PMO suggests CBI, ED probe in CWG contract

The Prime Minister's Office has suggested to Sports Ministry a probe by CBI and Enforcement Directorate into alleged irregularities in the contracts executed by Common Wealth Games Organising Committee. In its letter, the PMO has asked for probe by the agencies specifically in works carried out by Event Knowledge Services (EKS), an international private consultant, and other irregularities pointed out by the Shunglu Committee. Our correspondent reports, EKS was given three contracts of over 70 crore rupees by the organising committee to extend consultancy services for the venue development and management, games workforce, and games planning and project management services.

Saudi government establishes a national commission to battle corruption

The Saudi government has established a national commission to battle corruption. According to country’s official Saudi Press Agency the cabinet of ministers approved the Organisation of Anti-Corruption National Commission to deal with all forms of corruption. The agency said that the Commission aims to protect integrity, promote the principle of transparency, fight against financial and administrative corruption in all its forms and manifestations.

Courtesy : AIR

Indian men’s recurve team bags silver in Archery World Cup

Indian men’s recurve team settled for a silver after going down to the U.S. in the final of the Archery World Cup Stage I in Porec, Croatia.The fifth ranked Indian trio of Tarundeep Rai, Jayanta Talukdar and Rahul Banerjee, after upsetting the Korean applecart in the semifinals, lost their lead to succumb to their U.S. opponents 219—221 in a pressure-filled 24 arrows final on Saturday.

J&K Panchayat elections: over 80% turnout

In Jammu and Kashmir, over 80% voters today exercised their right to franchise during the 7th phase of Panchayat elections held in eight blocks of the state. Polling was held to elect 245 Sarpanches and 1,765 panches. Our correspondent reports, voting took place peacefully amid tight security arrangements. No major untoward incident has been reported from anywhere.

Courtesy : AIR

Saina falters in finals, ends runner-up in Malaysia

Star Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal faltered after a good start as she lost to world number three Xin Wang of China in the finals to finish runner-up in the Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold Badminton tournament on Sunday.The world number four and top seed Indian, playing with a taped-up ankle, lost 21-13 8-21 14-21 in a 48-minute contest against her second-seeded rival.

Govt’s disinvestment kitty set to cross Rs. 1 lakh crore mark

The government’s disinvestment proceeds from all its asset sales till date are set to cross the Rs. one lakh crore milestone with its share sale in Power Finance Corp scheduled to hit the market later this week.The government may garner over Rs. 1,100 crore from sale of its 5 per cent stake in PFC through a follow-on public offer (FPO). The process will also involve sale of 15 per cent fresh equity worth over Rs. 3,300 crore, scheduled for May 10-13.

Areas identified for New York summit talks

Infrastructure, real estate, legal, agriculture and food processing, education and finance are among the sectors that have been identified as the core areas for intense discussions at a trade summit to be held in New York later this month with the objective of crystallising a plan of action for an accelerated Indo-U.S. economic partnership. The second summit for U.S.-India Trade and Economic (SUITE) 2011 being organised by the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) will see the visit of a 50-member business delegation to the U.S. from May 25. The focus of the two-day event would be on forging meaningful and sustainable business partnerships and hand-holding for joint ventures and technology sharing between the companies of the two countries, particularly in the small and medium enterprises. SUITE 2011 will also see the presentation of a research publication by consulting firm Grant Thornton which will list out the potential areas for investment, joint ventures and technology acquisition. “We expect the summit to supplement the priority of the Indian Government to channelise greater investment in focus sectors and in attracting investment from India to create more jobs in the U.S. which is a priority of the U.S. Government,” says S. K. Mitra, SUITE 2011 Chairman and Vice President of IACC.

Courtesy : The Hindu

Tech jobs in Indiana, not India, China: Obama

With his domestic political standing boosted by last weekend's killing of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan, United States President Barack Obama has now trained his guns on the U.S.' economic competitors and upped the ante on India and China in particular.Speaking to factory workers at a clean-energy auto manufacturer called Allison Transmission, headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, Mr. Obama said that the U.S. was in a competition all around the world with other countries, and those countries knew that clean energy technology was going to help spur job creation and economic growth for years to come.

Researchers patch damaged heart with engineered tissue

Researchers have pioneered a method to patch a damaged heart with an engineered tissue, in a major step forward in combating cardiovascular disease, one of the most serious health problems of our day.Led by Gordana Vunjak—Novakovic, professor of biomedical engineering at Columbia University, researchers developed a novel cell therapy to treat myocardial infarction (damage that follows a heart attack), reports the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

U.S. should not have violated Pakistan’s sovereignty: Gilani

Amid a diplomatic row between Pakistan and the U.S. over the secret operation that killed al— Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said Washington should not have violated his country’s sovereignty to carry out the raid in Abbottabad.“There was no need to (take) a shortcut or to bypass Pakistan,” Mr. Gilani told reporters who accompanied him on an official visit to France.

