Wedding of the century

Thousands of 'royalists' camp outside Westminster Abbey to secure box seats for witnessing the... 

This big day is finally here. Prince William and Kate Middleton are set to exchange vows at the Westminster Abbey in London today. 

Outside the wedding venue, thousands of Royal diehards were camped since Thursday to be able to be as near to the wedding venue as police barriers would allow. 

Huddled together for warmth, groups passed round hot flasks of Breakfast Tea, shared crosswords and pinned reels of bunting to any surface available as they waited for Britain's most famous couple to arrive. 

Fans of the royal family – royalists – have occupied every available inch along the wedding procession route, outside the Abbey and Buckingham Palace. 

For some fans, no distance or discomfort is too great if the prize is a prime view of the wedding. Some 200 people were already camped out on Thursday across the street from Westminster Abbey. Dozens of tents have been set up, but despite a chilly breeze some fans are making do with just mats or sleeping bags. 

Many campers have decorated their tents and chairs with Union Jack flags and pictures of the couple. Metal barriers in front of them are adorned with banners reading "It could have been me", "It's cold but worth it" and "Congratulations to the happy couple". 

VIP guests arrive in London 

A-list stars such as Sir Elton John, David Beckham and Mr Bean – the alter ego of actor Rowan Atkinson – have arrived in London to attend the wedding. Sir Elton – who memorably sang Candle In The Wind at the 1997 funeral of William's mother, Diana – was accompanied by his civil partner David Furnish. 

Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels filmmaker Guy Ritchie is another guest, however his ex-wife Madonna will not be present at the ceremony.

Court questions Delhi University on semester system

New Delhi, April 28 : Delhi High Court Thursday issued notice to the Delhi University's Vice Chancellor, The University Grants Commission and the central government on the implementation of the semester system in the varsity's arts stream for 2011-12.

The division bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjeev Khanna said: "Issue notice to all the respondents. The matter will be heard on May 11."

A group of university teachers approached the Delhi High Court challenging the university's April 19 notification for implementation of the semester system in the arts stream for 2011-12.

The teachers' union also demanded quashing of the notification.

As of now, there are 13 courses, including physics, chemistry, botany and zoology, which follow the semester system in the university.

DU passes semester-based syllabi for 18 courses

NEW DELHI: In a hurried move, the Academic Council of Delhi University passed the semester-based syllabi for 18 honours courses, besides BA Programme and BCom, on Monday. It also authorised the vice-chancellor to pass the syllabi for the remaining courses before the new academic session starts in July. Though teachers termed the decision unlawful and the meeting undemocratic, the university made it clear on Monday that semesters in DU was a done deal now. 

The AC meeting, followed by the meeting of the highest decision-making body of DU - Executive Council (EC) - was convened in a hurry leaving less than 12 hours for the members to study the syllabi to be passed. This is the first time in the history of the university that meetings of three statutory bodies of the university have been convened within 24 hours. The DU registrar issued a statement after the meetings on Monday evening claiming that the AC had "approved with overwhelming majority, the semester for given undergraduate courses." What followed the statement was a list of over 50 syllabi. 

But several AC members said the meeting was not democratic. The teachers and some elected members of the AC said the V-C's plan to bifurcate the syllabi of the remaining courses to accommodate semesters is autocratic and detrimental for the university. Elected AC member Rakesh Kumar said: "The members raised a point of order on the fact that we didn't even get 24 hours to go through the agenda item. How can it be possible for the teachers to go through the syllabi overnight and approve them? We couldn't consult the teachers. These are academic matters.'' 

The elected members raised the point of order on the hurried manner in which the semester-based syllabi had been passed in the standing committee, AC and EC. The members also brought to the notice of the house the violation of the university statute 7 (1) where it is stated that the AC should have five student representatives from the undergraduate, post-graduate and research level. "This is one of the supreme bodies of the university and it has been convened in violation of the university statutes. All the stakeholders need to be represented. The high court had also asked the university to consult the students and yet we have no student representatives in the AC?'' said the elected AC member, Sheo Dutt. 

The elected members further objected to the non-uniformity in the semester-based syllabi, such as the number of papers and courses, interdisciplinary subjects and dilution of honours courses, among others, and the authorization of the vice-chancellor to exercise his emergency powers. "By this authorization, all powers of the statutory bodies, such as committee of courses, AC and EC, have been surrendered. What is appalling is that authorization to bifurcate the annual mode syllabi. For the university administration, it seems semesterisation is all about dividing the syllabi into two halves,'' said Dutt. 

