1. Art and Diseño

6
HIMALAYAN MIRROR
NCC displays unity in diversity: Modi
New Delhi, Jan 28
(IANS) : The National
Cadet Corps (NCC) was a
"mini India" and it displays the unity in diversity that is the country's
strength, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi said
Wednesday.
Speaking at the NCC
rally here, the prime minister said it brought back
memories of his childhood when he was an
NCC cadet.
"I am standing in front
of a mini India, a miniature of India's future. Our
country is full of diversities, and unity in diversity
is the beauty and strength
of our nation. And this is
what keeps inspiring us,"
he said.
"We are blessed that we
are a youthful nation. Our
dreams are young, our
energy is youthful."
Modi called upon NCC
cadets to plan a unique
nationwide celebration of
the first International
Yoga Day June 21, which
would send a strong inspirational message across
the world.
"Yoga has now acquired
a global character, and as
the country in which yoga
originated, we should
Congressman Gurudas
Kamat hits back at the BJP
Mumbai, Jan 28 (IANS) : A
day after the BJP attacked
senior Congress leader
Gurudas Kamat for his comments on Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's marital status, he hit back saying "Modi
is not god" who can't be questioned, here Wednesday.
He also condemned statements by some BJP leaders
who he said were trying to
spread misinformation about
his comments on union
Minister Smriti Irani and
Gujarat Chief Minister
Anandiben Patel vis-vis the
plight
of
Jashodaben,
estranged wife of Modi.
"Why are the BJP leaders
inferring something which is
not in our minds and nor was
it inferred in my statement?
The BJP should ask its
cadres and spokespersons
how and why they have such
thoughts in their minds when
we refer to Anandiben Patel
and Smriti Irani's elevation,"
Kamat wondered.
He pointed out that it was
the Congress party which
always fought for empower-
ing women, raising their status and ensuring that they
secured an equal share of
respect, stature, power and all
other benefits as men. "We
only wanted to point out that
people in public life should,
especially, set an example by
their own actions, which
needs to be under scrutiny at
all times," Kamat contended.
Accordingly, he said, when
the prime minister of the
country
speaks
about
"empowering women" and
"daving the girl child", it certainly sounded hollow as he
was the cause of misery and
desolation of his own wife
Jasodaben, after marrying her
and leaving her stranded in
one year, without ever looking back at her.
"This is the biggest insult
to women, which BJP
Spokespersons should first
understand and ask their own
leaders for accountability and
'balance mind' before levelling allegations against others
for mental imbalance,"
Kamat said, referring to BJP
legislator Atul Bhatkalkar's
statement Tuesday that
Kamat had "lost his mental
balance".
He reminded the BJP leaders that during the (2014 Lok
Sabha) election campaign,
Modi called the late Sunanda
Pushkar "a Rs.50 crore girlfriend" and other distasteful
statements against Congress
leaders. "Narendra Modi is
not god that he cannot be
questioned...In a democracy,
it is not only our responsibility but our duty to question
our leaders at all times,"
Kamat asserted. Referring to
Bhatkalkar's allegation that
he (Kamat) was sacked from
the union cabinet, Kamat
retorted that he had resigned
(in July 2011) after he was
elevated from minister of
state rank to independent
charge, and deployed for
party work. Later, he said the
party honoured him by making him an AICC general secretary and a member of the
Congress
Working
Committee (CWC), the highest policy making body of the
Congress.
Original preamble did not have
'secular', 'socialist': Minister
New Delhi, Jan 28 (IANS) :
The original preamble of the
Constitution did not have the
words "socialist" and "secular", said Minister of State for
Information
and
Broadcasting Rajyavardhan
Singh Rathore Wednesday.
The government has been
criticised over a Republic
Day advertisement, which
showed the preamble without
the two words. The minister
said a picture of the original
preamble was used for the
advertisement to "honour" it.
He also tweeted pictures of
the preamble before and after
the 42nd Amendment, which
added the words "secular"
and "socialist" to it. "This is
the original preamble. The
words 'Socialist' and 'Secular'
were added in 1976," he
added. "Let me assure you,
we are celebrating the 66th
NATIONAL
GANGTOK, THURSDAY 29 JANUARY 2015
Republic Day, that is, we are
celebrating an anniversary of
the preamble that was made
way back then," Rathore told
reporters. "The photograph
that we have put is of the first
preamble that our great leaders had made at that point of
time," Rathore said.
He added that the two
words were included after the
42nd
Constitutional
Amendment in 1976.
show the world that yoga
can be an important component of a balanced,
strong mankind," Modi
said.
About a tableau dedicated to the Swachh
Bharat Abhiyan presented
by the cadets, Modi said
the initiative was aimed at
imbibing cleanliness as a
habit among 125 crore
Indians. "We must work
for cleanliness... this is a
great way to serve Mother
India," he said.
The prime minister
revealed that Defence
Minister
Manohar
Parrikar, Minister of State
for Defence Rao Inderjit
Singh, External Affairs
Minister Sushma Swaraj,
BJP's Delhi chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi
and actor-turned-parliamentarian Jaya Bachchan
were all NCC cadets.
