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Showing posts from June 17, 2012
Egyptians gather in Cairo's Tahrir Square Tens of thousands of Egyptians are gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square, dissatisfied with the interim military government's handling of the presidential election.The outcome of the election was due on Thursday, but the electoral commission has delayed reporting the winner. The two candidates, Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood and the former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq, have both declared victory. The protesters, including Muslim Brotherhood supporters, are accusing the military government of manipulating the election results.On Friday, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces issued a statement supporting a peaceful demonstration. But it added that it would use force to prevent damage.
Singur Act held unconstitutional by Calcutta High Court     A setback to West Bengal government led by Mamata Banerjee, Calcutta High Court on Friday held as unconstitutional and void Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011, under which the state had vested land leased to Tata Motors.  Giving its verdict on an appeal by Tata Motors Ltd, a division bench comprising Justices Pinaki Chandra Ghosh and Mrinal Kanti Chaudhury observed that the President's assent had not been taken for the Act and as such it was void and unconstitutional.  The implementation of the order was, however, stayed for two months by the division bench to allow the aggrieved party to appeal before a higher court.  The division bench set aside the order of Justice I P Mukerji who had held the Act to be constitutional.  It observed that the single bench had no jurisdiction to fill up loopholes left by the legislature.  The court also observed that what was done in Singur was acq
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PM hits out at developed nations over carbon emissions PM Manmohan Singh on Friday hit out at industrialised countries over the issue of making available additional finance and technology to help developing world reduce carbon emissions, saying there is “little evidence” of support for them. >Dr Singh also made a strong plea for finding new pathways for sustainable living since the current consumption patterns in the industrialized world are unsustainable.The prime minister enunciated India’s stand in his address during the plenary session of the Rio+20 summit, which is officially known as the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.“Many countries could do more if additional finance and technology were available. Unfortunately, there is little evidence of support from the industrialised countries in these areas(reducing emissions intensity). The ongoing economic crisis has made matters worse,” he said.Describing economic developm
Pakistan new Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf Pakistan desires peaceful ties with its neighbours, including India, and will work to strengthen the dialogue process that is already underway to resolve problems like the Kashmir issue, the new Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf said. Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Friday invited the opposition for reconciliation and vowed to ensure supremacy of the Parliament, strengthen democracy and hold free, fair and transparent elections. “Powers to all the institutions flow from the Parliament. The Parliament manifests aspirations of the people and we shall ensure that nobody exercises this right of the Parliament and the people,” he said in his maiden speech after election as Prime Minister.“Some undemocratic minds try to belittle democracy and the people of Pakistan.   Raja Pervaiz Ashraf was sworn in as the 25th Prime Minister of Pakistan on Friday, President Asif Ali Zardari administered oath to
Seventh Report on the State of India’s Environment, Excreta Matters: From: "Sunita Narain" <sunita@cseindia.org> Add sender to Contacts To: nksagar_1@yahoo.com Dear  Mr Naresh Kumar Sagar, We are writing to you because of your interest in water and waste management. We know that you will find our new report of interest: Citizens’ Seventh Report on the State of India’s Environment, Excreta Matters: How urban India is soaking up water, polluting rivers and drowning in its own waste. The report, in two volumes, is on the horrendous crisis of water scarcity and growing threat of water pollution in cities and presents a detailed city-by-city analysis of the situation on the ground. The findings of our report are based on a nationwide survey, in which we collected primary data on the state of water and waste provisioning. We used this data for analysis and also put together an assess
BenQ, India’s no. 1 projector brand adds LX60ST/LW 61ST New Delhi, June 22, 2012 – BenQ, an internationally renowned provider of digital lifestyle innovations, is leader in Indian Projector market with share of more than 17 % in India according to Futuresource Consulting Q1’2012 report.  The brand is global No. 1 in DLP technology which is the preferred choice world over. BenQ is all set to expand its offerings by introducing the LX60ST/ LW61ST. These short-throw education projectors are the first in the world to incorporate BenQ's mercury-free Bluecore light engine to deliver superb energy efficiency, projection performance and instant readiness, saving money and helping the environment at the same time.   BenQ in India has strong focus on education segment with commanding 25.41% market share, in addition to No. 1 ranking in SVGA, HD, DLP and 3D segment, BenQ has been pioneer in technological innovations in all spheres. Today with
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Queens Park Rangers Heads to Asia for Pre-Season Tour                 SEPANG, 22 JUNE 2012 – Rangers fans will be thrilled to hear that Queens Park Rangers (QPR) will be making their way to the region with their official Pre-Season Asia Tour. During the tour, the team will be in three cities – Kota Kinabalu, Sabah; Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Surabaya, Indonesia.   The Barclay’s Premier League (BPL) team will face the Sabah Allstars team in Kota Kinabalu on July 17 followed by a match against the Kelantan team in Kuala Lumpur on July 20. In Surabaya, the match will see The Hoops go against Persebaya Surabaya team on 23 July.   AirAsia Group Commercial Head Kathleen Tan said, “We have fostered a fantastic partnership with QPR and is proud to renew our sponsorship as QPR official shirt sponsor. W e are excited and thrilled to have QPR tour our major hub cities in Malaysia and Indonesia. AirAsia has been activ
