DMK not against Kudankulam nuclear power plant

DMK President M Karunanidhi today clarified that his party was not against the controversial Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project, saying, DMK always supports industrial growth in a scientific manner.
Speaking to reporters here, the 88-year-old former Chief Minister said, We are not against developmental projects like Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. We are in favour of industrial growth in a scientific manner.
He was replying to a question on Union Minister V Narayanasamy's reported observation that DMK initially supported the Kudankulam power project, but later backed out.

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Passenger on board turns violent on IndiGo flight

An unruly passenger on-board an IndiGo flight from Mumbai allegedly got violent and created a ruckus in the aircraft, forcing authorities to hand him over to security officials when the plane landed at the IGI airport here today.
The passenger, identified as Mohammed Muslim Sheikh, had boarded the IndiGo flight (6E196) from Mumbai but suddenly got violent and started screaming and shouting and physically assaulted a crew member on board, sources said.
He also tried to move forward in the plane but was restrained by the crew and fellow passengers till the aircraft landed at the airport here.
Cabin crew also took security measures to block his access to the front of the aircraft, they said.
In the meantime, the pilot-in-command informed the airport authorities and requested for the security personnel on arrival of the flight.
After the aircraft landed at the IGI airport, the man was deplaned and handed over to the CISF.
Confirming the incident, an IndiGo spokesperson said, IndiGo is in the process of lodging a FIR with the police and IndiGo shall assist the security agencies in their investigation.

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"Varsities not producing well-educated graduates"

The university system was not producing “well-educated” graduates to meet needs of Indian companies, giving an opportunity to firms to enter the sector in the “guise” of training, Minister of State for Higher Education Shashi Tharoor said.
He also said that the national education policy in the past has been out of step with the times.
“The major problem remains that our national education policy in the past has remained out of step with the time. Whereas countries in the Middle-East and China are going out of their way to woo foreign universities to set up campuses in their countries, India turned away many academic suitors who have come calling in recent years,” he said.
Speaking at a two-day Higher Education Summit, Mr. Tharoor said, “Companies are entering the higher education space in the guise of training. Our University system simply is not producing well educated graduates to meet the needs of Indian companies today.”
The HRD Minister said there will be no need for many Indian students to go abroad to study if good higher education institutes were set up in the country. “We will also work towards putting our reform agenda back on track,” he said.
Mr. Tharoor said there is a proposal to establish 50 centres for research in frontier areas of science, design innovation centres, innovation centres in different universities and also research parts of the IITs and other technical institutions.
“If finally established, it would transform the research environment in our country,” he said.
Mr. Tharoor favoured expediting setting up of National Mission for teachers and recommendations of the Narayana Murthy Committee and the Kakodkar Committee besides increasing the spending of 2 per cent on research.
The minister said with the ranks of educated unemployed in the country swelling in the absence of adequate employment opportunities, there is possibility of their falling prey to the activities of terrorists and Maoists.
“We must give them a better chance of employment through more and improved educational possibilities. My message is it is time to let a thousand educational flowers bloom,” he said.
He said even though India with 621 universities and 33,500 colleges has one of the largest network of higher education institutes across the world and second in terms of student enrolment, our gross enrolment ratio of 18.8 per cent in 2011 is still less than the world average of 26 per cent.
He said there was need to develop higher levels of education and skill development and an environment must be created in which not only the economy grows rapidly but also enhances good quality employment.
Mr. Tharoor said as India aims to grow at 8.2 to 8.5 per cent GDP, the country needs to invest in education and help improve the quality of education.

Referring to a few world-class institutes like IIT’s and IIMs and some colleges, the Minister said, “These are still islands in a sea of mediocrity”.
Citing a UGC survey of 1,471 colleges and 111 universities, he said 73 per cent of the colleges and 68 per cent of the universities are found to be of medium or low quality.
He also said that a FICCI survey has revealed in 2009 that 64 per cent employers are “somewhat satisfied” with the quality of new graduates coming out of engineering institutes.
The minister lamented that spending on education is only 1.22 per cent of GDP, against USA’s 3.1 per cent or South Korea’s 2.4 per cent. He also said that the student-teacher ratio in India was 26:1 against the global average of 15:1.
He said the rapid expansion of higher education sector has also led to shortage of faculty.