Shanti Bhushan asks Chidambaram to make report on CD public

Lawyer Shanti Bhushan on Sunday asked Home Minister P. Chidambaram to make public the report prepared by CFSL, Chandigarh which reportedly said that a CD having purported conversations between him and political leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh were a cut and paste job.

Don’t have a single paise of black money: former CJI

Former Chief Justice of India and National Human Rights Commission Chairman K. G. Balakrishnan on Sunday termed as “baseless” allegations that he and his relatives possessed black money, saying he did not even have a “single paise” of ill-gotten money.Asked by reporters here about Director General of Income Tax (Investigation) E. T. Lukose’s recent statement that three of Balakrishnan’s relatives were found to be having black money, he said it was a “serious” allegation against his relatives, which was “baseless”.

Exit poll results likely on May 10

As the sixth and last phase of the Assembly elections in West Bengal ends at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, the results of the exit polls conducted by various agencies in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, Puducherry and West Bengal can be published or released in the media or websites or telecast/aired by television and radio channels.

Don't canonise Tagore, urge scholars

On a day when a virtual shower of plaudits was poured on poet laureate Rabindranath Tagore, scholars urged that the man behind the legend must not be forgotten.He should not be loaded under a wreath of flowers so that he is not even visible, said Namwar Singh, 1971 Sahitya Academy Awardee, speaking at a seminar on “Tagore's Universalism” organised by the Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation. Professor Singh felt that in making him a global figure, we had forgotten that he laid stress on very small things that mattered in everyday life — from a seed flourishing in nature to rural economic development.

Growth could be 8 per cent during FY 12: FM

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday projected India's economic growth at 8 per cent for the current fiscal, lower than the budgetary estimate of 9 per cent, due to measures taken to rein in high inflation."If oil prices continue to rise, it would be difficult to achieve higher GDP. GDP may come down to 8 per cent from (the projected) 9 per cent," Mukherjee told reporters on the sidelines of ADB annual meeting in Hanoi.The government's (India) primary concern now is to manage inflation while sustaining high growth rate.Hardening of global commodity prices, particularly oil prices has accelerated inflation, he said adding "our projection is 7.5-8 per cent inflation during the year".

Osama was living in Abbottabad for five years: Wife

While the US-led forces were hunting for Osama bin Laden in Pakistan's unruly tribal areas for years, the al-Qaeda chief had been living a secluded life in a million-dollar mansion in the Pakistani garrison city of Abbottabad for five years, according to one of his wives.The Yemeni woman said bin Laden had been living in the compound in Abbottabad for the past five years, Geo News Channel quoted unnamed senior Pakistani military officials as saying.

UN human rights watchdogs demand details of Osama's killing

Two UN human rights watchdogs have asked the US to give details about the operation that killed Osama bin Laden, who was unarmed, in particular whether there had been any plan to capture him.There are growing speculations that international human right principles might have been jettisoned in the deadly operation after reports emerged that four of the five people killed, when an elite unit of US Navy SEALs raided the house in Pakistan's Abbottabad, were unarmed - bin Laden among them.

Lokpal to have full authority: Prashant Bhushan

The proposed Lokpal will be a functionaly, administratively and financially independent body. It will be a broadbased, participatory and transparent panel. Emerging out of the third meeting of the government and Civil society members of the drafting committee in New Delhi this evening, Civil Society member Prashant Bhushan said that government has agreed to give full authority to Lokpal on its appointment, investigation and prosecution functions. He also said that issues related to bringing Prime Minister and Chief Justice under the ambit of Lokpal's investigation will be discussed in subsequent meetings.

Prime Minister Releases set of Postage Stamps on Rabindranath Tagore India Post Commomerates Tagore’s 150th Birth Anniversary

Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh released a set of two commemorative postage stamps on 'Rabindranath Tagore' here today commemorating the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore. The design of the stamps depicts: Tagore writing-background shows Upasana ghar at Santiniketan; Tagore performing in his play ‘Valmiki Pratibha’ and a painting by him.

International award to be instituted in Tagore's name: PM

Describing Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore as a "multi-faceted genius", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has announced that a prestigious international award will be instituted in his name."Government of India has decided to institute a prestigious international award in the name of Rabindranath Tagore to recognise very distinguished contributions towards the promotion of international brotherhood and fraternity," he said inaugurating the 150th anniversary celebrations of the poet in New Delhi on Saturday.

