'Goa government playing up to special economic zone developers'
ECO6Economy/Politics/National'Goa government playing up to special economic zone developers'Goa, Oct 6 IANS The Goa SEZ Virodhi Manch SVM, a non-political body comprising various social groups and non-governmental organisations opposed to special economic zones SEZ in the state, has accused the state government of helping SEZ developers make a backdoor entry into Goa. SVM convenor Charles Fernandes in a press note issued Sunday said Chief Minister Digambar Kamat's decision to meet SEZ developers at trade and commerce minister Kamal Nath's behest could facilitate the re-entry of SEZ developers. Fernandes was reacting to a press conference Sunday by Goa's lone Rajya Sabha member Shantaram Naik, where he claimed that SEZ developers, at a meeting with Kamal Nath in Delhi, had insisted on being given another plot of land in Goa in lieu of the present SEZ holdings. "There were three SEZ developers present. They ignored Mr Nath's offer for a separate SEZ plot in any other state in India. They want land in Goa as compensation," Naik told the media. Naik further said Kamal Nath had then asked the chief minister to meet the three SEZ developers. A public outcry following the allotment of 3,800,000 square metres of land to seven SEZ developers recently had forced the government to scrap the projects, a move which had met stout resistance from the central government. The state government's move to issue notice to SEZ developers to return the land allotted to them, has resulted in seven SEZ promoters - Meditabh Specialities, Cipla group, Peninsular Pharma Research, Paradigm Logistic and Distributors, Planetview Mercantile, Inox Mercentile, and Maxgrow - approach the Panaji bench of the Bombay High Court in appeal. SVM has already filed police complaints claiming that the process followed to hand over land to the SEZ developers was riddled with fraud. "The SVM has also exposed the malafide intentions and actions of the government of Goa which is only paying lip service to the opposition of the Goans to the menace of SEZs," Fernandes claimed, further demanding that the administration should not enter into any deal with any of the developers who have "committed illegal acts" to get their SEZs approved or notified. --Indo-Asian News Servicemaya/ank/dg384 Words06101529
2008-10-06 06:03:10Brakel executives meet Himachal official over controversial project
BUS11Business/Energy/NationalBrakel executives meet Himachal official over controversial projectBy Vishal Gulati Shimla, Oct 5 IANS Executives of Dutch hydro power major Brakel Corp NV, scheduled to set up the Thopan-Powari-Jangi power project in Himachal Pradesh, met the government over the weekend to clarify the company's financial credentials which have been questioned.The officials met Principal Power Secretary Ajay Mittal Saturday to emphasise Brakel was capable of completing the Rs.40-billion $869 million project in Kinnaur district by 2013. The government is yet to sign the pre-implementation agreement, which is mandatory before beginning work on a project. In fact, it has despatched two show-cause notices to Brakel asking why the company's bid should not be scrapped.The Dutch firm, incidentally, has already paid Rs.1.95 billion along with interest to the state government."The meeting was held with the company officials at their request. Certain issues raised and the second show-cause notice were discussed," Mittal said. "Still, the government is not satisfied on certain points, for which the company sought more time to provide additional inputs. I have given them a week's time." Brakel executives said the company's move to float a new firm, Brakel Kinnaur Power Ltd BKPL, to develop the project - which the government has questioned saying it had not been informed - was also discussed at the four-hour long meeting. Brakel executives, citing several official documents, however argued the government has acknowledged the new company. They cited, among others, a clearance report from the state irrigation and public health departments allowing BKPL water rights at the project site.A senior Brakel official in Shimla said his company was confident of completing the project on schedule. "We are confident of completing the project by 2013. So far, we have spent Rs.215 crore Rs.2.15 billion on the project," he said.The project was allotted to Brakel in December 2006 by the previous Congress government through open international bidding. When the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP came to power this January, it awarded the same project to Brakel, which made an upfront payment of Rs.1.95 billion along with interest.But subsequently, it issued the company two show-cause notices - the last one in July - asking it to explain why the allotment of the project should not be cancelled.In its 3,000-page reply, the company had underscored its financial capabilities and sought a personal hearing with the principal power secretary. --Indo-Asian News Servicevg/sj/ank/dg445 Words05101721
2008-10-05 08:06:06VANCOUVER
