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BEIJING, April 2 (Reuters) – China’s central bank said on Friday that it saw growing risks of global asset bubbles and inflation and warned that huge, hidden bank bad loans in the West could pose a threat to the global economy.
The People’s Bank of China also highlighted risks of downgrading of sovereign credit ratings in major economies. (Reporting by Kevin Yao, Zhou Xin and Jacqueline Wong)
Kolkata, Sep 19 (ANI): Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee flagged off Sealdah-New Delhi Duronto express, the country’s first point-to-point non-stop train in Kolkata.
The Duronto express will cover the 1447-km distance between Sealdah and New Delhi in 16 hours and 20 minutes.
“After 30 years there is a train called Duronto. It will go faster than Rajdhani and it is an achievement, it will go non-stop and will stop only at the operation stop where they will take drinking water or whatever, only operational stoppage, otherwise no,” said Banerjee.
The train will have no commercial stop, but has three operational stops at Dhanbad, Moghalsarai and Kanpur Central.
The 16-coach train comprises one AC-1, three AC-II, four AC-III and five AC-III (economy) coaches.
Banerjee also said the 14 Duronto Expresses announced in the Railway budget would be operational shortly.
These trains will be launched in Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore as a pilot project.
Passengers boarding the train on the first day were extremely excited.
“Well, first thing is that first day it has got added attraction plus it is the fastest super fast train. So I got the opportunity I thought I will avail it,” said TK Singh, a passenger. (ANI)
Nainital, Sep 18 (ANI): With an aim to revive yacht sailing in the country, a 15-day camp is being organised in Nainital district of Uttarakhand where in school children are being trained in yacht sailing.
Over 40 school students from the various parts of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh are taking part in the camp, which is being conducted under the aegis of Indian Army’s Central Command.
The Lucknow based Central Command is conducting such adventure camps for school children from over a decade.
The participants are receiving guidance in the yacht sailing by a team of 11 Army instructors.
“This yacht sailing is a great sport because these days it’s becoming extinct. Most of the people do not want to take part and people of Nainital are also not taking so much interest in yacht sailing. But I feel it’s a very adventurous sport and a great sport,” said Karel Caprini, a participant.
Many of the participants also feel that the training would open up new job opportunities for them.
“We have come here to revive this sport and as far as I can say it’s a very good sport and there is a lot of job opportunity in it. If we do well and learn the technique, we can make our career in the sports,” said Deep, another participant.
According to the Chief instructor of the camp, Mahip Singh the main motive behind the camp is to popularise the dying sport among youth.
“Basic purpose is that sailing is an international sport and the facilities available in Uttaranchal especially, which comes under the central command. We have got our sailors, who have participated in international levels and we got the expertise. So to give the young building up generation a chance to gain knowledge and finally if they have the interest, so excel in the sport. That’s why we have organised the camp,” said Singh.
Despite being considered as a sport at the international level, yacht sailing in India is still at its nascent stage. (ANI)
Siliguri, Sept 18 (ANI): The festival of Durga Puja is just round the corner. However, this time around, the festival may not be full of pomp and show as compared with previous years in Siliguri.
The festival is known for massive makeshift tents or pandals which are put up by various festival organising committees.
Organising committees vie for making the best and unique pandals worth hundreds of thousands of rupees.
However, global economic slowdown has dampened the pandals-making spirit. Organisers have now to make do with less.
“This year, we have been hit by global recession. We generally depend on advertisements for our revenue, but this time no company has advertised with us. So, we have no other alternatives, but to cut down our budget,” said Sourav Nath, Secretary, Central Colony Puja Committee.
The recession has also pinched decorators as they are getting fewer orders for embellishing pandals.
“Puja committees have trimmed their budgets. This has affected us severely,” said Gopal Sarkar, General-Secretary, North Bengal Decorators Association.
Durga Puja is the biggest festival in Bengal.
The festival is also known as Dussehra and Navaratri in other parts of the country. (ANI)
Kuala Lumpur, Sep.16 (ANI): The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) has suspended a delegate who suggested a garland of slippers for former Prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
The Star quoted MIC President S. Samy Vellu as saying in a statement: “With the powers vested in me as the president under the MIC constitution, I have suspended the membership.”