"I was also an NCC
cadet but was never
selected to come to
Delhi," Modi said, and
expressed happiness over
the large number of girls
participating
in
the
parade.
Opposition will plant false
stories against AAP: Kejriwal
New Delhi, Jan 28 (IANS)
: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
chief Arvind Kejriwal
Wednesday said the opposition parties would make
"a last ditch attempt" to
malign his party by planting false stories in the
media.
He appealed to the people not to believe any false
story ahead of the Feb 7
Delhi assembly polls.
"We have got information that opposition parties
will level false allegations
against some candidates of
the AAP in the next few
days," the former chief
minister told reporters here.
He cited a sting operation
against six AAP candidates
in the run-up to the 2013
assembly polls, which he
said, had turned out to be
false.
He said AAP's rising
support and TV channels'
surveys showing the AAP
being the favourite to form
which are part of the
first series production
for induction into the
IAF fleet soon, will be
seen in action at the
five-day aerospace
event.
"We delivered the
first aircraft (Mark-1
version) to the IAF
recently (Jan 17).
Prospective buyers
will be briefed on the
fighter's unique features and abilities in
combat role," Tyagi
said.
Defence Minister
Manohar Parrikar also
handed over the technical documents of the
homegrown LCA to Chief
of Air Staff Air Chief
Marshal Arup Raha here
though the fighter is yet to
secure the final operation
clearance (FOC) from the
military regulator.
The IAF signed contract
in 2006 for delivery of 20
Tejas (Mark 1) to form its
squadron in the IOC configuration and the build
standard documents for
the fleet were finalised
September 2013.
"We are augmenting our
capacity to increase LCA
production from two a
year to 16 in the coming
years at a cost of Rs.1,350
crore, of which the IAF
and the Indian Navy will
share 25 percent each and
the balance 50 percent by
us," Tyagi said.
Delhi not to believe any
stories.
This is their last ditch
attempt to malign the
AAP," Kejriwal added.
Kejriwal also said that a
CBI inquiry should be
ordered against AAP candidates if the opposition parties had any evidence.
No urgency to intervene in Minor girl raped,
Sunanda death probe: HC school instructor held
New Delhi, Jan 28 (IANS) :
The Delhi High Court
Wednesday refused urgent
hearing of a plea seeking its
intervention in the ongoing
investigation of the mysterious death of Sunanda
Pushkar, the wife of
Congress
MP
Shashi
Tharoor.
A division bench of Justice
B.D. Ahmed and Justice
Sanjeev Sachdeva said let the
matter come before the Chief
Justice next Wednesday. The
bench comprising Delhi High
Court's
Chief
Justice
G.Rohini did not assemble
Wednesday.
The
Public
Interest
Litigation (PIL), filed by
NGO Anti Corruption Front,
said as the investigating
agency was biased in probing
the case, there was no positive and constructive development in the case.
In such a situation, there
was cause and reason for the
interference of the court into
the ongoing investigation.
Filing the plea through
advocates Deepak Prakash
and Subhas Chandra, the
NGO said police had registered an FIR almost a year
after the incident, despite
clear guidelines laid down by
the Supreme Court and high
courts that on receiving information disclosing commission of a cognizable offence,
the police should register an
FIR without any delay.
"In the present matter,
police registered an FIR
almost after 342 days of the
occurrence of the crime," the
plea said.
It added that Pushkar died
under mysterious circumstance, her body carried more
than 10 injury marks and the
New Delhi, Jan 28 (IANS) : The physical education
instructor of a private school has been arrested for
allegedly raping a six-year-old girl here in the capital,
police said Wednesday.
The incident came to light Wednesday after a case
under Protection Of Children From Sexual Offences
(POCSO) act was registered against the accused at
Nizamuddin police station in south Delhi earlier this
week.
The case was registered a few hours after the victim,
who studies in the first standard, informed her family
members about the incident.
The accused, whose name can not be revealed in order
to protect the victim's identity, has been arrested and sent
to judicial custody.
The girl informed her parents that she was sexually
assaulted by the accused several times inside the canteen
of her school.
reason for the death was
mentioned as poisoning.
"Even the investigating
agency found it is a clear case
of murder but till date it is in
dark. Even a long one year
passed after the incident
occurred in a five star hotel of
the capital, no convincing
conclusion has come out with
regard to the accused persons
who planned and executed
the murder," the PIL stated.
Delhi Police have constituted a special investigative
team to probe the death of
Pushkar after registering an
FIR in the case Jan 1 following Pushkar's third autopsy
report by the AIIMS medical
board. Police Monday questioned Tharoor, a former UN
diplomat and union minister
in the previous Manmohan
Singh-led government.
The plea filed against the
Central
Bureau
of
Investigation (CBI), home
ministry and Delhi Police
said: "Police commissioner is
duty bound to explain the
reasons for such a serious
dereliction of duty and lapses
on the part of his department
in not registering an FIR in a
case of death of a lady within
seven years of her marriage
in mysterious circumstances."
Saying there was no credibility for the ongoing investigation, the plea said that the
accused in the case are very
powerful and influential people, having the capacity to
influence police.