Sibal to sort out telecom industry issues for NTP-11 by August

Union Telecom minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday said that all industry issues related to the new National Telecom Policy will be sorted out by the month of August."By August, we will have all issues decided for policy. We are holding a number of round table discussion with industry for this," Sibal said while speaking at telecom event organised by industry body ASSOCHAM.

Bill for commercial courts in monsoon session: Moily

A bill to set up specialised commercial benches in all high courts and another to protect the interests of the creators of literary works, cinema, music etc will be introduced in Parliament in its forthcoming Monsoon session, Law Minister M Veerappa Moily said on Saturday."The bill to set up commercial court benches in high courts has already been examined by the standing parliamentary panel attached to Union Law ministry and will be introduced in Parliament and possibly will get passed in the Monsoon session," Moily said.

Lokpal panel members agree on basic principles of legislation

A month after Anna Hazare's hunger strike on Lokpal Bill issue, representatives of the government and the civil society on Saturday agreed on basic principles of the proposed legislation on anti-corruption ombudsman like transparency in selection process and autonomy.However, inclusion of Prime Minister and judiciary in the ambit of the Lokpal was a sticking point and the issue was flagged for broader discussion at the next meeting scheduled for 23rd May.

Scheme for Tagore Cultural Complexes

For about 15 years (1992-2007), Ministry of Culture was operating a scheme for setting up of Multipurpose Cultural Complexes (MPCCs), with a view to support State-sponsored bodies in setting up integrated cultural complexes for fostering activities in various cultural fields like music, dance, drama, literature, fine arts, etc. In all, about 50 MPCCs were sanctioned in different States/ UTs, with Central assistance ranging from Rs. 1 crore to Rs. 2.5 crores for each project.

Film Festival Based on Rabindranath Tagore’s Works

A three-day film festival based on Rabindranath Tagore’s works began in New Delhi today on the occasion of the 150th Birth Anniversary celebrations of Rabindranath Tagore. The festival is being presented by Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India in collaboration with Directorate of Film Festivals, Films Division of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting at Viigyan Bhawan. During the festival eight films will showcase of the creative dialogue that Tagore’s works create with Indian film makers as they imbue is works with their own perception and flourishes. The films selected for the screening are Rabindranath Tagore (1961) Directed by Satyajit Ray, Kabuliwala (1956) Directed by Tapan Sinha, Tagore’s Paintings (1970) Dire Ranabir Ray, Kbudito Pashan (1960) Directed by Tapan Sinha, Charulata (1964) Directed by Satyajit Ray, Tagore’s Ode to Nature (1986) Directed by Ranabir Ray, Ghaire Baire (1984) Directed by Satyajit Ray and Teen Kanya (1961) Directed by Satyajit Ray. 

Courtesy : PIB

Tagore National Fellowship for Cultural Research

The Ministry of Culture introduced in November, 2009, a new scheme by the name of “Visiting Fellows in Art, Culture & Heritage”. Later, to mark the Commemoration of the 150^th Birth Anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, the scheme was renamed as “Tagore National Fellowship for Cultural Research”.The objective of this prestigious scheme was to invigorate and revitalize the various institutions under the Ministry of Culture which have vast ‘treasures’ in the form of manuscripts, documents, artifacts, antiquities and paintings.   It was meant to encourage serious researches into our cultural resources so that the nation stands to benefits from the results.  Museums, for instance, could hardly display more than a small percentage of their entire holdings and they could use this scheme to encourage research and analysis of the objects that are not usually available for public viewing or use.

Mobile tech to change airport experience

Do you dread long check-in queues, lost luggage and lack of communication in the airports? Mobile technology could soon make all this irrelevant.When you walk into an airport in a few years, what will it look like? The first clue is that the rows of check-in counters will probably be gone. And, rather than looking for a departures board, you will probably be checking a personalised, location-sensitive update on the smart phone in your pocket.

‘Accused liable even if loan obtained by fraud is repaid'

Merely because the loan dues of a bank or a financial institution have been repaid, the accused cannot be exonerated from criminal liability if the charge against them is that they obtained the loan by fraud or forged documents, the Supreme Court has said.A Bench of Justices D.K. Jain and H.L. Dattu rejected the contention that the full amount in question having been re-paid to the bank, there was no monetary loss to the bank and, therefore, continuation of criminal proceedings against all the accused, including the appellant, would not only be an exercise in futility but an abuse of the process of law as well.

Civil society group hands over charter of demands to ULFA

The Sanmilta Jatiya Abhibartan (SJA), an umbrella body of civil society organisations of Assam, on Saturday formally handed over a charter of demands to the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). SJA Chief Spokesman Hiren Gohain handed over the charter to ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa in the presence of top leaders of both the organisations here. The outfit will now discuss the charter threadbare before submitting its own demand charter to the Centre.