Open Letter From RPJ Housing

July 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

ARLINGTON, Va., July 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — To our friends, supporters, volunteers, partners, residents and other interested parties –

For over 100 days now, RPJ Housing has been managing through a challenging period in our organization’s history, prompted by debarment of the organization by Fairfax County.

In the face of these challenges, we have kept a singular focus – on delivering on our mission to provide a full range of affordable housing services. We have worked diligently with our partners – government, corporate, faith organizations and individuals – to continue delivering our mission and meeting the significant need in our community. And we are thoroughly addressing the challenges of the current situation.

In light of the recent elevated level of interest in RPJ Housing, we would like to update you on our efforts to strengthen our organization and our ability to provide services to our friends and neighbors in Northern Virginia.

Fairfax County

RPJ Housing has worked closely with Fairfax County to assist in the audit of our finances, and to reinforce our commitment to open, transparent business practices.

It is our understanding that the County did not find any evidence of wrongdoing other than the zoning-related allegations relating to our former executive director. And while we have not received a copy of the audit findings that were referenced in the recent Washington Post article, we have told the County that we are willing to discuss and address any issues that may be of concern.

Meanwhile, we are working diligently to address zoning issues at our Biscayne property. We recently completed phase one of the work under our agreement with the County and are on track to complete phase two of the work in a timely manner. We are excited about these changes and look forward to returning the Biscayne property to its original purpose of providing safe, decent, affordable housing to those in need.

RPJ Housing’s Finances

Both businesses and non-profits alike have been affected by the recession, and RPJ Housing is no exception. Indeed, the population we serve is the very population that tends to face issues of unemployment and under-employment when times get tough.

With 65% of RPJ Housing units rented by individuals whose incomes are 50% below the median income, many have had trouble paying their rents. At the same time, demand for volunteer home repairs remains high at a time when in-kind contributions have fallen sharply, thus resulting in higher costs for RPJ Housing.

In response, RPJ Housing has taken decisive actions to improve our financial posture, including reducing headcount and cutting costs across the board. We will continue to do whatever may be needed to operate in a fiscally prudent manner and to ensure that we can continue to serve those in need.

Volunteer Home Repairs

Our volunteer home repair programs provide free home repairs to persons of limited means, with an emphasis on serving the elderly and disabled and enabling them to remain in their own homes.

While we have had to curtail volunteer home repairs in Fairfax County due to recent funding issues, we continue to provide services in Arlington and Falls Church. We are hopeful that we will be able to increase the services we provide to Fairfax County residents at some point in the future, and are working closely with our volunteers to plan the future of our volunteer home repair programs.

Meanwhile, we are planning for our annual Golf Tournament, which will be held in September and will raise money to support our volunteer home repair programs.

RPJ’s Affordable Rental Properties

RPJ Housing provides almost 400 affordable rental units across Northern Virginia. Our goal is to provide safe, decent homes that will contribute to the stability of the neighborhoods in which our properties are located. With this goal in mind, we have taken a number of steps to enhance quality of life for our residents, including:

* Increasing energy efficiency.
* Contracting for new building entrances at some properties.
* Re-roofing several buildings.
* Providing updated kitchen appliances.
* Adding off-duty police patrols.
* Adding landscaping to several properties in order to increase their curb appeal.

RPJ and the Future

Founded more than 30 years ago by a minister in the National Capital Presbytery, RPJ Housing has a long and honorable history of service to our friends and neighbors across Northern Virginia. That history is far from over, and our service to the community will endure. We will continue to offer a range of affordable housing services, from volunteer home repairs, to affordable rental units, to homes for those living with disabilities and life-threatening illnesses.

As challenging as this time has been, one thing that RPJ Housing has learned is the passion, engagement and sheer volume of support for our mission in the community. We are deeply humbled by the overwhelming support we have received from institutions and individuals during this time. For all those who have taken the time to volunteer, who have helped us manage through this period, who have shared a kind word: thank you.

RPJ Housing was founded of the community, for the community. We are dedicated to continuing to do just that. We look forward to the future in faith, optimism, and a renewed commitment to serve our community.

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“Inspired By Iceland” Unites Nation Through Online Tourism Campaign

June 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

REYKJAVIK, ICELAND, Jun 04 (MARKET WIRE) —
At around 1400 GMT yesterday, the residents of Iceland, Trade Council of
Iceland, Tourist Board of Iceland and various other travel companies,
such as Icelandair, logged on for an hour in support of the new “Inspired
By Iceland” online campaign.