"The facts of the case indicate that the top police officials were influenced and the
accused have succeeded in
their efforts by keeping the
present case in cold storage
for a period of one year. So,
the investigation of the case
has not been proceeding in
the proper direction. If the
present investigation is continuing in this manner, no
truth would come out," the
plea said.
Pushkar was found dead in
a luxury hotel here Jan 17,
2014. Police have said she
was poisoned.
India to hard sell Tejas, Dhruv at air show
Bengaluru,
Jan
28
(IANS) : India will showcase and try to hard sell its
indigenous Light Combat
Aircraft (LCA) Tejas and
Advanced
Light
Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv
at the air show here in
February to prospective
buyers from abroad, an
official said Wednesday.
"Tejas will be on flying
and static display at the
Aero India Show here Feb
18-22 to solicit foreign
buyers, as we have started
producing them (fighters)
for the Indian Air Force
(IAF)," outgoing chairman
of state-run Hindustan
Aeronautics Ltd (HAL)
R.K. Tyagi told reporters
here.
The defence behemoth
will also display military
and civil variants of Dhruv
at the biennial international event where producers,
buyers, users and other
stakeholders the world
over will participate in
thousands.
The multi-role fighters,
the government in Delhi
had "unnerved the opposition parties".
"A very senior leader is
known for planting stories
in newspapers and television channels. He has been
tasked to do so. He will
plant some stories. I will
appeal to the people of
As a single-engine
multi-role
supersonic
fighter, Tejas will replace
the IAF's ageing Russiamade MiG-21 fleet when
inducted in six squadrons
after defence regulator, the
Centre
for
Military
Airworthiness
and
Certification (Cemilac),
gives FOC later this year.
The fourth-generation
fighter received the initial
operational clearance (IOC-2) in
December 2013 for
evaluation by IAF
ace pilots on various technical parameters.
Weighing
8.5
tonnes, Tejas can
carry three tonnes
of weapons, including air-to-air missiles, laser guided
bombs, guns, conventional/retarded
bombs and beyond
visual range missiles.
Tejas, which has
achieved only 60
percent indigenisation till
date, is also fitted with
digital fly-by-wire system,
flight control systems and
open architecture computer.
Each squadron will have
20 fighters and will be
based at the Sulur air force
base near Coimbatore in
Tamil Nadu.
In the design and development stage, HAL pro-
duced 15 LCA aircraft,
including seven in the limited series production, two
technology demonstrators,
three prototype, two trainer prototype and one naval
prototype.
Designed and developed
by the state-run Defence
Research
and
D e v e l o p m e n t
Organisation (DRDO) and
its aeronautical agencies,
the ambitious LCA project
overshot budgetary estimates and extended deadlines during the last three
decades.
Asserting that the muchdelayed Intermediate Jet
Trainer (IJT) was on right
track, the chairman said it
would be delivered to IAF
soon for initial operations
clearance (IOC).
"We have invested
Rs.7,000 crore in the last
three years to modernise
manufacturing and assembly lines to roll out various
aircraft, including fighters
and helicopters," Tyagi
said.
Odisha police get ISI
agent's seven-day remand
Bhubaneswar, Jan 28 (IANS) : An Odisha court
Wednesday allowed the state police to take Ishwar
Chandra Behera on seven-day remand to inquire into his
alleged role in passing vital information of the Chandipur
ITR to Pakistan intelligence agency ISI.
A number of missiles have been launched from the
Chandipur's Integrated Test Range (ITR), including the
nuclear-capable Akash. The sub-divisional judiciary magistrate (SDJM) court of Balesore district allowed police to
take Behera (35), a contractual cameraman engaged at the
ITR, Chandipur, for further interrogation.
Police had sought 14-day remand of the accused who
was arrested Jan 23 on charges of spying for InterServices Intelligence (ISI) agency.
Behera, a native of Kantipur village in Mayurbhanj district, was arrested by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and
local police after keeping him under surveillance for a
long time. He was employed as a cameraperson on contractual basis in 2007 at the ITR and was allegedly spying
for the ISI for 8-10 months.
"We will try to find out what information the accused
had passed on and who are involved with him," said a
police official. Inspector General (eastern range) of Police
Asit Panigrahi said Behera was in constant touch with his
handler over phone and had met him at least 10 times during trips to Kolkata. A case has been registered under
Section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 121 A (treason)
against Behera at the Chandipur police station.
Pakistan Rangers violate
ceasefire in Jammu
Jammu, Jan 28 (IANS) : Pakistan Rangers overnight targeted Border Security Force (BSF) posts on the
International Border in Jammu, a source said on
Wednesday.
"Pakistan Rangers targeted some BSF outposts in R.S.
Pura sector of the International Border at 9.30 p.m. yesterday (Tuesday)," a BSF source told IANS here.
"They used small weapons and automatics to target our
positions," the source said, adding India retaliated using
similar calibre weapons.
"Firing exchanges between the two sides continued for
nearly two hours. No casualty or damage has been reported from our side," the source added.
There was calm on the International Border in Jammu
and Kashmir during the three-day stay of the US President
Barack Obama in India.
The ceasefire violation by Pakistan came hours after
Obama left for Saudi Arabia.