Within 30 minutes of the AC meeting getting over, the EC met to approve the recommendations of the AC. The meeting passed all the recommendations of the AC, including authorization of the VC to take all necessary measures deemed fit for implementation of the semester system at the undergraduate level, including bifurcation of the annual syllabi. While the elected members of the EC presented their dissent on all the agenda items, the visitor's nominee - former health secretary Javed Choudhary - also objected to the hurried nature of passing the syllabi at the emergency AC meeting.

Kalmadi arrested; charged with forging, conspiracy!!

New Delhi:  Suresh Kalmadi has been arrested - a formal announcement is likely this afternoon - for allowing and in some cases inducing corruption in the Commonwealth Games that were held in India in October last year.  Mr Kalmadi has been charged with conspiracy and cheating; he also faces charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Mr Kalmadi was interrogated this morning by the CBI for the fourth time about a slate of contracts that saw the most expensive firms being hired for equipment and services. These include conspiring with a Swiss firm that supplied the Timing-Scoring-Results System (TSR) for the Games at exorbitant rates.

Mr Kalmadi served as the Chairman of the Organising Committee that has been drenched in corruption charges.  Team Kalmadi was allegedly in the habit of handing out contracts to firms that provided equipment or services at exorbitant rates; reasonable bids from other firms were allegedly ignored.

Several of Mr Kalmadi's closest aides have already been arrested- including Lalit Bhanot,  who served as the Secretary General of the Organizing Committee and V K Verma who was its Director General.

While Mr Kalmadi's own role has long been suspect, the CBI believes it finally has enough evidence to prove his corruption.  "Better late than never," was the official response of the BJP to the news of Mr Kalmadi's arrest.  In November, Mr Kalmadi, who is a heavyweight Congress politician from Pune, was fired as the Secretary of the Congress Parliamentary Party.

The Queen's Baton Relay which kick started the Games was held in London in September 2009. A London-based firm named AM Films was hired by Mr Kalmadi to provide taxis, portable toilets and massive public TV screens for the ceremony. Mr Kalmadi sanctioned transfers of huge amounts of cash to AM Films and its owner, Ashish Patel, even though there was no signed contract.  Mr Kalmadi later told NDTV that because London officials had requested equipment at the last minute, he did not have the time to process a contract. AM Films charged phenomenal amounts for its services.  The financial track record of Mr Patel proved to be dubious.  And then emails surfaced that showed Mr Kalmadi's close aides instructing Mr Patel for what rates to charge the Committee.  

A team from the CBI has reportedly met with Mr Patel in London, and is encouraging him to turn approver.  It has also discovered that three other bids made by other UK firms for the Queen's Baton Relay function were forged - most likely in an attempt to prove that due process had been followed in considering offers from a series of companies.

Mr Kalmadi's associates had first said that AM Films had been suggested as a potential contractor by the Indian High Commission in London.  It was soon proved that the emails brandished by the Organizing Committee to prove this were doctored.

Will Sathya Sai Baba's legacy collapse under succession war?

The demise of Sathya Sai Baba on Sunday has raised several doubts in the minds of devotees: what will happen to his multi-thousand crore spiritual empire spread across different parts of the world? Will it run smoothly and carry out the charitable activities as usual or collapse amid a fight for succession among the trust members and Baba's family members? Will it continue to get donations from devotees even after Baba's demise? As long as Baba was alive, the organisation's functioning and composition had always been shrouded in a veil of secrecy.

There are no official records on the extent of Sai Baba's wealth, as the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, the umbrella organisation of Baba's various charitable trusts, never makes public details of the flow of funds into the trust or its expenditure. The media has no access to the trust's affairs and nobody really knows who the members are in the trust. A local devotee recalled that Baba himself had once revealed the trust owned immovable property, including land in and around Puttaparthi, to the tune of Rs 4,000-5,000 crore. Conservative estimates say the trust's holdings touch a mindboggling Rs 1.3lakh crore if their assets in various countries are taken into account. The internal affairs in Prashanti Nilayam, the abode of Baba, started spilling out only after he had been admitted to hospital on March 28. In the last 10 days, there has been a serious tussle between Baba's family members and the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust over who should manage the affairs of Prashanti Nilayam.