12.2 Million Tourists to Bangkok is ranked third Globally By sagarmedia Bangkok Ranks Third Globally in context  of the Number of International Tourists Expected. Expected to receive 12.2 million international visitors in 2012  MUMBAI, JUNE 21, 2012: Bangkok, the capital city of ‘Amazing Thailand’ has been ranked third globally in terms of the number of international tourists expected to visit the city in 2012. MasterCard Worldwide annual Global Destination Cities Index has stated that the number of people travelling abroad continues to increase around the world despite a challenging economic environment. Bangkok was the top ranked city in Asia and outranked cities such as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Dubai. The index said Bangkok will attract 12.2 million visitors. Globally, the list was topped by London (16.9 million visitors), followed by Paris. The index also placed Bangkok third in a list ranked by visitor spend. It said a tot
“Why no background declaration by people contesting for the President’s office?”, National Election Watch ask Election Commission of India Mr Gopalaswami N(former CEC) and T S Krishnamurty(former CEC) also agree that the filing of affidavit should be made mandatory on the lines of Supreme Court’s judgment. New Delhi: June 18, 2012 : Since 2003 judgement of Supreme court directing the Election Commission to get background information on criminal records, assets, liabilities, education etc. on an affidavit, all candidates contesting parliament or legislative assembly elections have to give this declaration to the election commission on an affidavit. Following in the steps of Election commission of India, most State Election Commissions (SECs) have also implemented it in the elections to local bodies(Panchayats and Municipal elections). However, there is no such declaration in force for Presidential elections. National Election Watch (NEW) has written to Ele
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Study commissioned by the Ministry of Environment and Forests says that the 24 hydroelectric power projects planned on the Ganga should be reappraised Guest post: Amita Bhaduri Images courtesy: Wildlife Institute of India Expressing doubts at the major plans to expand hydropower generating capacity in Uttarakhand , a report commissioned by the Ministry of Environment and Forests has recommended that the twenty four dams planned on the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers, the two main tributaries of the Ganga in Uttarakhand should not be allowed, as they will cause irretrievable harm to the river. Hydroelectric projects on the river Ganga Image courtesy: www . sandrp .in This report by the Wildlife Institute of India ( WII ) , commissioned by the Ministry of Environment and Forests has studied the cumulative environmental and ecological impacts of hydroelectric projects in the Ganga basin on the riverine ecosystem including on terrestrial and aqua
Karzai vows to root out corruption Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called for rooting out corruption ahead of an international donor conference for his country to be held in Tokyo next month.Karzai addressed on Thursday a joint session of the upper and lower houses.He said corruption has reached a peak in Afghanistan and it is an ill that the government must cure. Karzai expressed hope that countries at the international conference will pledge 4 billion dollars worth of aid a year for the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan after 2014. NATO-led combat troops are scheduled to withdraw that year.
Maharashtra secretariat in blaze Anil Joshi, under secretary  in Secretariat general administration department  works on the 7th floor, was informed of the fire on his cell phone. He reports that  more than 95 per cent of the employees have been evacuated, but saw a  number of people stranded on the 4th, 5th and 6th floor of the building. Joshi said he and other employees of his department ran down the stairs to safety, but faced breathing problems as they ran down the staircase because of the thick smoke. Mantralaya engulfed with fire at 1.50 PM that spreads to CM's cabin media reports confirms that the fire broke out at NCP minister Babanrao Pachpute's office. Eight  fire tender  have rushed to the spot and battling the blaze  so far, there are no reports of any casualties. Maharashtra Chief Secretary has ordered immediate evacuation of the entire building. Pachpute said the fire has spread to the Chief Minister's
XXX Olympic delight for Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna Joint Press Statement by Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna  London, June 21st, 2012: We are delighted to have been nominated as a team to the Men's Doubles event at the Games of the XXX Olympiad.  The events of the last few days have been extremely challenging for all concerned, but we respect them as necessary steps in this process.  In making each of our decisions, we were guided by our strong convictions regarding what we believed was fair and we are pleased that this is reflected in the outcome. We are greatly appreciative of the support we have received from across the world. We are excited that we will be playing together at the Olympics and our sole focus is now on our team's preparations for the Games.
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To: Nksagar_1@yahoo.com   Help 12 year old Shaan get his fundamental right to water. Sign Shaan's Petition Naresh - 27 days without water! Shaan and his family in Sangham Vihar didn’t get water for almost a month, his father who works as a construction labour borrowed water from his friends and paid bribes to the water mafia in-order to help the family survive. The family has no