During the online event, which was backed by the Icelandic Government,
Icelanders sent out messages to friends across the globe about what they
love about their country, why people should choose Iceland for a
vacation, what is really happening in Iceland and how they can also be
“Inspired By Iceland.”

“Inspired By Iceland” is intended to help boost Iceland tourism in time
for the summer months since the disruptions caused by the
Eyjafjallajokull volcano. Visitor numbers to Iceland have dropped
remarkably, due to the misinformed image that travelers have of the
current situation in Iceland. The event today was to help make people
aware that the safety, the infrastructure and the beauty of the country
is still intact.

“We believe Iceland is a country that can inspire everyone who comes
here. The stunning geography and wonderful scenery, the warmth and
kindness of the people, the unique culture and accessibility of Iceland
all go towards making our country a great place to visit — we want the
world to know that,” commented Katrin Juliusdottir, Minister of Industry
of Iceland.

Yoko Ono, a long time fan of Iceland, also helped to urge people to back
the “Inspired By Iceland” campaign via her Twitter and blog, as well as
numerous other musicians and entertainers from Iceland and across the
world.

For your own chance to be “Inspired By Iceland” and to join in further
discussions about Iceland, whether it is about the music, landscape,
sport or even wildlife in Iceland, simply go to www.inspiredbyiceland.com
and leave your own message.

Alternatively, you can also visit the “Inspired By Iceland” Facebook and
Twitter pages. In addition, to book flights to Iceland and for
information about Iceland vacations, visit www.icelandair.us

Links:

“Inspired By Iceland” — www.inspiredbyiceland.com
Icelandair –
www.icelandair.us
Facebook — www.facebook.com/inspiredbyiceland

Twitter — http://twitter.com/icelandinspired

Contact
Russell Harmon
PR and News Editor
eNewsPR
Tel: (+44) 20 8816 7405
Email: news@enewspr.com

Copyright 2010, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

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Japan PM to meet party kingpin again over fate

June 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 1 (Reuters) – Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will meet again from Wednesday with a ruling party kingpin, a ruling party official said, amid speculation that the Japanese leader may bow to pressure from within his party to resign as his support ratings sink ahead of an election.

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Hatoyama met Democratic Party Secretary-general Ichiro Ozawa for about 30 minutes on Tuesday to discuss the “current situation in parliament”, the official told reporters. Hatoyama, returning to his official residence after the meeting, declined to comment to reporters but was smiling.

Calls have emerged in Hatoyama’s party for the premier to step down after just eight months in the job to revive the party’s chances in an upper house election expected on July 11 that it must win to smooth policymaking. (Reporting by Rie Ishiguro)

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Centre extends ceasefire agreement with NSCN-K

May 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, May 4 (ANI): The Central Government has extended the ceasefire agreement with Naga insurgent group National Socialist Council of Nagaland – Khaplang (NSCN-K) for a period of one year with effect from April 28.

This was decided at a meeting of officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs with the representatives of NSCN-K here on Monday.

During the meeting, senior NSCN-K leaders Kughalu Mulatonu and Wangtin Naga stressed on carrying forward the dialogue to bring a lasting solution to the six-decade old insurgency problem.

Both sides reportedly discussed the current situation in Nagaland and implementation of the ceasefire ground rules.

The rebel leaders also raised the issue of starting separate talks with the Centre since rival National Socialist Council of Nagaland- Isak Muivah (NSCN-IM) is already in talks with the Centre.

The government had entered into a ceasefire with NSCN-K for the first time on April 30, 2001. But it has been extended every year since then. (ANI)

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Albany city council under scrutiny

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Albany City Council is under review following a number of problems within council ranks in recent months.

The Minister for Local Government John Castrilli has appointed three officers to scrutinise the council.

The John intervention follows the Chief Executive’s decision to take extended leave, allegations of bullying by councillors and a call from the Member of Albany for the council to be dismissed.

Albany MP Peter Watson wrote to Mr Castrilli last week demanding the Minister replace the councillors with government-appointed commissioners.

Mr Castrilli says the council must resolve its problems quickly or the Government will have to step in.