According to sources, Sai Baba's nephew and trust member R.J. Ratnakar Raju (son of Baba's younger brother R. Janakiramaiah) insisted he should be given the 'cheque power', hitherto vested with the trust's secretary K. Chakravarthi, a retired IAS officer who resigned from the government in 1981 to become registrar of the Institute of Higher Learning and, later, an inseparable part of the trust. On the other hand, Baba's personal attendant Satyajit also demanded that he be given the powers to handle the finances, as Baba himself had promised to take him onboard the trust.

Another family member - Chetana Raju, grand-daughter of Sai Baba's elder sister Parvathamma - is also said to be staking her claim. Chetana, who established a women's welfare trust in the name of Sai Baba's mother Eshwaramma, is believed to have the support of Chakravarthy and she wants to take over as the trust's chairperson with cheque power. With the internal wrangling reaching its peak even as Baba was battling for his life in hospital, the Andhra Pradesh government was forced to step in to resolve the crisis. The government deputed senior IAS officer L.V. Subrahmanyam and industries minister J. Geetha Reddy to thrash out the differences and bring in truce, albeit for the time being.

According to the temporary arrangement, both Ratnakar and Satyajit would run the trust with cheque power still vested in Chakravarthy. A final settlement could be reached after Baba's last rites. It was only after this arrangement was made did the trust, for the first time, issue a statement to the media, saying all is well with the trust and that it would run smoothly even after Baba attains nirvana. Though Raju denied any financial embezzlement in the trust, several ardent devotees, including former Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) trust board chairman D.K. Adikesavulu Naidu, suspected that crores of rupees had been siphoned off from Prashanti Nilayam in the last few weeks.

There were also reports that a truckload of gold was taken out of Puttaparthi. The devotees have demanded that the government take over the Baba's empire and run it on the lines of the TTD.

Aarushi & Hemraj Killed By Talwars:CBI

A forthright CBI has said in the Supreme Court that "investigation has squarely reached a conclusion that no one other than Dr Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar could have conjointly committed this dastardly crime" of killing their daughter Arushi and servant Hemraj.

The CBI also introduced the evidence given by a painter who white-washed Talwars' Noida house. "The painter will prove the instructions given by Dr Rajesh Talwar which have a bearing on the chain of circumstances proving his guilt," it said.

It responds to Talwars' counsel Pinaki Misra, who on March 19 had told the apex court that the CBI had deliberately ignored the evidence — detection of Hemraj's blood stains on a pillow cover recovered from compunder Krishna's possession. The agency says: "This was a typographical error on the part of Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, which was clarified before the Allahabad high court.

On the issue of Talwars' seeking a touch-DNA test on the golf stick, which the agency suspects to be the blunt weapon used for the murders, it said: "Rajesh and Nupur insisted that the physical exhibits recovered from the scene of crime should be sent for LCN/Touch DNA development to some laboratory in foreign countries like UK or Canada." Rajesh Talwar had identified certain laboratotries for this purpose.

The CBI said it inquired from laboratories with expertise in touch-DNA test in the UK, US. Four laboratories showed their inability to carry out LCN/DNA (or touch-DNA) development and pointed out that the legal tenability of LCB DNA was suspect.

"Only James Clery of M/s DNA Defence, UK, agreed to develop DNA from the exhibits with LCN technique. Incidentally, Dr Rajesh Talwar was already in touch with James Clery even before the CBI approached him," the CBI said.

On checking the credentials of Clery's laboratory from UK, the CBI found from Interpol, UK, that it was not an accredited lab. "The petitioners are trying to mislead the courts by taking plea of LCN DNA. It is a case where there is sufficient prima facie material/evidence against petitioner and her co-accused to proceed with the case. They want acquittal before the trial," the agency said.

In discussion with scientists, the CBI said it found that the LCN technique depended on uncontaminated collection of possible DNA sources from the scene of crime and "since the exhibits in this case had already been subjected to traditional DNA development and were also subjected to much handling and exposure", it did not conduct the touch DNA test.

"The closure report was submitted on the basis of insufficient evidence and not on the basis of 'no evidence' against Talwars. The magistrate summoned her (Nupur Talwar) on being satisfied that there is a prima facie case against her," CBI said.

Delhi University: No commerce without maths!

NEW DELHI: Students without mathematics will no longer be eligible for undergraduate commerce courses in Delhi University colleges. According to university officials, the university is making mathematics a mandatory criterion for admission to B Com programme and B Com (H) course from forthcoming academic session. The reason for the change is said to the new semester-based course structure where the mathematical and computer components are enhanced. 