He said the party would wait for recommendations by the disciplinary committee to the Central Working Committee CWC) before deciding on any further action.
The disciplinary committee had to issue a show-cause letter asking the delegate, who was not named, to provide an explanation, and they would decide on any action based on the explanation, he said.
The party constitution provides for the disciplinary committee to warn, suspend or sack the delegate, but it has to be endorsed by the CWC. (ANI)
Patna, Sept 15 (ANI): Voting has begun for the by-election to 11 of the 18 assembly constituencies in Bihar this morning.
The polling will decide the fate of 99 contestants, including nine women.
The Janata Dal (United) is contesting from Bagha, Nautan, Dhoraiya, Triveniganj, Fulwari, Ghosi, Simri Bakhtiarpur and Munger constituencies while the BJP is from Bodh Gaya, Begusarai and Araria.
The RJD and the LJP has fielded its candidates from Bagha, Nautan, Dhoraiya, Fulwari, Munger, Simri Bakhtiarpur, Ghosi; and Bodh Gaya, Begusarai, Araria and Triveniganj respectively.
The Congress is contesting from all the constituencies.
Around 25,15,474 electors are expected to cast their vote at 2,620 polling stations spread over Bagha, Nautan, Begusarai, Triveniganj, Simri Bakhtiarpur, Araria, Dhoraiya, Munger, Fulwari, Ghosi and Bodh Gaya.
Central paramilitary force personnel have been pressed into service to avoid any kind of untoward incident. (ANI)
New Delhi, Sep 12 (ANI): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will visit on Saturday the site of the helicopter crash, where former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and four others were killed, in order to probe the crash at Pavirallagutta in the dense Nallamalla forests.
The CBI multi-disciplinary investigation team (MDIT) would be headed by Deputy Inspector General V V Lakshmi Narayana and comprise officers from the Indian Air Force and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation also.
The CBI would also inquire whether any sabotage was behind the crash and what forced the helicopter to deviate from its set path, besides the response from the Air Traffic Control(ATC) in Chennai.
The CBI probe has been ordered under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
Such a probe is conducted by a police officer specially empowered by the State Government when the deceased has been killed by another or by an animal or by machinery or by an accident.
A two-member expert committee is already investigating the incident. It has been told to submit its report in two months. (ANI)
New Delhi, Sep 10 (ANI): The Union Cabinet today approved the Indian Medicine Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2009 for amending the Indian Medicine Central Council Act, 1970.
“Sowa-Rigpa” commonly known as ‘Amchi’ is one of the oldest surviving system of medicine in the world, popular in the Himalayan region of India. In India this system is practiced in Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Darjeeling (West Bengal), Lahoul and Spiti (Himachal Pradesh) and Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.
The theory and practices of “Sowa-Rigpa” are similar to Ayurveda, and also include few principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The fundamental text book rgyud-bzi of “Sowa-Rigpa” is believed to have been taught by Buddha himself and is closely linked with Buddhist philosophy. he Government of India has received representations from various quarters to grant recognition to the System of “Sowa-Rigpa” to enable it get a legal status.
To confer legal status to “Sowa-Rigpa” amendments to section 2,3,8,9 and 17 of the Indian Medicine Central Council Act 1970, need to be carried out.
The proposed amendments shall give effect to the inclusion of “Sowa-Rigpa” under sections 2,3,8,9 and 17 of the Indian Medicine Central Council Act, 1970 thereby recognizing this system legally.
It is expected that the legal recognition of “Sowa-Rigpa” will lead to the protection and preservation of this ancient system of medicine and will help in its propagation and development. This will also open new vistas leading to collaborative research and scientific validation of the “Sowa-Rigpa” system, besides conservation and protection of the medicinal plants/minerals used in the system.
The recognition of “Sowa-Rigpa” will also lead to the setting up of a mechanism to regulate the education and practice of “Sowa-Rigpa”. (ANI)
Washington, Sept 10 (ANI): Individuals living near noisy roads are at greater risk of developing high blood pressure, according to a new study.