“As I understand it, they’ve engaged a legal firm to advise them and I’ve started a better practice review and we’ve also encouraged them to get some independent people to assist them in the management of the council and dispute resolution.

“I hope they take those very seriously because they need to sort it out very quickly and I’m keeping a very close eye on Albany.”

Mr Castrilli says he will act according to what his officers find.

“My department goes down there and they make a recommendation to me and I wait on the recommendation of my department as to what they believe is the current situation.”

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Thai PM cancels trip to regional summit amid protests

April 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

BANGKOK, April 8 (Reuters) – Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has cancelled a scheduled visit to Vietnam on Thursday for a Southeast Asian leaders summit, a day after declaring a state of emergency in Bangkok to control mass protests.

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Tens of thousands of red-shirted, anti-government protesters have mounted a nearly four-week street rally in Bangkok demanding new elections.

“He will definitely not go today. Given the current situation, he believes it is better to stay here,” Issara Sunthornwat, the prime minister’s deputy secretary-general, told Reuters. (Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat. Writing by Jason Szep; Editing by Alan Raybould)

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Deaths in custody group backs Ward payment

March 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Deaths in Custody Watch Committee has welcomed an interim ex-gratia payment made to the family of Mr Ward, who died in the back of a prison van.

Mr Ward died in 2008 after being transported hundreds of kilometres across the Western Australian Goldfields in 40 degree heat.

State Cabinet has approved an interim ex-gratia payment of $200,000 to be paid to Mr Ward’s de facto wife and four children.

A full ex-gratia payment will be made in the coming months.

The committee’s Marc Newhouse says the interim payment will help for the time being but the final payment needs to be finalised as soon as possible.

“I think particularly for Mr Ward’s widow, it will be a great relief and will go a small way in relieving her current situation,” he said.

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Tourists putting dolphins at risk in Zanzibar

March 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, March 17 (ANI): A study of bottlenose dolphins living off the coast of Zanzibar has found that the many tourist boats operating in the area are harassing the animals, preventing them from resting, feeding and nurturing their young.

The research, led by Dr Per Berggren of Newcastle University, also highlighted swimming with dolphins – in particular where tourists swim in very close and try to touch the dolphins – as being incredibly stressful for the animals.

This is the reason why tourists wanting to watch and swim with dolphins are now being urged to keep their distance in a bid to protect both the animals and the local communities whose livelihoods depend on them.

According to the researchers, regulation of the dolphin tourism industry is “urgently needed” to minimize the potential long-term negative impact on the animals.

“The current situation in Zanzibar is unsustainable. The local community is dependent on tourism – and therefore the dolphins – but unless the activity is regulated the animals will leave,” Dr Berggren said.

“Our study found that whenever the tourist boats were present the dolphins were very unsettled and spent less time feeding, socialising or resting. This has a negative impact, not only on individual animals, but on the population as a whole and long term it could be devastating,” he said.

“The problem is that any change needs to be tourist-driven. Many visitors will pay drivers extra in tips to steer their boats in close, herding the dolphins so they can dive right in amongst them. Our message is, keep your distance and put the dolphins first,” he added.

Watching the dolphins over a period of 40 days, the research team found that in the presence of the tourist boats, the time the dolphins spent resting dropped from 38 per cent of the time to 10 per cent while the time they spent foraging and socialising dropped from 19 and 10 per cent to just 10 and 4 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, travelling behaviour more than doubled in proportion, from 33 to 77 per cent, becoming by far the most dominant activity state during interactions with tourist boats.

“Overall, the dolphins are using more energy than they are taking in because they aren’t resting or feeding as much but are swimming more as they try to avoid the tourist boats,” explained Dr Berggren. (ANI)

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How status quo bias in the brain affects decisions

March 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Mar 16 (ANI): Examining the neural pathways involved in ”status quo bias” in the human brain, researchers at University College London (UCL) have found that the more difficult the decision we face, the more likely we are not to act.

The study looked at the decision-making of participants taking part in a tennis ”line judgement” game while their brains were scanned using functional MRI (fMRI).

“When faced with a complex decision people tend to accept the status quo, hence the old saying ”When in doubt, do nothing,’” said first author Stephen Fleming, Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at UCL.

“Whether it”s moving house or changing TV channel, there is a considerable tendency to stick with the current situation and choose not to act, and we wanted to explore this bias towards inaction in our study and examine the regions of the brain involved,” he added.