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Airlines told to prepare for fog with trained pilots

 With fog likely to affect flights in and out of Delhi and other cities in North India for a longer period this year, aviation regulator DGCA has asked all airlines to deploy sufficient number of pilots trained to operate air service in such a condition.

At a meeting convened by DGCA, met department officials said the anticipated period of fog during 2012-13 at the Delhi airport would be from December 10 to February 10. In the past few years, foggy conditions have subsided by the third week of January.
The meeting, which reviewed fog preparedness at the Delhi and other north Indian airports, was attended by officials of Airports Authority of India, domestic and foreign carriers, Delhi International Airport Ltd, CISF and the Indian Meteorological Department, an official spokesperson said. DGCA directed airlines to ensure that adequate numbers of Category-III trained pilots were available to operate flights to and from Delhi during fog. The airlines were also told that the operations of planes like ATR turboprops, regional jets and Bombardier Q400s, which are not CAT-III compliant, should be rescheduled during the fog period.
The regulator also asked airlines to provide advance information to passengers and provide them with basic amenities along with food at alternate airports in case of diverted flights. While DIAL representative made a presentation on the preparations and contingency plans during the fog period, AAI officials said they have issued instructions to alternate airports near Delhi to prepare for fog situation.
Construction work, which could affect aircraft operations, should be stopped near the operational area at the IGI airport as well as the alternate airports like Jaipur, Lucknow, Amritsar, Ahmedabad and Varanasi during the fog period, the aviation regulator instructed.
The meeting came following direction from Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh to take all necessary steps in advance to meet eventualities arising out of fog during the winter season particularly at the airports in North India. Singh asked authorities to ensure that passengers should not be put to unnecessary inconvenience and flight cancellations should be minimised without compromising safety, an official statement said.
He also advised Airports Authority of India (AAI) and other authorities concerned to make use of the best available technology for smooth navigation and landing of aircraft during fog. The DGCA directed the airports to display meteorological information for passengers on flight information displays (FIDs) and update it every 15 minutes.
Weather information on the IGI airport should be displayed on prominent news channels, it said. Airlines should provide information to passengers about delays, rescheduling, cancellation of flights in advance through SMS, email, phone. Airlines should also provide information to DIAL on flight status for updating the same on FIDs, he said.
After the fog situation improves, priority should be given to diverted flights and ATC should sequence the planes and give clearance for take-off based on the start-up request to avoid congestion, he said, adding that ground infrastructure would be augmented at alternate airports during fog.
He said that airlines must ensure that passengers were provided basic amenities along with food at alternate airports in case of diverted flights. Airlines should position a senior level officer at IGI airport during the fog period for passenger facilitation.
To avoid any misconduct or violence on the part of passengers, CISF have been directed to provide necessary help to the airlines. DIAL would be holding daily evening meetings of all stakeholders during the fog period to review the situation during the day and plan for the next day's operations.
PTI

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My conscience was always clear: Azharuddin

Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin said he always believed in the "almighty allah" and his conscience was clear as his 12-year-long battle to clear his name of the match-fixing charges ended Thursday.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court Thursday overturned the life ban imposed on him by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2000 on charges of match-fixing.
Azharuddin, now a Congress MP from Moradabad, said he played the game honestly and was a relieved man as the court struck down the BCCI's ban as "illegal".

"I have always played the game honestly and with command. Today I am a relieved man after what I have suffered for the last 12 years. I fought this battle for so long with patience. It has been a tough battle and I am grateful to everyone who has supported me during this difficult period," Azhar told reporters at his official residence In New Delhi.

As soon as the news broke out, party workers and fans burst crackers at his residence at Lodhi Garden. Amidst the huge media presence, party colleagues and fans came with bouquets to congratulate him. It was certainly early Diwali at C-1/12, Lodhi Garden.

But despite the celebrations, Azharuddin remembered his younger son Ayazuddin, who passed away last year in a road accident.

"The last year has been very tough. Today I want to be happy with my elder son Abbas. I wish the judgment had come a bit early," he said.
Asked who all from the cricket fraternity supported him during the last 12 years,

Azharuddin said: "I always got support from Raj Singh Dungarpur, Kapil paaji and Kamal Morarka."