As per the new undergraduate students' admission process of DU for the year 2011-12, for admission to B Com programme a student needs to have studied mathematics in class X and for admission to B Com (H) course as the student need to have mathematics in class XII. 

"Previously the university did not use any set preconditions on additional eligibility criteria for B Com and B Com (H) courses. The colleges used to set their own additional eligibility conditions in the form of additional subject requirement. But from this year the university is making mathematics a mandatory subject in class X and XII respectively for admissions. The colleges will be notified of the changes soon," said deputy dean of students' welfare, DU, J M Khurana. 

While 44 colleges of DU offer B Com programme, 55 colleges offer B Com (H) course. Till last year the colleges used to set their own eligibility criteria, which is apart from the minimum cut-off marks required for admission to these two commerce courses. 

For B Com (H) course, till last year, individual colleges used to set the additional subject requirement criteria. While colleges like Lady Shri Ram and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya used to ask for 60% in class XII mathematics, for colleges like Dayal Singh, Gargi and Keshav Mahavidyalaya one just need to have the pass marks in class XII mathematics. 

Meanwhile, Laxmi Bai college set 50% in class XII mathematics as the minimum eligibility, while Satyawati (evening) set the requirement at 40%. But many other colleges including Sri Ram College of Commerce, PGDAV and Aditi Mahavidyalaya used to accept non-commerce, non-maths students with a deduction in percentage from the best of four marks in class XII. Similarly for admission to B Com programme apart from Laxmi Bai college no other colleges set any additional subject qualification last year.

Indian Army chopper goes missing in Sikkim

New Delhi, April 21 (IANS): An indigenously-built Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) of the Indian Army, with four crew members, went missing in north Sikkim Thursday leading to fears that it may have crashed.

The helicopter went missing near Shiv Mandir in the Lachung valley of the state at 11.20 a.m., an officer in the army headquarters here said.

This is the first Dhruv that was operational with the Indian armed forces to have got into trouble since the chopper fleet was inducted into the air force, army and navy beginning 1998, he said.

The chopper, carrying two army pilots, a junior commissioned officer and a soldier, had taken off from Sevoke Road near Siliguri in West Bengal around 9.50 a.m. Inclement weather was blamed for the chopper losing communication with the base.

Another Dhruv helicopter, which had also taken off at the same time from Sevoke Road, has reached its destination in Shiv Mandir safely, the officer said.

Army units at Chungthang, about 22 km away from the area where the Dhruv lost touch with the ground-based air controllers, have been rushed to carry out a search and rescue operation, he added. But their search has been hampered by adverse weather condition.

The incident comes two days after a commercial helicopter crashed in Arunachal Pradesh. Seventeeen people were killed when the Mi-172 helicopter of Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited crashed while attempting to land at Tawang. The cause of the crash is yet to be ascertained.

Designed and manufactured by the public sector Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, the ALH was first inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF) for search and rescue, emergency airlift, air ambulance, evacuation, payload deliveries in high altitude posts and carriage of men and material.

The choppers were later inducted into the army and navy too for similar roles.

There were two incidents in the past involving Dhruvs – one of the seven sold by India to Ecuador air force crashed in October 2009 and another belonging to the Indian Air Force was forced to land due to a technical snag while rehearsing for the February 2010 ‘Vayu Shakti’ air power demonstration near Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, the officer added.

DHOOM:3 to go on floor with Aamir Khan!!

The most anticipated announcement from Yash Raj Films is here!

Yash Chopra, speaking about DHOOM:3 says, “It’s a great pleasure to have Aamir working with YRF once again. It’s even more special that he will be doing DHOOM:3. I am terribly excited with what an actor like Aamir will bring to the DHOOM franchise with his unique star power and level of performance. Adi and Victor have worked over a year to bring out, what I can now confidently say, is possibly one of the best scripts coming out of YRF and I am sure that with Aamir and Adi together, they will both create magic to give our audience one of the most exciting films they have ever seen.” 

Aamir Khan says "It is indeed a pleasure to be working with Yashraj once again. Dhoom is a great franchise, most entertaining and full of fun. Every time I hear the theme tune of Dhoom it brings a swing to my step. Victor's script really won me over and I look forward to working with him, sharing screen space with Jai and Ali, and, of course, working with Yashji and Adi once again." 

Produced by Aditya Chopra, DHOOM:3 will be written and directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya, popularly known as Victor, who has written DHOOM 1 & 2. Victor has also written and directed Tashan.

