *****cat Dolls. Rahman continues his conquest of the world with not just Indian but also international projects.

SINGING REALITY
A major trend in the last decade was the continuing craze for talent hunt music shows on television. While Zee Television’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa (it was Sa Re Ga Ma earlier) continued its success story, many other shows like Indian Idol, Channel V Popstars, Voice of India, Super Singer, even Bathroom Singer, continued to fetch TRPs for their respective shows by promising to launch the best singer. That milieu gave us a clutch of singers, including Abhijeet Sawant, Rahul Vaidya, the girl band Viva and another rock band Aasma, to name a few. In fact, no sooner than it had started, the trend began to wane because of an overdose of such shows. Mediocre shows like Fame X (Sony) and Bathroom Singer (Sahara) ensured that many of the winners were ignored the moment the show went off air.

THE SOUND OF SHREYA GHOSHAL
If the decade saw the rise and fall of music talent shows on Indian television, one of the biggest finds of the decade in Indian film music was Shreya Ghoshal, who, after being noticed on a talent hunt show, was offered a music contract in 2000 by Sanjay Leela Bhansali for his film Devdas. Ghoshal, who entered the music industry as a teenager — she was 16 when she recorded her first film song — continues to conquer the hearts of Indians with her magical voice. What’s more, she has, with her mellifluity and range, easily overtaken Sunidhi Chauhan, another popular singer who is, according to an industry source, not getting much work in Bollywood by way of music recordings.

THE NASAL RULE
Speaking of individuals who made an impact, many will scoff at the inclusion of Himesh Reshammiya in our list of decade trends. But like it or not, this man singlehandedly invented a brand of music that is fabulously tailor-made for the many villages, towns and cities of India. His nasal voice may have been the butt of jokes, but his fan following continued to increase. And by the time his first film as an actor (Aap Ka Surroor) hit the theatres in 2007, he was a bonafide phenomenon. One of the first Indian musicians to have full-fledged performances at Wembley, Reshammiya’s success story did take a beating with his next release Karzzz, a remake of Subhash Ghai’s Karz, which flopped miserably. His music continues to get noticed and even if some snub him, his chartbuster hits and increasing fan following ensure that Reshammiya’s career continues to rise smoothly.
 

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http://www.ptinews.com/news/442011_Death-toll-rises-to-26-in-bridge-collapse

Death toll rises to 26 in Kota bridge collapse

STAFF WRITER 12:50 HRS IST

Kota, Dec 27 (PTI) With recovery of three more bodies from the debris of an under-construction bridge over Chambal river, the death toll has risen to 26.

"One dead body was pulled out this morning while the other two were recovered late last night and in the wee hours," police said today.

"Around 15 others are still missing and efforts are underway to locate the missing labourers who were working at the site," they said.

The bridge had collapsed on Thursday evening.

The two arrested officials -- Chief Project Manager of Hyundai Engineering and Construction and Deputy Project Manager of Gammon India -- were sent to a five-day police remand yesterday.

Kota police has also registered a case against 14 officials of Gammon and Hyundai in connection with the incident.
 

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AFP: Australia forecasts plunge in Indian students

Australia forecasts plunge in Indian students

(AFP) – 10 hours ago

SYDNEY — The number of Indian students in Australia is set to plunge by a fifth in 2010 after a spate of violent attacks and visa scams, an official report said Wednesday.

Australia's Tourism Forecasting Committee (TFC) said that judging from visa applications there would be 4,000 fewer Indian arrivals next year, a drop of 21 percent.

"The resultant loss in economic value to Australia could be as high as 78 million dollars in 2010 if these enrolments are not filled by other international students," the TFC warned in its half-year forecast.

TFC chairman Bernard Salt said it was the first assessment of the impact of negative publicity over alleged racial violence and exploitation of Indian students this year.

"What we're saying is that based on consideration of visa applications there's a 20 percent hit," Salt told state radio, adding that it was hard to say whether the drop was a "knee-jerk, one-year reaction".

Gautam Gupta, president of the Federation of Indian Students of Australia, said the predicted slump was not as severe as forecast immediately after street protests in June against the violence in Sydney and Melbourne.

"We were predicting a drop of about 50 percent," Gupta told state radio. "If the drop is about 20 percent, that's significantly lower than what was the prediction about three months back."

Australia's higher education industry has grown in value to 17.2 billion dollars (15.4 billion US) a year and is officially listed as the country's third largest export earner, as it targets India's growing middle class.

Students from the subcontinent account for 19 percent of total international enrolments. They filled 117,000 places in the 12 months to October 2009, according to government statistics.

An interim report on Australia's international education sector released this month found its global reputation and brand had been damaged by violent attacks and migration scams, "particularly in India".

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd together with his education and foreign ministers visited India this year to deliver assurances that Indian students were safe.
 

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http://www.ptinews.com/news/445160_AIIMS--PGIMER-faculty-to-get-salaries-like-IIM--IIT

AIIMS, PGIMER faculty to get salaries like IIM, IIT

STAFF WRITER 19:50 HRS IST

New Delhi, Dec 29 (PTI) Government today approved revised pay scales for faculty of autonomous medical institutions like the AIIMS and PGIMER, Chandigarh, bringing them at par with their counterparts in IITs and IIMs.

The faculty at these institutes had refused to accept the revised emoluments as per the sixth pay commission recommendations, demanding a pay hike at par with those in the IIMs and IITs.

The decision to give term parity to the faculty of autonomous medical colleges with their counterparts in IITs and IIMs was approved by the Union Cabinet at its meeting held today, Health Ministry sources said.

While the revised pay would be applicable from January 2006, allowances would be given with effect from August 2008.
 

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