INT4International/Diaspora/Crime2 Indian-origin teens held for serial crimes in CanadaVancouver, Sep 29 IANS Police here have arrested two Indo-Canadian teens after a long hunt for a series of robberies and assaults in the south Vancouver area in March.Eighteen-year-old Manpreet Johal and 19-year-old Sanjit Sunner have been charged with multiple counts of robbery and more than a dozen brutal assaults on their victims.Police said they were looking for a third man in the case.In a two-week crime wave in March, the three assaulted their victims to snatch purses and wallets. They stole valuables from their victims walking alone just before midnight.Police said the robberies and assaults intimidated the whole south Vancouver - which incidentally is the constituency of high-profile Indo-Canadian leader Ujjal Dosanjh who is contesting the Oct 14 election from here on the opposition Liberal Party ticket.While Johal was arrested in the city, Sunner was nabbed more than 3,000 miles away in the Toronto suburb of Brampton.The two Indo-Canadians were arrested after police sought help from the public in identifying them from their pictures taken by a security camera at a store they broke into.A police spokesman said they brought the pictures to the notice of the public to let the assailants know that they were after them.Without explaining who helped them nab the culprits, the spokesman said they carried out a lengthy investigation, including searches at various places and gathering the DNA evidence from the victims. "We are thrilled to have both suspects in custody," he said.--Indo-Asian News Servicegs/mv274 Words29090845
2008-09-29 00:00:08BJP demands clarification from Centre on nuke deal
Bangalore, Sept 12 ANI: Bharatiya Janata Party BJP on Friday demanded a clarification from Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh Government on the alleged holding back of information regarding the India-US nuclear deal.Speaking to reporters on Friday in Bangalore where the members of the party have assembled to chalk out the strategy for the forthcoming General and Assembly elections, senior leader of BJP Jaswant Singh said that the agreement does not transform political commitments of the two countries into legally binding commitments."Now that President George W Bush and his presidential presentation to the US council has categorically said that not withstanding what is there in the 123, the fact of the matter is that this is not a legally binding obligation, will the Government of India issue a clarification categorically to eschew the concerns of the citizens of India," said Singh.He added that President Bush's communication to the US Congress has confirmed the concerns of the party that the nuclear deal will hurt the very sovereignty of the country.BJP had earlier demanded to move a breach of privilege notice against the government after leak of a hitherto held correspondence from Bush Administration to the US Congress stating that Washington will terminate nuclear trade with India if New Delhi conducts a nuclear test.Despite having managed a waiver from the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group NSG, Dr. Singh and the ruling Congress party have been facing flak from some political parties including their erstwhile left allies and the BJP for moving ahead with the deal, alleging it would compromise the country's sovereignty.The party's Bangalore conclave is being used as a platform to make public its stand on the controversial India-US civil nuclear deal.It is expected that BJP would use its opposition to the nuke-deal as an issue in the forthcoming elections to denounce the government. After recent electoral wins particularly in Karnataka, a confident BJP is gearing up for the forthcoming elections in full gear. ANI
2008-09-12 12:00:00Public support to security agencies could curb militancy
Imphal Manipur, Sep.12 ANI: The security agencies in Manipur are happy to notice the increasing public support and cooperation, which is expected to bring an end to militancy in the State. Public support has shown good results during the last few weeks.The joint action of the Indian Army and Manipur police recently destroyed two camps of the banned militant outfit, PREPAK near Loktak Lake in Manipur's Thoubal district. The support of local residents helped in the task. Five militants were killed and a large amount of arms was seized in the operation, which was carried out in the wake of an assassination bid on the state chief minister Ibobi Singh.According to the police, the five militants killed belonged to PREPAK, the group which was allegedly involved in planting bomb at the Chief Minister's residence. "The exchange of fire was witnessed from dusk to dawn. The united force destroyed two camps of the militant outfit. A large amount of arms and ammunition comprising of 4 AK-56, 2 inch mortar launcher, 13 wireless set, a number of grenades, cartilages and many kilograms of RDX were also seized," police sources informed. he officials appreciated the way the local residents were showing cooperation in providing useful information. Major General T.S. Handa, GOC, 57 Mountain Division, said: "Timely intelligence was given by the locals of the place which is a very healthy and positive sign. It indicates that locals are getting fed up of the undergrounds' actions.""People are fed up of the activities of militants and are helping the security forces, the army and the police to clear the undergrounds. It is a positive development and different from what happened in 2006," Handa added. It's been over a month since the combined forces intensified their operations and have been tracking the militants' movements to locate their hideouts. Cooperation of local people in providing intelligence inputs and support has helped in tracking these militants."The police and the army started the operation around 5:30 in the evening till about 7 o'clock next morning. Later, some of the army personnel stayed back in the village. We heard that four militants were killed," said Inaocha Thokchom, a local resident at Thoubal.In Tripura, militancy was curbed with the active support of people. The same can happen in Manipur, if people continue to support the effort of the security forces. By L.C.K Singh ANI
2008-09-12 10:00:00Student brings lack of women's toilets to court's notice
Delhi may be aiming to become a world class city for the 2010Commonwealth Games, but it lacks basic amenities like public toiletsfor women, reveals a report by a colleg......