The 16 study participants were asked to look at a cross between two tramlines on a screen while holding down a ”default” key. They then saw a ball land in the court and had to make a decision as to whether it was in or out.

On each trial, the computer signalled which was the current default option – ”in” or ”out”.

The participants continued to hold down the key to accept the default and had to release it and change to another key to reject the default.

The results showed a consistent bias towards the default, which led to errors.

As the task became more difficult, the bias became even more pronounced.

The fMRI scans showed that a region of the brain known as the subthalamic nucleus (STN) was more active in the cases when the default was rejected.

In addition, greater flow of information was seen from a separate region sensitive to difficulty (the prefrontal cortex) to the STN.

This indicates that the STN plays a key role in overcoming status quo bias when the decision is difficult.

“Interestingly, current treatments of Parkinson”s disease like deep-brain stimulation (DBS) work by disrupting the subthalamic nucleus to alleviate impaired initiation of action. This is one example of how knowing about disease mechanisms can inform our knowledge of normal decision making, and vice-versa,” added Stephen.

“This study looked at a very simple perceptual decision and there are obviously other powerful factors, such as desires and goals that influence decisions about whether or not to act. So, it would be of interest to investigate how these regions respond when values and needs come into play.”

The study has been published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). (ANI)

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Year of India celebrations in Russia

September 4, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Moscow, Sep 4 (ANI): Many events were organised to celebrate ‘Year of India’ at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow on Thursday.

A concert ‘Sahasra Patra’ (a lotus of thousand petals) was held at the theatre that coincided with the visit of Indian President Pratibha Patil.

The festival is aimed at showcasing the rich culture and traditions of India.

President Patil was joined by her Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, during the celebrations and both the leaders expressed their appreciation at the event that provided an opportunity for the people of both the countries to get an insight into each other’s culture.

“The ‘Year of India’ in Russia is with its multifaceted events running throughout the year, is an attempt to reach out to the people with a reiteration of the message of friendship and cooperation between our countries. I would like to specially urge the youth of two countries to unite and take this friendship forward,” said President Patil.

Medvedev said such events helped in enriching the cooperation between the two countries.

“We deem it very important that the events included in the year of India are taking place not only in Moscow but in other Russian cities and regions. They give an opportunity to our people to get to know the Indian history and the current situation in India as well and certainly these events enrich our cooperation with interesting and specific initiatives and new projects,” said Medvedev, Russian President.

Organised by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR), the year long festival comes just after the Russian festival held in India in 2008. By Pankaj Choudhary (ANI)

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Babel accuses Benitez of breaking promises

September 3, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Sep 3 (ANI): Dutch winger Ryan Babel has accused Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez of breaking promises which could wreck his World Cup dream.

Babel now wants to join Ajax on loan after claiming he was made a scapegoat for last month’s 2-1 defeat at Spurs.

“There were all sorts of assurances and promises from the club but they have not kept them. I should get more playing time but after the first defeat of the season I was the only one who was singled out – and I lost my place,” The Sun quoted Babel, as saying.

Babel bought by Benitez for 11.5 million pounds from Ajax two years ago, has played just 14 minutes as a sub since that defeat.

He lost his place in the Holland squad for Saturday’s friendly against Japan and the midweek World Cup qualifier in Scotland – until Ibrahim Afellay’s injury saw him recalled.

“Being left out was a real shock and very worrying. I didn’t expect not to be named, I’d already booked my ticket! We will have to review the situation again in January,” he said.

“But I think half a season back at Ajax, with a World Cup coming up next summer, wouldn’t be a bad option at all. I see the current situation at Liverpool as a signal I have to be playing more,” Babel added. (ANI)

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Long Live Smith & Hawken – Smith and Hawken Closing – smith and hawken outlet – smith and hawkin – smith and hawkins – smith hawken

July 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Long Live Smith & Hawken – Smith and Hawken Closing – smith and hawken outlet – smith and hawkin – smith and hawkins – smith hawken

Smith and Hawken is closing immiediately. The company CEO Jim Hagedorn  said that they will close all of their 56 stores, becuase the combination of a weak economy and the lack of scale proved too great to overcome.

