Sankardeva birth anniversary celebrated in Assam

Guwahati, Sep 14(ANI): Thousands of devotees visited the Dhekiakhuwa Bor Namghar, Temple of Vaishnavism in Assam to celebrate the 560th birth anniversary of Srimanta Sankardeva, the famed Vaishnavite saint and social reformer of the region.

Spirituality, peace and unity formed the foundation of the month long birth anniversary celebration, which started from August 22.

“Many people come from far flung places to pay homage to the Saint. I have come from Dibrugarh. People from outside the Assam are also coming. They are here to pray for themselves and their family,” said Kamal Chkradhora, a devotee.

During the celebration, there was daily prayer ritual called “Naam Prasanga”. The celebration ended with the religious Ashirwad ceremony, which was then followed with the distribution of “Mah Praxad”.

Atul Shyam, another devotee, prayed for peace, and said: “This is a very holy place. People from all over the Assam come here and pray for peace for themselves and their family. This place is established for the great Saint Sankardeva who was a well-known personality of Assamese society.”

Many devotees visited the temple everyday to take part in the celebrations to pray for peace and prosperity and to get enlightenment by learning the teachings of Shankardev, who is regarded as a colossal figure in the cultural and religious history of Assam. By Vaschipem Kamodang (ANI)

INLD releases first list of candidates for Haryana poll

Chandigarh, Sep 4 (ANI): The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) released its first list of 42 candidates, for the upcoming Haryana Assembly polls here on Friday.

Party president and former Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala said the list, includes five women candidates.

Chautala is contesting from Uchana Kalan constituency in Jind District.

Former state minister Ashok Arora has been fielded from Thanesar in Kurukshetra district.

The INLD is fielding 10 youths in the polls fray. Almost all the senior leaders of the party managed to get the ticket in the first list only.

The party’s women candidates includes Kanta Devi from Jhajjar, Swatantar Bala Chaudhary from Fatehabad, Sheela Bhyana from Barwala, Seema Devi from Uklana and Shashibala Tewatia from Pirthala.

The young faces figured in the list are Pradeep Chaudhary from Kalka, Dilbagh Singh from Yamunanagar, Narinder Sangwan from Gharaunda, Ashok Kashyap from Indri, Atul Malik from Gohana, Charanjit Singh from Kalanwali and Satish Nandal from Garhi Sampla Kiloi.(ANI)

Actors, crew of ‘Yeh Mera India’ get candid with media

Mumbai, Aug 21 (ANI): Cast and crew of Bollywood film ‘Yeh Mera India’ that brings to light several problems of the Indian society, got candid with media in Mumbai.

All the leading star cast, including Anupam Kher , Rajpal Yadav, Smilee Suri, Perizaad Zorabian, along with the Produce -Director of the film, N Chandra were present.

Speaking to the media on the occasion, Chandra said the film highlighted a subject, which he felt was quite important.

“I felt that no film is made on this topic and this needs to be talked about,” said N Chandra.

The movie also stars Atul Kulkarni, Seema Biswas, Milind Gunaji, Rajit Kapoor, and Sarika among others.

Perizaad Zorabian also talked about her role in the movie.

“It is very interesting story. There are many interesting characters in the film. Beauty of the film is that it will make you think and it will make you wonder, that you can make a difference and there are so many stories that are involved in the film. I am playing the role of a television executive producer and my character is that of educated , successful person who has everything in life but she still she complains about everything,” said Zorabian.

The film brings back the old memories of N Chandra films like ‘Tezab’, ‘Ankush’, ‘Kagaar’, ‘Tejaswini’, ‘Narsimha’ and ‘Pratighaat’.

The film is based on social elements that concern our daily life and problems of our society encounters such as caste, Hindu-Muslim issues and sexual harassment of the women at the work places.

It is slated to be released on August 28. (ANI)

Indian hacks RAAF website over student attacks in Australia

Sydney, July 16 (ANI): An Indian hacker broke into the Royal Australian Air Force website and defaced it with a threatening message aimed at the Australian Government, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The Department of Defence confirmed that the hack took place between Monday and Tuesday, forcing it to pull the entire RAAF website offline and replace it with a page explaining that there had been “technical difficulties”.

The site has now been restored, the paper said.