Both Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra will continue in their now iconic roles of Jai Dixit and Ali.

The film will begin shooting end of this year and is slated for a 2012 Christmas release. 

We will keep updating you with details of DHOOM:3 as we go along; he added.

PAWAN HANS Helicopter crashes in Tawang, Arunachal; 17 feared dead

Itanagar(Tue Apr 19 2011, 15:11 hrs): At last 17 people, including two infants, are feared killed in a helicopter crash that took place at Tawang in western Arunachal Pradesh today.

The helicopter, that belonged to Pawan Hans, was a regular passenger sortie from Guwahati to Tawang, and the incident occurred around 1:30 pm today.

Of the 23 people flying -- 18 passengers and 5 crew members -- six have been rescued and are being treated for severe injuries at the Tawang Hospital.

Sources in Itanagar said the helicopter was just about to land on the Tawang civil helipad, when it suddenly flared up and crashed to the ground.

It was only yesterday that several VVIPs including Union Rural Development Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Minister of State Agatha Sangma flew in to Tawang to attend a review meeting of NREGA in the Northeast.

Tawang, located at an elevation of over 11,000 feet in the Eastern Himalayas, is the headquarters of the district by the same name apart from a Brigade HQ of the Indian Army that monitors the crucial international boundary here.

Delhi University: Online registration in colleges too!!

NEW DELHI: While Delhi University has decided to do away with registration of applicants through centralized OMR forms as well as registration by individual colleges, a few colleges are likely to initiate optional online registration. According to university sources, the administration is expected to issue guidelines on online registration soon. Moreover, the online registration will be optional and free of cost. 

Colleges say online registration will help them understand the scoring trends and come up with reliable cutoff lists. Principal of SRCC, P C Jain, said "We will be collecting data on our probable applicants via online registration, emails and SMSs. But the students will not be charged anything. This is primarily to map the scoring trend so that we can bring out realistic cutoffs. As per the instructions, all students, including those who do not register online, are eligible for admissions." 

The idea, Jain added, is to use past experience and tentative trends to calculate reliable cutoff lists. 

Hansraj College, however, is waiting for the university guidelines before starting with online registrations. "We will wait for the university to come out with the guidelines. But yes, online registration will help us get an idea about the cutoffs. We will also analyze board results to announce our cutoffs,'' said principal of Hansraj College, V K Kwatra. 

Meanwhile, university sources said, DU administration has made it clear that online registration will be optional and those students who do not apply online are also be eligible for admissions. "Colleges that opt for online registration can't charge any fee for it as this will defeat the very purpose of the new admission policy. The university is likely to issue specific guidelines for colleges who would like to opt for online registration,'' said a university official. 

Welcoming the registration free admission policy, principal of Kirori Mal College, Bhim Sen Singh said: "This is a step in the right direction. Now the students need not apply to a dozen colleges. They can just wait for the cutoffs and come for admissions directly.'' 

FBI nabs Somali pirates, why can't India?

The FBI arrested 14 Somali pirates yesterday, including a chief negotiator for hijacking the vessel 'Mardia Marguerite' and torturing the Indian sailors on board. The negotiator was also responsible for hijacking four Americans off the coast of Oman in the Indian Ocean last February. The four Americans, Jean and Scott Adam of Marina del Rey, California, and Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle of Seattle, Washington, were sailing their yacht 'The Quest' when the pirates attacked the vessel. Fingers are now being raised at the Indian government, who have failed to bring back nearly 800 sailors in Somali pirates captivity. 

Sandeep Dangwal, who was onboard 'Mardia Marguerite' narrated the horrifying experience of being held captive. He had said, "They tied my hands and legs both together with a nylon rope and start beating with punches, with kicks and spit on me so many times." 

His tormentor -- 50 year Mohammad Saaili Shibin -- was finally nabbed by the United States' FBI yesterday and has been charged for piracy, conspiracy to commit kidnapping and possession of a firearm. 

The US has already begun legal proceedings against the pirates, but back home in India families of several abducted sailors point fingers at the inefficiency of the government. 

Sampa Arya, wife of abducted Indian sailor Ravendra Gulia asked the government of India, "If an American government can go to Somalia and capture those 'terrorists', then why can't the Indian government do so?" 

What these families have been getting from the government is nothing but words of fake promises. Only empty assurances have been coming their way and no action has been taken so far to release several Indian sailors abducted. 