The study has been published in BioMed Central’s open access journal Environmental Health.
Theo Bodin worked with a team or researchers from Lund University Hospital, Sweden, to investigate the association between living close to noisy roads and having raised blood pressure.
He said, “Road traffic is the most important source of community noise. Non-auditory physical health effects that are biologically plausible in relation to noise exposure include changes in blood pressure, heart rate, and levels of stress hormones.
“We found that exposure above 60 decibels was associated with high blood pressure among the relatively young and middle-aged, an important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke”.
To reach the conclusion, Bodin and his colleagues used health survey questionnaires for 27,963 people living in Scania in southern Sweden and related this information to how close the respondents lived to busy roads. Modest exposure effects were generally noted in all age groups at average road noise levels below 60 dB(A). More marked effects were seen at higher exposure levels among relatively young and middle-aged people, whereas no effects at higher levels were discerned in the oldest age group (60 – 80 years old).
Speaking about this age-effect, Bodin said, “The effect of noise may become less important, or harder to detect, relative to other risk factors with increasing age. Alternatively, it could be that noise annoyance varies with age”.(ANI)
New Delhi, Sep 8 (ANI): A Delhi court will hear the Bofors payoffs case against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi today. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) may reveal its course of action following the withdrawal of Interpol’s Red Corner Notice against him.
The matter is to come up for hearing before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kaveri Baweja.
During the brief hearing on April 30, Additional Solicitor General P P Malhotra, appearing for CBI, had informed the court that the Red Corner Notice issued against Quattrocchi was withdrawn in November last year.
The ASG had also sought two months time to decide on the future course of action in the politically-sensitive case on the court’s query as to what options were left with the probe agency following the withdrawal of the Red Corner Notice.
The Bofors scandal was a major corruption scandal in India in the 1980s, when the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and several others were accused of receiving kickbacks from Bofors AB for winning a bid to supply the Indian Army with 155 mm howitzer guns.
The court had on February 10, 1997, sent letters to Malaysia and the UAE seeking the arrest and extradition of Quattrocchi.
The CBI had registered the FIR in the Bofors case on January 22, 1990, three years after Swedish Radio on April 16, 1987, claimed that A B Bofors, the makers of the 155 mm howitzers, had paid kickbacks to top Indian politicians and key defence officials to secure the Rs 1,437 crore gun deal.The contract between the Indian government and the Swedish Company for the supply of 400 field guns was signed on March, 24, 1986. (ANI)
Hyderabad, Sep 7 (ANI): The Andhra Pradesh Government on Monday recommended for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the chopper crash that killed Chief Minister Y.S.Rajasekhar Reddy on September 2.
The recommendation comes even as the Andhra Pradesh police began its own probe into the shocking incident.
Along with YSR, his principal secretary, chief security officer and two pilots of the chopper were also killed in the crash in Nallamala forest area.
The state Crime Investigation Department (CID) has gathered the mangled pieces of chopper from the spot of the crash.
Kurnool district collector Mukesh Kumar Meena, who is holding the custody of the mangled pieces of the chopper, said the pieces and instruments would be handed over to a special investigation team of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
A team of the DGCA is expected to visit the spot in a couple of days for further investigation.
The DGCA is examining the details stored in the block box of the chopper.
“They have taken the CVR (Black Box) to Delhi to retrieve data and examine the same. The CVR along with ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter) are the important instruments for the investigators,” Meena said. (ANI)
Darjeeling (West Bengal), Sep 6(ANI): The Padmaja Naidu Himalayan zoological park in West Bengal’s Darjeeling district, which is known for its Red Pandas, lacks security measures, which a zoo of any international caliber is expected to have.
The zoo is the only specialised centre in the country, which is globally recognised for its conservation breeding programmes of Red Panda, Snow Leopards, Tibetan Wolf and other highly endangered animal species.
“You see when it is raining you went inside so if anyone just choose a rainy day then no one is going to see when you are going in, you can just walk through the doors, you don’t get checks for anything. So, it may be possible that if you really want to steal one (animal) you could do it quite easily,” said William Menon, a tourist from England.