While the department would not reveal who perpetrated the hack, Indian television channel Times Now reported the message warned the Australian Government to stop attacks on Indian students or else face further cyber attacks.

The message read: “This site has been hacked by Atul Dwivedi. This is a warning message to the Australian government. Immediately take all measures to stop racist attacks against Indian students in Australia or else I will pawn all your cyber properties like this one.”

A Defence spokeswoman said the RAAF website was not used to conduct official air force business and no sensitive information had been stolen.

The Defence Security Authority is conducting an investigation. (ANI)

Punj Lloyd bags Rs.5,904 crore contracts in Libya

New Delhi, July 10 (IANS) Engineering and construction conglomerate Punj Lloyd Friday said it has bagged three projects in Libya worth Rs.5,904 crore ($1.2 billion) for building commercial and residential complexes.
The contracts were awarded to Sembawang Engineers and Constructors – a wholly-owned Punj Lloyd subsidiary in Tripoli, Libya – by the International Investment and Services Co, the company said in a regulatory statement.

Under the contract, Sembawang will build a resort village, a residential township and a five-star hotel.

“We are delighted that Sembawang will establish a significant presence in Libya with three major projects reinforcing our strategy to expand in overseas markets like north Africa, which have robust growth opportunities,” said Punj Lloyd chairman Atul Punj.

With these orders, the order backlog of the group on a consolidated basis has gone up to Rs.30,436.35 crore, the statement said.

Jama’atul Mujahideen militants receive military training in Pakistan

Dhaka, June 25 (ANI): Some key members of banned Islamist militant organisation Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) are now in Pakistan for military training.

The Daily Star quoted a senior official of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) as, saying that at least two militants wanted by his organisation had fled to Pakistan and were staying there.Both of them could be actively assisting the Taliban who are currently fighting the Pakistan security forces,” he added.

The JMB has close links with terror groups in Pakistan.

Its chief, Shaikh Abdur Rahman, was hanged after trial and conviction in a murder case in 2007. He too had made many trips to Pakistan to receive training and coordinate flow of arms and funds, the official said.

Bangladeshi sleuths are currently interrogating JMB’s explosives expert Zahidul Islam alias ‘Boma Mizan’.

The Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh aims at establishing the rule of Islam in Bangladesh through an armed struggle. The outfit is opposed to the establishment of democracy and calls for the conduct of government under Islamic law. (ANI)

Lounge culture goes popular in Chandigarh

Chandigarh, April 20 (ANI): People fond of liquor can now enjoy their stay in Punjab as a dream destination. Anyone feeling like having a swig of his or her favorite brew, to simply drive down to his favourite Lounge bar in Chandigarh.

Of late, nightlife in Chandigarh has started getting popular.

The nightlife entertainment service providers have introduced theme lounges.
`Rock In Rio’ is Chandigarh’s first music lounge, which offers an innovative, unexplored and a thrilling experience for rock lovers.
This theme-based lounge has provision for people to enjoy food, drinks and a quality music. Besides, it offers a wide range of drinks and loads of snacks.
“Music is something that people of all age groups appreciate. However, what I am trying to target with the soft rock and rocks from the 60′s and 70′s, the people who can relate to it; the ones in 30 and above. They are the ones who want to do clubbing on Saturdays, they are the ones who want to listen jazz or some again some soft rock on Sunday brunch, so that’s my permanent target,” said Atul Grover, owner of the Rock In Rio.

`Rock In Rio’ has come up as a treat for the rock music lovers in the city. Atul says that he is inspired by the Hard Rock café in Mumbai.
Those, looking forward to rock concerts in the city or enjoying this genre of music on music systems, Rock In Rio is the place to visit. Apart from having live rock performances, the lounge also has a library of 40 rock concerts videos including those of Guns n Roses, Korn and Eagles.
“The vibe of the live music going, a drummer playing, percussion, a guitarist, a DJ, what we are trying to do is a very unique thing. Mix hip-hops, psychedelic trance make one flavour and give them a taste of that because that’s what happening everywhere in the world now, why should Chandigarh be left out of it,” said Sahil Sareen, Solo Rock artiste.

Like the music, the menu too is also western. It offers basic Indian dishes, but is heavy on Mediterranean and Italian cuisine.