If the US could land in Somalia and apprehend the pirates, families have been asking only one thing 'Why can't the government get our men back?' 

Reacting to this situation, sources told AVIPRA TIMES that the Indian Navy and Coast Guard have stepped up their vigil against pirates after UNSC backing. Sources added that after India's initiative, UNSC has addressed pirate issue. 

India has been seriously concerned at these developments and the Indian Navy and Coast Guard have stepped up their vigil against pirates in its EEZ. So far the Security Council had not considered the problems of hostages taken by pirates. At India's initiative, however, the Council has addressed this issue for the first time in a resolution of the Security Council. 

Cyber Spying : China vs. U.S.

According to US investigators, China has stolenterabytes of sensitive data -- from usernames and passwords for State Department computers to designs for multi-billion dollar weapons systems. And Chinese hackers show no signs of letting up. 

"The attacks coming out of China are not only continuing, they are accelerating," says Alan Paller, director of research at information-security training group SANS Institute in Washington, DC. 

Secret US State Department cables, obtained by WikiLeaks and made available to Reuters by a third party, trace systems breaches -- colorfully code-named "Byzantine Hades" by US investigators -- to the Chinese military. An April 2009 cable even pinpoints the attacks to a specific unit of China's People's Liberation Army. In the April 2009 cable, officials in the State Department's Cyber Threat Analysis Division noted that several Chinese-registered Web sites were "involved in Byzantine Hades intrusion activity in 2006." 

A person named Chen Xingpeng set up the sites using the "precise" postal code in Chengdu used by the People's Liberation Army Chengdu Province First Technical Reconnaissance Bureau (TRB), an electronic espionage unit of the Chinese ntrusion activity traced to Chengdu is similar in tactics, techniques and procedures to (Byzantine Hades) activity attributed to other" electronic spying units of the People's Liberation Army, the cable says. 

Reconnaissance bureaus are part of the People's Liberation Army's Third Department, which oversees China's electronic eavesdropping, according to an October 2009 report by the US-China Economic and Security Commission, a panel created by Congress to monitor potential national security issues related to US- China relations. 

Staffed with linguists and technicians, the Third Department monitors communications systems in China and abroad. The US State Department declined to comment. 

But the leaked cables and other US government reports underscore how Chinese and other state-sponsored and private hackers have overwhelmed US government computer networks.

Came close to getting married four times: Ratan Tata

New Delhi: Revealing one of the best kept secrets of his personal life, the bachelor industrialist Ratan Tata has said that he had fallen in love and had come seriously close to getting married as many as four times.

But in hindsight, he thinks it was not a bad thing to remain unmarried and the situation would have been more complex had he got married, Mr. Tata said in an interview to CNN International's Talk Asia programme.

“When you asked whether I'd ever been in love, I came seriously close to getting married four times and each time it got close to there and I guess I backed off in fear of one reason or another,” he said.

He replied in the affirmative when asked whether he had ever been in love. When asked how many times, he replied, “seriously, four times.” Mr. Tata, 73, heads one of the country's biggest business empires with nearly 100 firms and revenues totalling about $67 billion. He is scheduled to retire in December 2012 when he turns 75.

Asked to speak more about his love life, Mr. Tata said: “Well, you know one was probably the most serious…when I was working in the U.S. and the only reason we didn't get married was that I came back to India and she was to follow me...and that was the year of the, if you like, the Sino-Indian conflict and in true American fashion this conflict in the Himalayas, in the snowy, uninhabited part of the Himalayas was seen in the United States as a major war between India and China and so, she didn't come and finally got married in the U.S. thereafter.”

Asked whether any of the people he was in love with were still in the city, he replied in the affirmative, but declined to elaborate.

Delhi University: New admission guidelines!!

New Delhi:  This summer the students will not have to mill around the Delhi University campus to fill up the pre-admission forms. 

The Delhi University has conveniently decided to scrap the system.

''Earlier students had to fill forms before the cut-off list was announced. Now the colleges announce cut-offs first. Then students look at the colleges they might get a seat in and apply to colleges directly,'' said Dinesh Singh, Vice Chancellor, Delhi University. 

The new procedure will be announced shortly and the colleges will reveal cut-off lists in June.

''When there is no merit list, like in Bombay University, students are admitted based on cut-offs. There is no need for a pre-admission form,'' said Meera Ramchandran, Principal, Gargi College. 