He added that this was the best option, given in the current situation. It has been found out that the store has underperformed for the last five years, ultimately leading into big losses. Smith & Hawken says storewide sales across the chain will begin immediately and will be managed by a third-party firm.

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Monsoon woes continue in Uttar Pradesh

July 4, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Madna (Uttar Pradesh), July 4 (ANI): Delay in Monsoon in Uttar Pradesh, is upsetting villagers and farmers of Madna village, as they are going through a tough time as the fields in the region have almost dried up.

Harvesting was supposed to start by June 15 but with the delay in monsoons, the whole schedule went haywire.

“We haven’t received any rainfall since last monsoon. We received light rainfall some 7-8 days ago but it was of no benefit. The crops are completely dried up. We don’t plough the land now as the crops which have dried up are now finished,” said Kamlesh Singh, owner of a field.

The village head of Madna, Om Prakash fears that if the current situation continues, it may bring the villagers on the verge of death.

“Farmers are feeling helpless as our village is a flood prone village and many of the sugarcane crops got destroyed earlier because of it. This time we just had wheat crop yield and if there are no rains, then drought might occur and bring the farmers to the verge of death,” said Om Prakash.

Meanwhile, priests in Hyderabad performed fire rituals to appease the Hindu God of rain, Indra.

While incessant rains are lashing the western parts of the country disrupting normal life, it is playing truant in some southern parts of the country.

The monsoon is crucial for summer-sown (Kharif) crops and most of the country’s marginal farmers rely solely on the rains.

Lack of rains has created concern among people across the country. Thus almost all farmers are desperately seeking divine intervention. Parched farmlands present a grim situation. (ANI)

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Centre assures its support to States in case monsoon further delayed

June 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, June 26 (ANI): The Central Government has assured the States of adequate availability of short-duration seeds that may be required in case of further delay in monsoon.

Saying monsoon would revive shortly, the Centre has maintained that there is no cause for worry at this moment.

On Friday, to disuss the current situation arising due to delay in monsoon and contingency plan in the case of a possible failure of monsoon, the Union Agriculture Secretary T Nanda Kumar held a meeting with his counterparts of in States that have not received rainfall like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh so far.

“There is no cause of worry if monsoon arrives by June-end. The States have been assured that there is enough seed availability to meet the demand in case short-duration seed is required,” a Union Agriculture Secretary T Nanda Kumar said after the meeting.

Scientists are hopeful that the situation would not deteriorate if the rains come in a week, Kumar added.

During the meet, the subject of availability of water in the reservoirs was also discussed. It was felt that the water level would go up once the monsoon arrived and water would be available to farmers for irrigation.

The States were informed that the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has started posting crop-weather updates on a weekly basis from Wednesday on its website. The ICAR has been asked to post on its website the phone numbers of key technical persons in every state so that they can be contacted in the case of emergency, sources said.

The meeting took stock of the situation in the north-west and found that the situation is not alarming even if the region gets less rainfall because states like Punjab and Haryana are well-irrigated.

The official said that there would not be any problem if monsoon arrives by July 10. (ANI)

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Jacko had problems with prescription drugs, claims family attorney

June 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Jun 26 (ANI): As reason for the sudden demise of King of Pop Michael Jackson is being awaited, a family attorney has commented that the singer had problems with prescription drugs.

Brian Oxman, who says that he has been the family’s attorney for 20-years, though he disassociated himself from the defence team in 2005 during Jackson’s molestation case, said that he had warned the singer’s family members about the drug usage.

“I have warned of the use of prescription medication and people who have enabled the use of those medications,” CBS News quoted Oxman as saying.

“I do not know how much how much he has taken, I don’t know what his current situation is in the last couple of weeks. Over the last several years I have said to family members that he is overmedicated,” he added.

Jermaine Jackson, Michael’s brother, had in a press conference held in Los Angeles on June 25 afternoon said that his brother died at 2:26 p.m. local time, and it is believed that Jackson suffered cardiac arrest in his home, but that the cause of death is unknown until they received the results of an autopsy.

Jackson was also widely reported to be addicted to painkillers from pain he developed after he was burned while filming a Pepsi commercial in 1984. (ANI)

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PCB still hopeful about Champions’ League participation

May 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Lahore, May 27 (ANI): The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is still hoping that relationship between India and Pakistan would improve in near future, which would then enable Pakistan to participate in the Twenty 20 Champions League.