The ambience helps the visitors’ mood. The lounge’s interiors do deserve a mention, which are swank and contemporary. The walls have been decorated with posters of rock music legends and guitars are hung all over. Not to be missed is the 40 feet long guitar at the entrance to welcome music buffs.
“It’s very nice, very different actually. You are just getting European stuff here. It’s nice. It’s really upcoming and people like it,” said Anjali Thapar, lounge culture enthusiast.
“It’s good that new things are coming in Punjab. Things in Bombay are coming here. Things are changing basically. It’s pretty good. Culture is changing. People are coming out of the houses. It’s great,” said Chanakya Thapar, another enthusiast. By Sunil Sharma (ANI)

Punished by teacher, 11-year-old girl dies in hospital

New Delhi, Apr 17 (ANI): Shannoo Khan, who had slipped into coma after she was hit by her teacher and made to stand in the sun for over two hours, died at a hospital here on Friday.

Shannoo was undergoing treatment for “ventilatory failure” in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Lok Nayak Hospital.

She was a student of Class two at the ND Primary School in Narela, North Delhi.

The incident allegedly occurred on Thursday when Shannoo failed to recite the English alphabet in class. Angered by this, the teacher allegedly hit Shannoo’s head against the table and made her stand in the sun for over two hours. Unable to stand the heat, Shannoo fainted and was found unconscious by her younger sister, who studies in the same school.

The girl then informed their mother, Rihanna, who rushed Shannoo to Maharshi Valmiki Hospital. Shannoo’s father, Ayub Khan, who works as a waiter in a catering company, was away in Haryana for work.

“Doctors at Maharshi Valmiki hospital told me that Shannoo’s condition was critical and she might not survive,” said Khan.

The 11-year-old was subsequently shifted to the pediatric ICU of the Lok Nayak Hospital on Thursday afternoon.

“She was brought to our hospital in a critical condition. We have examined the child and her blood pressure is very low due to which she remains in a state of shock. Her pulse is very weak too. She is on a ventilator and we can comment on her condition only tomorrow,” said Dr. A. P. Dubey, head of the department, pediatrics, Lok Nayak Hospital.

“The child was admitted in with severe seizure and her condition further deteriorated before she slipped into a coma. She was shifted to LNJP in critical condition,” said Dr. KK Deuri, medical superintendent of Maharshi Valmiki hospital. MCD officials, however, denied that the girl was punished and said she suffered from frequent seizures.

Earlier in the day, the Delhi Government and the Centre promised they would take strict action against those involved in the incident.

Union Minister for Women and Child Welfare Renuka Chowdhury promised justice would be done.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has ordered an inquiry into the incident.

The principal and the teacher have been suspended.

The Chairman of the MCD Education Committee Prithiviraj Sahni had earlier said, “The girl has been detained for shortage of attendance. She has been irregular with her classes because of fits. On Wednesday too, she had fits, following which her parents were informed.”

Municipal Commissioner K. S. Mehra has asked the Director of Primary Education to conduct an inquiry and submit a report within three days.

The principal of the school has been identified as Dhanpati, while the teacher has been identified as Manju.

Police said they have confirmed that the child was punished at school. Atul Katiyar, DCP, (outer), said: “We have confirmed from various sources that the child did face corporal punishment and investigations are on. We will file an FIR only after we receive the medical reports.” (ANI)

Dhaka brings madrassas under watch

Dhaka, April 14 (IANS) Bangladesh’s education ministry has directed district authorities to gather information about madrassas after a number of militants were arrested this month and charged with using the seminaries to store huge quantities of arms and explosives.

Authorities held seven members of Pakistan-based Islamic organisation Dawat-e-Islami from Patharghata area in Chittagong Monday on suspicion of militant activities.

Investigations are underway after large quantities of arms, ammunition, explosives and propaganda material were found in a seminary on Bhola island in southern Bangladesh. The seminary was founded, funded and run by a British Islamist charity, Green Crescent.

Investigators, who suspect the hand of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), said that 25 Pakistan-born British nationals were among the visitors.

They say that Bangladesh-born British citizen Faisal Mostafa, now detained in Dhaka, has had close links with banned Islamist outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

Mostafa had met JMB supremo Shaikh Abdur Rahman several times before the latter was executed after being convicted for killing two judges in 2007.