 

In one swipe, Delhi University has done away with red-tape and made colleges announce number of seats and cut-off marks that may in the long term reduce attempts of back-door entry.

Giving Tendulkar Bharat Ratna would require change of rules

The calls for bestowing Sachin Tendulkar with the ‘Bharat Ratna’ may have got louder after India’s World Cup triumph but giving the country’s highest civillian honour to the batting icon would require tweaking of the criteria that has been laid down for the coveted award.

The ‘Bharat Ratna’ was started in 1954 and has so far been given to 41 eminent personalities, none of whom are sports-persons, the reason being the criteria for the coveted honour.

Constitutional expert Subhash Kashyap says given the current rules “Tendulkar does not qualify for the honour and giving the award to him would require a change in the rules.”

According to the criteria at present, the award is given for exceptional contribution in the fields of art, literature, science and social service. The criteria does not have any mention of sports.

Kashyap says the government has to decide whether it wants to include sports in the criteria for the award. The Sports Ministry will have to present such a proposal for cabinet approval.

“Once the cabinet gives its approval, the Home Ministry can bestow this honour on not just Sachin Tendulkar but any other athlete,” he said.

Indian cricket team’s prominent players such as Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag have all asked for the honour to be bestowed on Tendulkar after the side’s World Cup win.

No girl for over 3 lakh boys in Haryana

CHANDIGARH: The growing army of bachelors in Haryana is bound to increase further as there are no girls for over three lakh boys in the age group of 0-6 years. According to provisional figures of Census 2011, there are less than 14.96 lakh girls for over 18.02 lakh boys in this age group.

While there are already enough indications of marriage becoming a difficult prospect for men without a job or landholding, the latest figures suggest that situation is not going to get any better.

Bhiwani Red Cross Society secretary Shyam Sunder, who has been working towards gender sensitization for long, said, "Unable to find a match here, bachelors try to bring girls from other parts of the country. However, the gang of 'loot-and-scoot brides' has made them really anxious as in some cases, they have reportedly lost their 'wives' despite paying huge money."

Social activists are more concerned about the fact that most of these bachelors are without jobs and landholdings. In the absence of their having any responsibilities, they are bound to create problems in society, said an activist.

"Besides creating problems for girls, such youths could even try to break the sanctity of relationships," he pointed out. Stating that vocational training may prove helpful to these youths, he added, "We recently identified 2,000 bachelors in Bhiwani district and trained them to become plumbers and electricians. Not only this, we have decided to involve these youths in 'save the girl child' campaign too."

Admitting that marriages have become a major problem, top khap leader 'Dada' Baljit Singh Malik has revealed how inflation is having an adverse impact in rural areas. "Due to high rate of inflation, a large number of parents prefer to have only one child. And if they have a boy, they avoid having more children. But if they a girl in the family, then couple opts for sex determination," he added.

Lokpal Bill: Text of Gazette notification

Following is the text of the Gazettee Notification issued by the government constituting the Joint Drafting Committee comprising ministers and civil society activists to prepare the draft Lok Pal Bill.

“The Joint Drafting Committee shall consist of five nominee ministers of the Government of India and five nominees of Shri Anna Hazare (including himself).

The five nominee Ministers of the Government of India are as under:

Pranab Mukherjee, Union Minister of Finance, P Chidambaram, Union Minister of Home Affairs, M Veerappa Moily, Union Minister of Law and Justice, Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Human Resource and Development and Minister of Communication and Information Technology and Salman Khursheed, Union Minister of Water Resources and Minister of Minority Affairs.

The five nominees of Anna Hazare (including himself) are as under:

Anna Hazare, Justice N Santosh Hegde, Shanti Bhushan, Senior Advocate, Prashan Bhushan, Advocate and Arvind Kejriwal.

The Chairperson of the Joint Drafting Committee shall be Pranab Mukherjee.

The Co-Chairperson of the Joint Drafting Committee shall be Shanti Bhushan.

The Convenor of the Join Drafting Committee shall be M Veerappa Moily.

The Joint Drafting Committee shall commence its work forthwith and evolve its own procedure to prepare the proposed legislation.

The Joint Drafting Committee shall complete its work latest by 30th June, 2011.”

Anna Hazare beats the IPL

Cricket for once takes a backseat as city denizens too, go on an indefinite fast 

Anna Hazare... hum tumhare saath hai', bandh karo bandh karo... brashtachar bandh karo' are a few of the slogans that echoed in the city all through the day as thousands took to the streets to support Anna Hazare's fast unto death for the Jan Lokpal Bill. 