2008-09-03 17:21:46Analog Meets Its Match in Red Digital Cinema's Ultrahigh-Res Camera
<!--pageType= magazinewideslug= ff_redcamerasection= entertainmentsubsection= hollywoodheadline= Analog Film Meets Its Match in Red Digital Cinema's Ultrahigh-R...
2008-08-25 05:00:00Over 40 percent lifts without licence: consumer rights group
An Ahmedabad-based consumer rights group issued legal notices to the chief electrical inspector, the government of Gujarat, and the directors of two hospitals for their negligence that the group alleg...
2008-08-20 19:07:38China's Internet chiefs ban use of names of Olympic gold medal winning athletes
Beijing, Aug. 20 ANI: China's sport authorities have banned the issuing of Internet domain names based on the country's Olympic gold medal-winning athletes to anyone but the medalists themselves.According to Xinhua, the step is being taken to prevent commercial exploitation of sports people's names and follows the public controversy over the commercial use of the names of gold medalists at the Athens Games in 2004. The China Internet Network Information Center CNNIC and the General Administration of Sport GAS have demanded a veto over the registration of domain names featuring the names of Chinese gold medallists.A CNNIC official surnamed Hu said: "The move will better protect the interests of the Olympic gold medallists."The domain names would be given free to the gold medalists to build their own sites.Those who had already registered before the GAS order could keep the the domain names, but were advised to give it to the medalist "as a gift", the CNNIC said in a notice on its website.The protection of domain names is especially difficult in China, where thousands of people can share the same name or the same spelling of their name in Pinyin.ore than 9,000 people are reported to share the name of diving diva Guo Jingjing, excluding those whose names bear the same Pinyin spelling.China has so far collected a record 43 gold medals at the Beijing Games.The Beijing News has reported that domain names featuring at least 10 gold medalists, including weightlifter Chen Xiexia, who bagged China's first gold this year, and gymnast Yang Wei, were registered before the Games. ANI
2008-08-20 09:00:00D.C. Adopts Oversight Regulations for Home-Schooling
A parent who wants to home-school a child in the District needs to give written notice 15 days before taking a child out of public school, and have a portfolio of the student's work available for ...
2008-08-15 19:34:42
Explore the Worldviewer.com Network Sites
Jacs - publicationsiworld.com | Juniors - juniorsappareliworld.com | Tivo - tviworld.com | Music - recordsiworld.com | Web site design - promotioniworld.com | Freedom of information - publiciworld.com | Media converter - mediaiworld.com | Economics article - articlesiworld.com | Shock - pressiworld.com | Spelling - editorsiworld.com | World news - editorialsiworld.com | Wireless networking - infoiworld.com | Orchid societies - orchidsiworld.com | Astronomy news - publishingiworld.com | Journalism schools - journalismiworld.com | Free obituary search - obituariesiworld.com | Politics - petitionsiworld.com | Horoscope - localnewsiworld.com | Lcd television - televisioniworld.com | Teklynx - printmediaiworld.com