Azharuddin said he was never hurt with the BCCI's action. "I was never hurt with their action. That was their line of thinking. I can't blame them for that," he said.

Asked if he felt that the BCCI would not pursue the case any longer after Pakistan  also came soft on Salim Malik, a former captain, who was also banned for life, Azharuddin said: "It is tough to say. But I think it has been a good move to bring back the banned cricketers in the normal fold of life."

Malik's name also figured in the inquiry conducted by India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that led to life bans on Azharuddin and Delhi cricketer Ajay Sharma.
When the BCCI Dec 5, 2000 banned the two Indian cricketers for life, Azharuddin was left stranded on 99 Tests.

Asked if he regrets not having completed 100 Test matches, Azharuddin said: "I think I was probably destined to play 99 Test matches hence played that many. I believe what has to happen, will happen."

Azharuddin, however, regrets not having more than 22 Test centuries.
"I have 22 centuries. I think the way I started with three consecutive centuries, I should have got around 27-28 centuries. But I have no regrets. I led the team for nine years with success. That is how life is," he said.

The former India captain also thanked the Congress party for its support.

"I am grateful to the party for the support. Three years ago when I decided to join politics they always believed in me. I didn't know abc of elections but the party stood by me during the tough time," he said. 

Azharuddin had challenged the Indian cricket board's decision in the Hyderabad civil court, which upheld the ban. He then moved the High Court against the lower court's order. His lawyers argued that BCCI imposed the ban without any evidence.

Azharuddin, one of India's most successful captains, played 99 Tests and scored 6,215 runs during his career. He also played 334 One-Day Internationals scoring 9,378 runs in his 15-year international career.

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Govt. committed to promote partnerships in R&D: Reddy

Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Jaipal Reddy on Thursday expressed his concern about connection between our knowledge and industrial application systems and said that the government

is committed to promote partnerships between industry and academia in research and development.

Launching the Prime Minister's Fellowship Scheme for Doctoral Research here Reddy said: "There are huge emerging opportunities that are waiting to be tapped and converted into value for the country by bridging the disconnects between the knowledge and wealth creation sector."

"Some concerns have been expressed at various levels that the connections between our knowledge and industrial application systems are weak. There are some pessimists who worry about such problems. The present doctoral fellowship is indeed working in the area of national gap and is targeted to bridge those disconnects," Reddy said.

"Our knowledge institutions like IISc, IITs, IISERs and Universities are creating intellectual properties in the form of papers in peer valued scientific journals, but the challenge is in the conversion of such knowledge into products of commercial value to the industrial users. While our public funded R and D (Research and Development) systems are busy publishing papers, the industries are searching for technologies for commercialization," added Reddy.

The Prime Minister's Fellowship Scheme for Doctoral Research offers opportunities with incentives for students registered for doctoral research starting the year 2012 in any of knowledge institutions as well as R and D personnel employed in industrial sector but registered into doctoral research programmes in cutting edge areas of importance.

The minister informed that a Sub-Committee of Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry was constituted for promoting Public-Private-Partnership in Research and Development and Clean Energy.

Reddy expressed his hope that the private sector will also invest more and more into research and innovations and partner our research institutions in solving national problems through accessible, available and affordable innovations.

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'Terrorists investing in stock markets'

Concerned over terror groups investing in stock markets through spurious companies, India on Tuesday sought international cooperation to deal with it. "It is a cliche to say that terror-funding is the lifeblood of terrorism. Credible intelligence suggests that terrorist outfits are investing in stock markets through spurious companies, setting up fictitious businesses and laundering money," Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said, addressing the Interpol General Assembly in Rome.
Shinde said the utmost important task was to detect the sources of such finance, including the fake currency variant, its conduits, modus-operandi and stanching its flow. "Here again the Interpol has to play a very crucial role," he said.
The Home Minister said India has adopted a system to counter-terrorism that gives primacy to dialogue, democratic political processes and the rule of law. The country deal with terrorism within the ambit of this structure.
"Post 26/11, we have raised the level of preparedness to meet the increasingly sophisticated terrorist threats. Secondly, we have enhanced the speed and decisiveness of the response to a terrorist threat or a terrorist attack," he said.
Shinde said India's consistent and basic stand before the international community has been that there could be no justification for terrorism on any grounds: religious, political, ideological or any other.
"To be effective, the fight against terrorism has to be long term, comprehensive and sustained. Strengthening of international cooperation is vital to ensure that action is not restricted simply to the perpetrators but also encompassed States, which sponsor, support or provide safe haven to terrorists," he said.