“If political and diplomatic relations improve before October, anything is possible and we can press the Indian board to include our national champions (Sialkot Stallions’) in the league as well,” The Nation quoted a report submitted by a PCB official, as saying.

“The fact is that the Champions League is being held in India and given current situation only the government can decide when sporting ties will become normal with India,” it said.

Pakistan has been left out of the seven nation cricket extravaganza scheduled to be held in October in India.

Champions League chief, Lalit Modi had declared that Pakistan would not be able to take part in the league because of restrictions imposed by their government on the cricketers.(ANI)

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EU’s Solana warns North Korea over “irresponsible” test

May 25, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Brussels – The European Union’s top diplomat on Monday warned North Korea of possible international sanctions after it confirmed that it had tested a nuclear bomb.

“These irresponsible acts by North Korea warrant a firm response by the international community. The EU will be in contact with its partners to discuss appropriate measures,” Javier Solana said in a statement released in the EU’s Brussels headquarters.

The action “further threatens regional peace and security in North-East Asia, following (North Korea’s) launch of a long-range missile in April this year” and is a “flagrant violation” of UN Security Council resolutions, the statement said.

The EU has long opposed North Korea’s nuclear programme, which it sees as a threat to stability in Asia.

However, last week the bloc failed to win Chinese support for its diplomatic push at a summit in Prague.

Ahead of the meeting, the EU had urged China to condemn North Korea’s April 5 test-firing of a long-range missile and to demand that Pyongyang rejoin international talks on the nuclear issue.

China rejected that call, instead calling for a statement of “concern over the current situation on the Korean Peninsula.” (dpa)

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Buner, Dir mostly cleared of militants: Iftikhar

May 18, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Nowshehra, May 18 (ANI): NWFP Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain has said that internally displaced persons will soon hear a good news, claiming that most of the areas in Buner and Dir have been cleared of militants.

Speaking to the IDPs at the Jalozai camp here on Monday, the provincial minister said that they would soon return to their homes in a dignified manner.

He reiterated the government’s resolve that operation would reach to its logical end. “We will be glad on the day peace will prevail in the entire province,” Iftikhar commented.

“Most of the areas of Buner and Dir have been cleared of insurgents,” he said, hoping that militants will be flushed out from Swat in one month.

The provincial minister said that sacrifices of the displaced civilians on the hands of militants would pay off, The News reported.

He also thanked Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for convening an all parties’ conference on the current situation in Malakand Division. (ANI)

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CII president congratulates UPA on poll victory

May 16, 2009 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, May 16 (ANI): Venu Srinivasan, the President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), on Saturday congratulated the UPA Government on their historic win in the general elections.

In a statement issued on his behalf, Srinivasan said: “The present economic conditions in India required an election verdict, which would provide stability at the Center. And the verdict has done just that. CII is looking at a five year stability, consolidation and reforms going forward.”

“The re-election of UPA would also provide the continuity that is important at this stage. Our expectation from the new government would be that the economic imperatives are paid adequate attention to and the reform process is fast tracked, because the current situation demands it. A key area of focus would have to be infrastructure, since it plays a key role in the economic revival and sustained growth of India,” he added.

“Needless to say that CII looks forward to working with the new government and provide the necessary assistance and support,” he said further.

Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, said: “A comprehensive majority for the UPA gives the necessary stability to the Government at the Center. This provides a great opportunity for the new government to take necessary and bold measures to deal with the emerging economic situation.”

“CII would shortly present to the Government its own wish list of reforms and measures. We are certain that the new government would be pro active on the reform agenda and CII looks forward to working very closely with the government,” he added. (ANI)

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Seal, Klum call off Mexican wedding renewal plan due to swine flu

May 3, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 2 (ANI): Popstar Seal and wife Heidi Klum have scrapped their wedding renewal plans because of the swine flu pandemic.

The star pair was planning a romantic break in Costa Careyes, Mexico to celebrate their fourth anniversary this month – but after looking at the world’s current situation they are having second thoughts.

“Heidi was worried about border closings and her three small children – and, of course, she’s pregnant,” Contactmusic quoted a source, as telling Life and Style magazine.

A spokesperson for Klum confirms, “Heidi and Seal have decided to renew their vows at home in L.A. this year.”

The couple got married in May, 2005. (ANI)

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