In the new areas particularly, we lag behind badly. As Gen Kapoor said, “Military usage of space in the Indian context is at a comparatively nascent stage... There is an imperative requirement to develop joint structures for synergising employment of space assets.” Normally, our defence chiefs do not make statement which have a bearing on international relations and are likely to raise eyebrows in diplomatic circles. But then we are not living in normal times; we live in an era in which ruling coalition, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), puts political gains above defence ..
The disclosure of a Russian kickback confirmed by the Interpol to the Central Bureau of Investigation published in The Economic Times (June 18, 2008) is likely to become a huge embarrassment for the ruling Congress Party preparing for an early winter election. The Party has not so far reacted to the disclosure. The report however says that a Congress national general secretary was interrogated by the CBI in this connection. Sources say that the general secretary, a former chief minister likely to play a crucial role in the Rajasthan election and two other top party officials are also involved ..
Increase in the population of tiger in Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary and Dudhwa National Park in Uttar Pradesh has forced the 'low profile' leopard to move to the fringes of forest leading to frequent incidents of man-animal conflict. Divisional forest officer of the sanctuary, Ramesh Pandey told PTI that in order to avoid clash with the tigers in these forest areas, the leopards have shifted their base to the periphery of jungles where they hunt for easy preys like goats, dogs and sometimes humans.
There are concrete evidences of increase in the number of tigers in these areas ..
Defence Minister A K Antony today said the situation in Jammu and Kashmir has improved but asked the security forces to be vigilant to foil possible attempts by militants to disturb peace in the poll-bound state. "Though security situation is improving in Jammu and Kashmir, I caution you that coming months are very crucial. There are forces which will make attempt to disturb peace during elections", Antony said addressing troops at Baramulla garrison helipad today.
Asserting that there is no room for complacency, the Union Minister who visited some forward areas in North Kashmir e..
A day after DMK snapped ties with his party, PMK leader and Union Health Minister Ambumani Ramadoss today met Congress President Sonia Gandhi to "explain" the political situation in Tamil Nadu.
He also sought to dismiss any suggestions of possibility of a rapprochement with the M Karunanidhi-led party.
"You should ask the DMK about it," Ramadoss shot back when asked about any possibility of the parties coming back together. Emerging from the meeting, he told reporters that he had met Gandhi to "explain the situation in Tamil Nadu and to tell her how DMK severed tie..
Rains wreaked havoc in most parts of eastern India as army troops were today rushed to two flood-hit districts in West Bengal while Orissa alerted the Air Force and Jharkhand sought army help to tackle the situation that has affected nearly 25 lakh people. Five persons died in West Bengal and four in Orissa due to the torrential rains, officials said.
Three army columns were rushed to West Bengal's West and East Midnapore districts as an IAF helicopter made an aerial survey of the affected areas, state Finance Minister Ashim Dasgupta said. If necessary, food would be airdropped from to..
Bhartiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh on Sunday expressed concern over Communist Party of India general secretary A B Bardhan's remarks that the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal would make India a US outpost against China.
In a statement issued to the media on Sunday, Rajnath said: 'The CPI in its over-enthusiasm towards China seems to have forgotten that it is not a Chinese but an Indian political party. Ever since the idea of the nuclear deal has been mooted, the Left Front parties have consistently indicated that they are more concerned about protecting China's intere..
G.D. Agarwal, an environmentalist who has taken a vow of silence and is on a hunger strike in Uttarakhand to object to dams being built on the Ganga, is adamant not to end his protest till the prime minister gives in writing that no dam will be built on the river.
Agarwal, 76, began his protest at Manikanika Ghat in Uttarkashi Friday after his attempts in the past few years to prevent concrete structures from being built on the river failed.
The former Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) professor does not want dams to be built in a 100 km stretch between Gangotri, the source of the riv..
A woman and a paramilitary trooper were injured in a grenade attack by separatist guerrillas outside the civil secretariat here in Jammu and Kashmir Saturday.