The government ‘is tightening the noose’ on the seminaries, New Age said Tuesday after the education ministry issued a directive to all deputy commissioners asking them to collect information about the seminaries.

This was part of a government move to establish control over those belonging to ‘quomi madrassas’ that belong to different schools of Islamic theology, New Age newspaper said.

The government wanted to exert some control over all the Noorani, Forkania, Hafizia and Ahle Hadith madrassas and mosque-based religious institutions that represent these different schools.

‘At present such religious institutions are running without the control of the Bangladesh Madrassa Education Board,’ said a letter addressed by the ministry.

On April 1, Law Minister Shafique Ahmed told media that the government wanted to register all madrassas in the country.

He termed the quomi madrassas as breeding grounds for militancy. He said that the present activities of the militants using religion were against religion and Islam as well. ‘Islam can never allow such militancy.’

Ahmed’s statement came after a huge cache of arms and ammunition was seized from the a madrassa on Bhola island March 24.

Different intelligence agencies launched investigations into the activities of the qoumi madrassas after the countrywide serial blasts Aug 17, 2005. They acted on information that these institutions provided guerrilla training to the students with a view to establish Islamic rule in Bangladesh.

The investigation by the intelligence agencies zeroed down on 323 quomi madrassas, where militant training was taking place.

The first-ever survey conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics in December 2008 said that there were 5,230 quomi madrassas with about 1.4 million students.

A majority of the qoumi madrassas are located in Sylhet in the east, Mymensingh in the north and Barisal and Chittagong in the southern region of the country, The Daily Star said.

Assamese woman munches world’s hottest chillies, sets record

Jorhat (Assam), April 10 (IANS) A demure 26-year-old mother of one in Assam is all set to have her name entered in record books after having munched 51 of the world’s hottest chillies in two minutes in front of celebrity British chef Gordon Ramsay.

Anandita Dutta Tamuly performed the bizarre feat Thursday night before hundreds of people at the tea growing town of Jorhat, 300 km east of Assam’s main city Guwahati, for a Channel Four Television show on global food being anchored by Ramsay.

‘In two minutes, Anandita gobbled 51 red-hot chillies (locally known as Bhut Jolokia) without batting an eyelid or shedding a tear and also smeared seeds of 25 chillies in her eyes in one minute with the crowd simply awestruck,’ Atul Lahkar, a local chef who coordinated the show, told IANS.

‘The Guinness authorities had earlier asked us to provide them with a recording of the feat supervised by someone responsible. We asked Ramsay to be the adjudicator for Guinness and he agreed to pursue Anandita’s claim as the world’s ‘hottest woman’ by submitting video clippings of the record-breaking feat,’ said Diganta Saikia, another event coordinator.

Bhut Jolokia (capsicum frutescens), a chilli native to Assam, is recognised by the Guinness World Records as the world’s hottest chilli pepper.

The discovery by Paul Bosland, a Regents Professor in horticulture at New Mexico State University, was recognised by the Guinness World Records in a testimony saying Bhut Jolokia, belonging to the Capsicum Chinese family and native to Assam, was the hottest of all spices.

The hotness of the Bhut Jolokia, measured in Scoville heat units at two independent laboratories by Bosland, was 1,001,304. It’s nearly twice as hot as Red Savina (577,000), the variety that is second-hottest. By comparison, a New Mexico green chilli contains about 1,500 Scoville units, while an average jalapeno measures at about 10,000.

The reigning chilli champ is South Africa’s Anita Crafford, who in 2002 gobbled eight jalapenos in a minute.

‘I am very happy to have broken the record. They (Channel Four crew members and Ramsay) praised me for my world record breaking feat,’ Anandita told IANS.

The event coordinators said a formal acknowledgement from the Guinness World Records would take some time as there were several formalities before Anandita’s name is etched in the book.

‘I have been eating Bhut Jolokia since my childhood and never felt the hotness in my mouth,’ she said.

She got hooked on to the hot pepper when she was just five years old.

‘I had a sore tongue and my mother applied a chilli paste to cure the infection when I was five. Since then I developed a penchant for chillies,’ Anandita said.

The local variety of the chilli is grown mostly in hilly terrain and is considered a staple menu in every meal among many people in northeastern India.

Amity to offer courses for Ethiopian students

New Delhi, Feb.11 (ANI): Amity University has announced plans to offer students from Ethiopia a wide variety of courses.