 

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BJP core group backs Gadkari, seeks to end internal rift

Seeking to end an internal rift over Nitin Gadkari’s continuance as BJP chief, the party core committee Tuesday expressed faith in his leadership and sought to give him a virtual clean chit over allegations of financial impropriety in his business dealings, saying a probe had shown that he had done “no legal or moral wrong”. The core committee meeting, which lasted nearly two hours was attended by senior leaders including Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley and party general secretaries. Party veteran L.K. Advani and Gadkari himself were not present.

Party chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said after the meeting that the party “endorsed the stand of Shri Gadkari that he is ready and willing to face any fair inquiry”.

Reading from a statement signed by Sushma Swaraj and Jaitley, Prasad said: “Shri Gadkari has no direct or indirect interest in the 18 investment companies which have invested in the Purti Group”.

Prasad said the meeting was held in the backdrop of several allegations in the media about shareholding in the Purti Group.

“S. Gurumurthy, noted chartered accountant and financial analyst, who has examined these documents and facts made a presentation to the party leaders. The meeting accepted the presentation of Shri Gurumurthy that there was no legal or moral wrong doing by Shri Nitin Gadkari,” he said.

Gurumurthy is considered close to the Rahstriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Gadkari has enjoyed the backing of the RSS, the ideological mentor of the BJP.

The announcement came as a relief to Gadkari who has been facing the heat from sections within the party over allegations of financial impropriety. He had earlier said that he was ready for any probe and the party had endorsed his stand.

It came a day after his controversial statement comparing Swami Vivekanand and fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim provided further ammunition to his detractors.

BJP leaders were huddled in meetings throughout the day following demand by party MP Ram Jethmalani that Gadkari should resign immediately. Gadkari was also part of some of the meetings.

Jethmalani had written a letter to Advani earlier this month saying his demand for Gadkari’s ouster had support of party leaders Yashwant Sinha, Jaswant Singh and Shatrughan Sinha.

In a message to leaders who had spoken against Gadkari’s leadership, Prasad said party’s internal issues should not be discussed in public.

Party sources said the core committee’s announcement signifies that Gadkari was unlikely to be asked to go before his term ends and the party would go into the winter session of parliament with him as the president. Gadkari had taken over as BJP chief in December 2009 for a three-year term.

The sources, however, said the backing was not an endorsement for a second term for Gadkari and serious questions remained on the issue.

They said it remained to be seen if backing by the core group would quell dissidence against Gadkari.

“The announcement of support, in a way, may open the door for a graceful exit for Gadkari,” a party leader told IANS.

They said that the party was in the middle of the assembly election campaign in Gujarat and any signal about Gadkari’s removal at this stage would not have helped the party.

They added that Gadkari’s resignation would also have disturbed delicately balanced internal equations in the BJP with obvious questions rising about his successor.

The sources said it would have also opened the question of prime ministerial candidate at a time when the party wanted to focus its energies on taking on the Congress.

Earlier in the day, Gadkari regretted his remarks on Swami Vivekananda, a day after he denied comparing the 19th century seer to fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim.

His comparison of the two during a speech in Bhopal Sunday had evoked disapproval from the RSS also. Gadkari has maintained that he had been misquoted and his remarks distorted.

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'Obama victory is not best news for outsourcing'

The re-election of US President Barack Obama is not the best news for IT outsourcing industry, according to CEO of iGATE, Phaneesh Murthy.  Not the best news for India or the IT outsourcing industry. However, we need to understand how much of the election rhetoric continues into 2013 and that will determine the full implications to us, Murthy said.

 The concern over the deficit and jobs will continue (in the US) and in my mind, will force the sluggishness to remain in the economy, he said.
 Obama today won a second term in office overcoming a stiff initial challenge from his Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
 Obama in this presidential elections campaign had criticised outsourcing of jobs to countries like India saying that US needs to create jobs locally.
 The US and Europe account for over 80 per cent of revenues of the Indian IT industry.

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