Police said the guerrillas hurled a grenade at a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) unit in Shatrashahi area, barely one kilometre away from city centre Lal Chowk.
'The grenade exploded on the road, injuring a woman and a head constable of the CRPF. Both have been taken to the SMHS hospital,' a police officer said.
The civil secretariat houses the offices of the chief minister and other ministers. Saturday being a holi..
Veteran Congress leader and Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee Saturday rejected the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha's (GJM) demand for a separate Gorkhaland state in West Bengal's Darjeeling hills.
'We are not in favour of Gorkhaland in the region,' Mukherjee told reporters here on the sidelines of a Merchants' Chamber of Commerce (MCC) function.
'We oppose any demand for a separate state in India,' he said.
Asked whether the central government would go for a tripartite dialogue, Mukherjee said the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) g..
The central government would beef up security in Jammu and Kashmir to thwart any attempt to disrupt the upcoming assembly election in the border state, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said here Saturday.
'We are aware that there are forces inside and outside the country who do not want a fair, free and peaceful election in Kashmir, due later this year. Our assessment is there can be more attempts to infiltrate and cause violence in the run-up to the poll there,' Antony told reporters on the sidelines of a defence ministry function.
Assuring the Election Commission of providing log..
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollogama will arrive here Sunday to invite Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the SAARC summit in August. He will also discuss bilateral and regional issues with Indian leaders.
The next meeting of the heads of state and government of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka Aug 2-3.
At his meeting with Manmohan Singh Monday evening, the foreign minister is expected to discuss recent developments in his country and areas of bilateral cooperation.
The Sri Lankan high commission here said that ..
Work was still on to repair a breach in the main canal of the Narmada dam project even as the situation in Sujatpura village that bore the brunt of the accident Wednesday returned to normal, a Gujarat government official said Saturday.
'We have disbursed Rs.40,000 cash doles and Rs.610,000 as compensation for houses damaged in Sujatpura,' said B.V. Raval, Mehsana district development officer.
'Today (Saturday) we began the survey of fields to assess the damage and it will be completed tomorrow and then we will decide on the compensation on the agriculture front,' Raval..
The Kerala University has not yet given a report on the 36,000 'missing' answers sheets of an exam conducted to recruit assistants in 2006, which it was asked to produce for a probe into alleged irregularities in the results and appointments, officials said Saturday.
There were complaints that of the 160 people who were appointed as assistants, 60 were allegedly close relatives and friends of people in the ruling political party.
The case is currently being heard by the Upa Lokayukta, a quasi judicial body, and Friday was the last date for the university to produce the answer ..
An organisation of victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas leak holocaust has condemned the Madhya Pradesh government for pushing to incinerate toxic wastes from the closed pesticide despite the recommendations of experts.
Syed M. Irfan, president of Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangarsh Morcha, said: "The BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) government has led the effort in the high court to burn 340 tonnes of Union Carbide's toxic wastes in an incinerator in Ankleshwar, Gujarat, despite opposition by the Gujarat government, warnings by experts and the opinion of the technical sub committee c..
A 50-year-old man was stabbed to death by two men in Vivek Vihar area of east Delhi, police said Saturday.
The two suspects, Kale and Bheem, who are brothers, went to Balwinder's shop and reportedly demanded Rs.100 from him as protection money. When Balwinder refused to pay, the two started beating him up, police said.
Balwinder was injured and was rushed to the Hegdewar Hospital for treatment. The two fled the spot after a crowd gathered there.
Balwinder's father Gurcharan, who was not present there at the time of the incident, rushed to the hospital to meet his son.
..
The Kerala government law department Friday filed a counter affidavit in the state high court saying that the affidavit filed by Revenue Principal Secretary Nivedita P. Haran in the Thiruvananthapuram Golf Club takeover case was wrong.
Early this week, Haran had filed an affidavit in the high court expressing regret, saying that she had not violated the advocate general's ( AG) instructions in the Golf Club takeover case. However, an impression had been created that she had violated the AG's instructions and she regretted that.