The plans reached fruition after a university delegation headed by Chancellor, Atul Chauhan met Ethiopian Prime Minister of Ethiopia Meles Zenawi and that country’s envoy to India, Gennet Zewide, to discuss potential areas of collaboration in the field of education.

The university delegation apprised the Prime Minister of Ethiopia about the initial talks with Ethiopia’s Education Minister Ato Demeke Mekonnen in Addis Ababa in December 2008.

The bilateral discussions centered on student exchange programs with Ethiopian universities, especially for students pursuing engineering, biotechnology and management-related courses.

A proposal was mooted for establishing an Amity University Campus in Ethiopia with the support of Ethiopian Government.

The following courses have been identified which will be offered by Amity University:

Post Graduate Programs:

i. MBA in International Business.

ii. Masters in Finance and Control.

Under Graduate Programs:

i. Bachelor in Business Administration in French language.

ii. B.Sc in Information Technology.

iii. Bachelor in Finance and Investment Analysis.

Certificate/ Diploma Programs:

i. Certificate/Diploma and Post Graduate Diploma in French Language. (of 3/6/12 months durations respectively)

ii. Certificate/Diploma and Post Graduate Diploma in Information Technology. ( of 3/6/12 months durations respectively)

iii. Diploma in Business Management (six months duration)

Under the Pan- African e- Network Project, Amity University is the only private University delivering the maximum number of educational programs in Africa.

The meeting concluded with the Ethiopian Prime Minister announcing plans for opportunities for students in India as well as Ethiopia. (ANI)

Bollywood film ‘Victory’ gets a glitzy premiere at Mumbai

Mumbai, Jan 30 (ANI): Bollywood latest offering ‘Victory’ set against the backdrop of cricket got a glitzy premiere in Mumbai on Thursday.

The film, which is shot extensively in Sri Lanka, has created much hype in India, where people’s passion for cricket overrides their love for anything else.

‘Victory’ explores the journey of Vijay Shekhawat, who makes it to the Indian cricket team and achieves great success and fame.

A host of Bollywood glitterati descended upon the premiere including the cast and crew of the film.

“It’s a mixture of nervous energy and a whole lot of excitement. We work hard the entire year for this one evening,” said Amrita Rao, actress.

Actor Harman Baweja, who plays the role of Vijay Shekhawat was quite excited to attend the premiere of his film.

” To be very honest feeling very excited. It is a different feeling altogether. My first premiere was in London so didn’t matter much. Now I can understand why people are so nervous and excited,” said Baweja.

The film makers have roped in 60 real life cricketers including the likes of Harbhajan Singh, Bret Lee, Atul Wassan, Dinesh Kartik, Mike Hussey, Shoaib Malik, Sanath Jayasuriya among others, to give an authentic feel to the film.

The combination of Cricket and Bollywood chosen by the film makers has sure created excitement around the film, but what fate it might achieve will be decided only after its release.

‘Victory’ is not the only film trying to cash in on the cricket craze in the country. (ANI)

Surgical safety checklist dramatically cuts death risk, complications

London, Jan 15 (ANI): A new study by an Indian origin researcher has found that using a simple surgical checklist during major operations can reduce the incidence of deaths and complications by more than a third.

The study led by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) in collaboration with the World Health Organization showed that maintaining a checklist lowered the rate of complications fell from 11 percent in the baseline period to seven percent.

Moreover, the inpatient deaths following major operations fell by more than 40 percent from 1.5 to 0.8 percent with implementation of the checklist.

“The results are startling,” the New England Journal of Medicine quoted lead researcher Atul Gawande as saying.

“They indicate that gaps in teamwork and safety practices in surgery are substantial in countries both rich and poor.

“With the annual global volume of surgery now exceeding even the volume of childbirth, the use of the WHO checklist could reduce deaths and disabilities by millions.

“There should be no time wasted in introducing these checklists to help surgical teams do their best work to save lives,” he added.

“The checklist had a visible impact in every site in the study,” added Alex Haynes, MD, a research fellow at HSPH and the Massachusetts General Hospital, and the article’s lead author.

“Even many clinicians who were initially skeptical of the idea became advocates once they saw the benefits to safety and consistency of care,” he added. (ANI)