Even before sunrise, hundreds of activists, former civil servants, businessmen and youngsters gathered at Jalvihar in Necklace road and took a rally raising slogans against corruption. Many who were not a part of any civil rights organizations voluntarily turned up. 

Post this march, many headed to Dharna Chowk in Indira Park where thousands gathered for a hunger strike. Film personalities too, were present at the rally. Directors Sekhar Kammula and Radhakrishna along with actors RaNa Daggubati, Kamal Kamaraju and Krishank sat at the Dharna Chowk all day and took a pledge that they will not vote for any party that doesn't support Jan Lokpal Bill. 

"I made "Leader" which was about corruption. It made people think but couldn't create mass euphoria. This movement is unprecedented. I have not seen such response from youngsters before. People thought India cannot change. This movement has proved them wrong and we owe it toAnna Hazare for awakening us," Sekhar Kammula said. He also fasted all day with the protesting students. 

RaNa who made an entry at 11 am, spoke emotionally at the rally. He said this was a rare opportunity for citizens to pressurize the government and make the most of it. "Anna is fighting for us and our future. We must not give up. We should fight until the Bill is passed. Where there is corruption, there is no scope for development. This Bill can stem corruption and we need it now," he said as the audience clapped and cheered him. 

Radhakrishna, who learnt of the dharna came in and sat all day too. He says he has been seeing corruption since childhood and nothing has been done about it. "Corruption is the root cause for the death of the farmers, increase of terrorism and poverty. We don't have strong laws to nab corrupt netas and bureaucrats.We need a change in law. Anna Hazare is a selfless human being and I am here to support such a noble cause." 

Kamal Kamaraju: The actor gave an inspiring speech and demanded the government to bring in 'None of the above' as one of the options for the voters during elections because no politician is clean these days. "Scam after scam happens and we remain quiet. I came all the way from Delhionce to vote during elections. I realized after four years that he is corrupt. What can I do? We need 'none of the above' as one of the options in the ballot paper or EVMs to lodge our protest," he said. 

Jaya: Director Jaya who came early in the morning agrees, "Everyone knows there is corruption and yet we are helpless. This Bill will help us expose the traitors of the nation. The fact that this Bill didn't get passed means politicos are all hand-in-glove. This public outcry will change things, hopefully. I am here to lend my support." 

Raja Reddy: Retired senior cop, who was at the march says, "I was transferred 28 times in my 33 years of service just because I was honest. This Bill must pass. It will expose thousands of politicians who prey on public money. They must be humiliated and their properties must be seized," he said. 

K Siddharth: Documentary filmmaker K Siddharth says, "We are making a documentary on public movement against corruption. We have created an Internet profile against corruption and also to male people aware of this rally. The response has been tremendous." 

India activist Anna Hazare ends hunger strike

Indian corruption activist Anna Hazare has ended a 96-hour hunger strike, after ministers agreed to all of his demands.

The 72-year-old campaigner is is pushing for tough anti-corruption laws, and has gained huge public support.

He demanded that the committee drafting the new law be made up of activists as well as politicians. The government said it had agreed to the request.

In recent months India has been rocked by a string of corruption scandals.

A former telecom minister is awaiting trial after being accused of siphoning off billions of dollars from fraudulent sales of telecom licences.

And Indians were shocked when allegations emerged that apartments in Mumbai intended for war widows were in fact given to civil servants.

Last month the head of the country's anti-corruption watchdog was forced to resign by the Supreme Court on the grounds that he himself faced corruption charges.

Correspondents say Mr Hazare has rallied people across the country disillusioned with the recent spate of scandals - he is highly respected as a social activist with an untarnished reputation.

On Saturday, Mr Hazare broke his fast symbolically with a sip of lemonade, the BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi says.

Senior politicians including the governing Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi had urged Mr Hazare to give up his fast.

But he kept on going, and eventually persuaded the government to give in to his demands.

The sticking point had been the make-up of a committee in charge of drafting the law.

The government had agreed to a 50-50 split between politicians and activists.

But Mr Hazare wanted the committee to be co-chaired, rather than just having an individual politician in charge.

Kapil Sibal, a federal minister who negotiated on behalf of the government, said a formal order would now be issued setting up the committee as Mr Hazare demanded.

"Whatever is required to be done will be done by June 30 so that the draft legislation is introduced in parliament," he said.