But things went for a toss when an under secretary ..
There is a lot of excitement in Arunachal Pradesh's border region with China as work has begun to erect an 80-feet statue of the White Tara or the female Buddha on the dizzy heights of a peak that overlooks Tibet and Bhutan.
'We have begun work to install the statue on top of the Lumla peak in Tawang district. The project will develop the area and attract pilgrims and tourists,' T.G. Rinpoche, a Buddhist leader who is also a legislator in the Arunachal Pradesh assembly, told IANS.
The White Tara, associated with Tibetan Buddhism, is a female Buddha known for long life, comp..
Four buses were set on fire by a mob Saturday after two pedestrians were run over by a speeding bus in Hooghly district of West Bengal.
'Two pedestrians were overrun by a bus at Chanditala area in Hooghly Saturday. The incident agitated the local people and they set fire to four buses. The situation is now under control,' Raj Kanojia, Inspector General (Law and Order), told IANS here.
'The police are still on the spot. No one has been arrested so far,' he added.
Sources said the police resorted to baton charge to disperse the mob.
..
The twists and turns in the sensational Noida double murder of teenager Aarushi Talwar and her domestic help Hemraj have kept the nation in thrall, and even one month after the brutal killings the crucial murder weapon continues to elude the investigators.
The motive for the murders on the night of May 15 is also unclear - as well as who are the killer, or killers.
The first arrest, of dentist Rajesh Talwar, the father of Aarushi, on May 23 shocked the nation. How could a father kill his own daughter with such brutality? - is what everyone was asking. Was is really an honour killing and w..
B.S. Prakash, consul-general of the India in San Francisco, has been appointed India's next ambassador to Brazil, the external affairs ministry has said in a statement.
Prakash will replace Hardeep Singh Puri, who is expected to return to the headquarters here and join as one of the secretaries in the ministry.
..
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Saturday cordoned off the Noida house of the Talwars and thoroughly checked the overhead water tanks on the terrace and the water pipes to search for the missing weapon with which teenager Aarushi Talwar and her domestic help were murdered a month ago.
According to CBI sources, the agency received an anonymous tip about the murder weapon, now believed to be a khukri, a curved short knife. The Noida Police had earlier said the murders were committed with a surgical knife.
The probe agency officials were accompanied by a forensic team from the All I..
A three-day international conference on disaster management began here Saturday with a call by Indian Home minister Shivraj Patil to share information on managing disasters as that would help in preparedness to tackle them and lessen the impact.
Over 500 Indian delegates from the departments of police, fire, civil defence and private companies are attending the conference where experts from the US, Singapore and United Nations agencies will present papers on various aspects of dealing with disasters.
Patil told the meet that India's disaster management laws will be amended to expand ..
Separatist guerrillas tossed a grenade inside a paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp here Saturday, hours after a similar attack outside the heavily guarded civil secretariat injured two people.
'The (second) grenade exploded inside the compound of Firdous cinema in old city area. Luckily nobody was injured in the explosion,' a senior police officer told IANS here.
Firdous cinema was closed in early 1990s after the outbreak of the separatist violence in the state. The theatre has since been converted into a makeshift camp for CRPF.
'The area has been co..
Last year, impoverished rickshaw puller Amar Das was carrying a sick passenger and his wife to the Indira Gandhi Memorial (IGM) Hospital here. The 42-year-old rickshaw puller was moved when he came to know that the patient required blood transfusion.
So moved was he by the incident that he made up his mind to become a donor.
'Having dropped the passengers at the hospital, I went straight to the blood bank attached to the IGM hospital and donated for the first time and since then I have donated blood twice and hope to continue,' Das told IANS.
Voluntary blood donation in Tripu..
Snakebite has killed four people, included two children, in Chhattisgarh's Jashpur district.
Officials at the directorate of health services here said that siblings Saraswati, 8, and Madhusudan, 6, died Friday after being bitten by a snake while they were asleep.