However, forest officials claim that sufficient security measures are maintained in the park and said that their system was foolproof.
“We divide the security of our zoological garden in six different zones, each strictly monitored by two guards both day and night we don’t think stealing of animals is possible,” said Purna Singh, Assistant Animal Supervisor of Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park.
The Central Zoo Authority has designated this zoo for the conservation and breeding of 10 endangered high altitude animal species including Snow Leopard, Red Panda, Tibetan Wolf, Blue Sheep, Himalayan Tahr, Himalayan Blood Pheasant and Satyr Tragopan.
Thousands of tourists from all across the globe come here every year to witness the rare species of this Himalayan region. By Tarak Sarkar (ANI)
New Delhi, Sep 4 (ANI): One and half years after the sensational Aarushi Talwar murder case, another twist has emerged following reports that the swab sample taken from Aarushi’s body was swapped with an unidentified woman’s sample.
According to reports, during the tests conducted by the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics in Hyderabad, it was noticed that vaginal swabs drawn from teenage murder victim Aarushi were substituted with samples taken from an unidentified woman, who has no connection with the double murder case which took place on May 15, 2008.
Earlier, Dr Sunil Dohere, who had taken Arushi’s vaginal swabs, had said that the swabs contained a white discharge, which was suggestive of seminal fluid. But later, senior doctor S C Singhal had rejected the claim and had said that the swabs had tested negative for semen.
Meanwhile, a national newspaper reports from the account of “highly-placed sources” that “the Central Bureau of Investigation said the CDFD’s findings make clear that there was a conspiracy to destroy evidence that Aarushi might have been sexually assaulted or might have engaged in consensual intercourse on the night of her murder.” (ANI)
New Delhi, Sep 4 (ANI): A moderate earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter Scale, the biggest in nine years, shook the North-East early on Friday, officials at the Central Seismological Observatory said.
The quake took place at 1:21 a.m. local time and was centered 96 km east-southeast of Imphal, the capital of Manipur.
There were no reports of damage or causalities. This is the fourth time earthquakes hit the northeast region of India within a month’s time.
People ran out of their houses as the quake rocked buildings and houses triggering panic. There was, however, no damage to property, police said.
Te quake lasted for around 20 seconds; its after-shocks were felt for over two minutes.
Two moderate intensity quakes, one measuring 5.6 on the Richter Scale and another measuring 4.9 had shook the region on 12th August and 19th August. Another measuring 5.3 was recorded on 31st August. (ANI)
New Delhi, Sep. 4 (ANI): Dr. Arvind Lal, Chairman and Managing Director of Dr. Lal Pathological Laboratories, has been awarded the Honorary Rank of Brigadier by the Armed Forces Medical Services.
President Pratibha Patil, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, granted this award to Dr Lal in recognition to his outstanding contribution in the field of health care.
Dr Lal, alumni of the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), is a pioneer in bringing Laboratory services in India at par with the Western world.
Dr Lal also worked as a Demonstrator (Lecturer) in the Department of Pathology in AFMC.
In 1977, Dr Lal took charge of the Pathology Laboratory founded in 1949 by his late father.
Dr Lal has revolutionized laboratory medicine in the country by introducing new tests, instruments and ICT systems i.e. Information, Communications-Technology systems.
A member of many expert and advisory bodies set up by the central and state governments and on the panel of several professional bodies and institutes, Dr Lal has served as a pathologist to many present and past Prime Ministers of India.
Conferred with the Padma Shri award by the President this year, Dr Lal is also a recipient of the Indira Gandhi Solidarity Award in 1994, Delhi Ratan Award in 2005, Lifetime Achievement Award in Medicine in 2003 and the International Business Council Award 1994. (ANI)
New Delhi, Sep.2 (ANI): Congress President and United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi will visit Hyderabad on Thursday.
Sonia called up Reddy’s wife on Wednesday evening and is believed to have expressed concern with the family over the missing incident of Reddy.
A high-level search operation is on to trace out the missing CM.