The children were from a forested village Dadtoli, some 500 km north of Raipur.
In two other incidents elsewhere, Naval Tirki and Garju Nagbanshi died Friday night after being bitten by snakes.
The forested tribal dominated Jashpur district reports dozens of snakebite deaths every year during monsoon.
..
Expressing solidarity with the Bhopal gas leak victims, 16 US House of Congress members led by Padma Bhushan Frank Pallone Jr have urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to bring Dow Chemicals to justice.
Their letter dated June 5 is strong in its criticism of the US-based Dow Chemical, which took over Union Carbide, in whose plant the disaster took place on Dec 2-3, 1984.
'The conduct of American corporations outside the US is a long-standing concern of ours. In this case, US corporations have refused to submit to the jurisdiction of foreign (Indian) courts. It is outrageous that the ..
The Uttar Pradesh Police Saturday continued its overnight searches in various areas of Lucknow and Faizabad to arrest Anand Sen Yadav, a former state minister, for his alleged involvement in a 2007 kidnapping and murder of a woman.
The police also detained a gunman provided to him by the state government and a servant for interrogation in the case.
Without disclosing their names, Faizabad Senior Superintendent of Police R.K.S. Rathore told reporters, 'We are questioning them and hope to arrest Yadav soon.'
He said the police had also asked his septuagenarian father Mitra ..
Thirty-four Indian juvenile fishermen who are 'confined' in Karachi may be released soon if Pakistan accepts the recommendations of a joint judicial committee.
A statement issued by India's external affairs ministry Saturday said the committee has also recommended that the two countries should grant consular access to each other for the cases of all their prisoners July 31.
'The Committee recommends that the 34 Indian juvenile fishermen at present confined at the Youthful Offenders Industrial School, Karachi, be repatriated to India immediately and for that purpose nec..
A 40-year-old woman was allegedly raped by three men including a 65-year-old in Trilokpuri area of east Delhi, police said Saturday.
'The senior citizen who is accused of rape is related to the victim's son-in-law. The victim's daughter had got married a year ago and at present is going through a marital discord with her husband. The victim had gone to the house of a relative of her daughter's in-laws,' a police officer said.
The victim, working as a class IV employee at a government hospital, alleged that she had gone to the house of the accused Friday midnight, ..
The disclosure of a Russian kickback confirmed by the Interpol to the Central Bureau of Investigation published in The Economic Times (June 18, 2008) is likely to become a huge embarrassment for the ruling Congress Party preparing for an early winter election. The Party has not so far reacted to the disclosure. The report however says that a Congress national general secretary was interrogated by ..
Increase in the population of tiger in Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary and Dudhwa National Park in Uttar Pradesh has forced the 'low profile' leopard to move to the fringes of forest leading to frequent incidents of man-animal conflict. Divisional forest officer of the sanctuary, Ramesh Pandey told PTI that in order to avoid clash with the tigers in these forest areas, the leopards have ..
A day after DMK snapped ties with his party, PMK leader and Union Health Minister Ambumani Ramadoss today met Congress President Sonia Gandhi to "explain" the political situation in Tamil Nadu.
He also sought to dismiss any suggestions of possibility of a rapprochement with the M Karunanidhi-led party.
"You should ask the DMK about it," Ramadoss shot back when asked about a..
Bhartiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh on Sunday expressed concern over Communist Party of India general secretary A B Bardhan's remarks that the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal would make India a US outpost against China.
In a statement issued to the media on Sunday, Rajnath said: 'The CPI in its over-enthusiasm towards China seems to have forgotten that it is not a Chinese but ..
The pristine glory of the 17th century Jama Masjid, India's largest mosque in Delhi's old quarters, is nowhere close to being restored as a Rs.2.5-billion project for its beautification has failed to take off.
Mughal emperor Shah Jahan is said to have built the grand mosque in such a manner that it would be visible from the majestic Red Fort. But a cluster of shops and residences cal..
The national bird peacock is in real danger in Rajasthan as the number of attacks on them is increasing by the day.
Eight peacocks were found dead in an agricultural field in Suriyapada village in Banswara district Thursday while three were shot dead by poachers in Ajmer district.
'We have sent the carcasses of the peacocks found in the field for post-mortem. Preliminary investigations r..
The body of internationally-renowned spiritual guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who popularised transcendental meditation across the globe reached here from his base in Netherlands Saturday.
The seer, who initiated the British pop-rock band Beatles into Indian spiritualism and transcendental meditation, died Tuesday.
The chartered flight carrying the body of the Maharishi, along with at leas..
Maoists are turning cannibals. They eat human flesh to terrorize villagers. This was revealed by the residents of Bandiguda, 45 km from the district headquarters town of Malkangiri. The district police, under the leadership of daredevil SP Satish Kumar Gajbhiye, risked in organizing a community policing programme in a far-flung area, known as the Red Terror Zone of the district. On August 3, 2007,..
Some 20 people Saturday protested at the office of news television network NDTV after it ran an SMS poll listing disgraced anti Hindu painter M.F. Hussein as a potential contender for Bharat Ratna, the nation's highest civilian honor. The "attackers", claimed NDTV, allegedly ransacked the office here, broke windowpanes, air conditioners and electrical fittings and damaged other equi..
A door to door inspection of people with suspected symptoms of avian influenza began in West Bengal's Margram village Tuesday amid fears of the return of the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus that causes bird flu.
More than 15,000 chickens have died in Margram, about 280 km from here, in Birbhum district in the past two weeks, raising the spectre of a bird flu attack similar to the one in Feb..
The campaign to bring exiled Bangladeshi writer and gender crusader Taslima Nasreen back to Kolkata, her adopted home, is gaining momentum.
Magasaysay award winning writer Mahasweta Devi has urged Hindi and other vernacular language writers to campaign for the Bangladeshi author's freedom so that she can return.
The ruling communists shunted out Taslima Nasreen after street riots ove..
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Tuesday advocated trifurcation of the state but put the onus of initiating the move on the ruling Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
'I am all for the division of Uttar Pradesh into three parts and would heartily support the creation of a separate Bundelkhand as a first step, provided the move is initiated by the Congress-ruled centre,' Mayawat..
After the Indian Air Force (IAF), the Indian Army too is hedging its bets on the indigenously developed Akash surface-to-air missile, saying it would test the weapon before deciding on its deployment.
'Akash has been tested for the IAF. We were not present at the trials,' Indian Army chief Gen. Deepak Kapoor said at a press conference here Monday.
'Some of our requirements are ..
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Monday had a lunch meeting with Tamil Nadu's main opposition leader, AIADMK chief J. Jayalalitha, sparking speculation that her party would again join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad also attended the meeting on the first day of Pongal, the harvest festival of Tamil Nadu.
Prasad later told the med..
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's 52nd birthday Tuesday may not witness the usual bash seen on her birthdays in the past but her followers have planned a big fanfare on the occasion across the state.
Unlike her past three stints in office when her birthday functions were openly sponsored by the state government, it was her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) that has been entrusted with the t..
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled luncheon meeting with AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa at the latter's Poes Garden residence in Chennai on Monday has set off speculation about the beginning of a revival of alliance between the two parties.
Modi will be in the city on Monday to take part in the 37th annual day celebrations of Tamil magazine 'Tughlaq', run by journal..
A little-known village in Bihar has found fame and is set for a facelift as it has been officially identified as the native place of former Mauritius prime minister Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam.
Harigaon in Bhojpur district, about 60 km from here, was like any other village in rural Bihar without roads, electricity connection and a health centre.
The Bihar government will now develop it as a mo..
Suspecting a tribal woman to be involved in the murder of her husband, other residents of her village in Andhra Pradesh's Warangal district disrobed her in public, thrashed her, and paraded her round the village.