Army’s 300 special Commandos (especially trained in jungle warfare), 5,000 Central Reserve Police Force personnel and State’s anti-Naxal Force personnel have been engaged into the seach operation.
Reddy has gone missing since 9.35 a.m. of Wednesday morning. (ANI)
Raipur, Sep 2 (ANI): The Chhattisgarh Government on Wednesday placed a demand for grant of Rs 94.22 crore from the Central Government to develop educational facilities in the Maoist- affected areas.
According to State Government sources, Chief Minister Raman Singh himself put the demand before Union Tribal Affairs Minister Kantilal Bhuria when the duo met here.
According to sources, Singh also submitted the details of assistance anticipated by the State Government to Bhuria.
Singh informed Bhuria that Chattisgarh needed central’s assistance mainly for construction of some 218 ashram schools, sources said.
State Government is also looking for the assistance to the programmes of job-oriented training to the unemployed tribal youths and constructing houses for the tribals,” sources added.
The State Tribal Welfare Department-run ashram schools are basically residential schools where all the needs of the students will be looked after by the state government.
Unfortunately many of the Ashram Schools became the victims of Maoist attacks, especially in the Bastar region where the red ultras are in dominating position.
The red rebels demolished dozens of such school buildings in the interiors of Bastar region, which is spread out over 40,000 sq km.
The Maoist claims that they blow up the school complexes because they provided shelter to the forces involved in anti-naxal operations, sources said. (ANI)
New Delhi, Aug 31 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Kerala Government over the state Governor’s permission to CBI to prosecute Pinarayi Vijayan.
The apex court was hearing the petition filed by Vijayan, challenging the governor’s sanction for his prosecution by the CBI.
Vijayan is the politburo member of Communist party of India (Marxist) (CPM)
A bench of the apex court comprising Justice R.V. Ravindran and Justice B.S. Sudarsan Reddy admitted Vijayan’s lawsuit directly for hearing.
The bench stated that the petition involved several important questions of law.
Vijayan is facing the charges of by passing the regulations while awarding a contract to a Canadian based company, SNC Lavalin for renovating three power plants when he was Kerala’s power minister in 1997.
The charges against Vijayan were filed in a special court after Kerala Governor R.S. Gavai gave the green signal to the CBI to prosecute the stalwart of communist movement in June.
Earlier, the central agency had asked Vijayan to appear before the CBI court at Kochi on September 24.
The Rs.374-crore SNC Lavalin scam, has created a tussle between Vijayan and State Chief Minister V.S.Achhuthanandan. (ANI)
Srinagar, Aug 31 (ANI): At least two jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed and four others injured in two separate militant strikes in Srinagar on Monday.
In a first incident, militants opened indiscriminate firing in Lal Chowk area, killing two CRPF jawans.
The militants also reportedly lob grenades on CRPF’s G/28 battalion, situated in Maisuma area injuring four jawans.
Following these incidents, the security forces cordoned off the Lal Chowk, and Aftab Market for search operations. (ANI)
Koraput (Orissa) , Aug.29 (ANI): Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal on Saturday said the Government was planning to set up over 2,500 model and 200 central schools on public-private- partnership (PPP) basis in the country in next two years
Inaugurating the much-awaited central university in this tribal-dominated town, which often witnesses Maoist violence, Sibal informed that the proposed model schools would be set up in the backward areas to provide primary education to all as “higher education has no meaning unless primary education was strengthened.”
“The schools would be set up in PPP as part of our efforts to strengthen the human resource base,” Sibal said during the function.
Sibal also asked corporate houses to invest in a big way in the education sector.
Corporate houses should come forward to invest in the education sector as developing human resources is the key to the success of any nation, Sibal said.
He remarked that though the country made progress in the field of education in the last 62 years, it required much more.
“About 1.5 lakh Indian students are going abroad for education. We will like to provide all facilities in the country so that students need not go to foreign countries.”
Sibal also said only 12 out of 100 students reach the graduation level in India, while the figure was 85 in the US and added that the Central universities in backward places like Koraput could help students get into higher learning. (ANI)
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