The shocking incident occurred Saturday at Jalli tanda, a tribal hamlet of Chennaraopeta mandal (circle) in Warangal district, about 250 km from here.
Hemli, 28, was accused of ..
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will be offering prayers at the famous Sree Krishna Temple here Monday and will be weighed with lotus flowers and plantains too.
Modi, who arrives Sunday evening, will be bringing the lotus flowers, the symbol of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
'We have been told that Modi would be offering two 'tulabarams'. This means he would sit on one ..
Kolkata's worst fire in living memory continued to rage for the second day Sunday at the city's biggest wholesale market, engulfing thousands of shops amid fears that a multi-storied building could come crashing down.
The blaze, which destroyed at least eight buildings, broke out at 1 a.m. Saturday in the Tirpalpatti and Nandaram complex of Burrabazar - eastern India's largest who..
The BJP today alleged that the CPI(M) in Kerala was "appeasing" the muslim community while it was "attacking" the Christians. Party National Secretary Balbir Punj lashed out at the CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan for lauding various muslim organisations while flaying the church for not coming to the negotiating table to discuss fears over reglious freedom for muslim stu..
Amid reports that the Congress, leading the UPA government, wanted to delay resumption of the Sethusamudram Project, CPI today asked Centre to complete the project as "promised" in its common minimum programme. The BJP and the Sangh Parivar were attempting to stall the project by giving it a communal colour. Some parties like AIADMK were also supporting them on the issue, CPI national se..
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, basking in the glow of a landslide victory in state polls, Wednesday sought to showcase Gujarat as India's number one state and offered to host the first People of Indian Origin (PIO) University in the state.
Modi, attired in a dapper suit, made a strong pitch for attracting investment from NRIs and exhorted them to make the most of the $100 billion Jap..
A Delhi court Wednesday summoned eminent painter M.F. Husain to appear before it in a case pertaining to some of his works that have allegedly hurt religious sentiments of some people.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) A.K. Kuhar directed Husain to appear before it March 29.
'Keeping in view the facts and circumstances of the case, the investigating officer (IO) is directe..
By 2010 India will have an indigenous ballistic missile defence system to intercept and destroy intermediate ballistic missiles (IRBMs) and inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), a top defence official said here Monday.
'We are developing a robust anti-missile defence system that will have high-speed interceptions for engaging ballistic missiles in the 5,000 km class and above. We ha..
The army Thursday continued marching through Assam's Goalpara district as the death toll from the police firing on protesters demanding rural polls mounted to eight with four more people succumbing to their injuries.
A police spokesperson said the army was deployed in strength across Assam's Goalpara district, about 170 km west of the state's main city of Guwahati.
'The ..
The West Bengal government Wednesday said paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) will remain deployed in restive Nandigram in West Bengal, where violence over the proposed land acquisition for a special economic zone (SEZ) has claimed 35 lives since January last year.
'We don't want the CRPF to be withdrawn from Nandigram. As of now, the CRPF is there and it would be there in..
The Assam government Tuesday offered peace talks with the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), but ruled out discussing the outfit's main demand to discuss the issue of the state's sovereignty.
'We want the ULFA issue to be resolved politically through negotiations and want their leaders to come for talks. But there is no question of discussing the sovereignty issue as..
Farmhouse bashes, galas at five-star hotels, intimate family gatherings...residents of the Indian capital partied every which way to usher in the New Year, the coldest in five years.
Unlike in previous years, the spirit of celebration was slightly different at the close of 2007 Monday night. Delhi chose to play it safe and a tad low-key though the clubs, discotheques and party venues were packed..
What will the city of Taj Mahal get as a New Year's gift? A long awaited makeover.
A city, which is just 200 km fm the Indian capital New Delhi and draws tens of thousands of foreign visitors every year, is so full of squalor and eyesores in parts, that many first time visitors to the country recoil from it. But now the Agra Municipal Corporation has launched one of the biggest cleanliness ..
