Vajpayee wanted to induct Kalam as minister in NDA govt: Book

Vajpayee wanted to induct Kalam as minister in NDA govt: Book

New Delhi, Former Prime Minister A B Vajpayee wanted to induct A P J Abdul Kalam as a minister in the NDA government in 1998, an offer Kalam declined, four years before he became the President in 2002. The revelation was made by the former President in his recent book "Turning Points: A Journey Through Challenges".

He said his decision to decline the Cabinet position enabled him to contribute to two major programmes that gave "spectacular" results to the nation. Kalam, who was then the DRDO chief, recalls that he got a phone call on the midnight of 15th March, 1998 from Vajpayee. "He said that he was finalising the list of ministers and he wanted to induct me into his cabinet. I told him that I needed some time to think about it. He asked me to see him the next morning at 9 AM."

Kalam said that in the middle of that night he assembled his few friends and debated up to 3 AM whether he should join the Cabinet or not. The general opinion was that since he was fully involved in two missions of national importance and these were in advanced stages and nearing good results, he should not leave them and enter the political system, he said in the book.

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Mosoon delay not a serious situation, to improve next wk: Pawar

New Delhi, With delayed monsoon triggering fears of crop failure and drought, the government today said the situation is not "that serious" and the production of rain-fed rice crop is unlikely to be affected as monsoon is expected to better from next week. Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said that 31 per cent deficit rainfall so far has impacted sowing of coarse cereals like maize, bajra and jowar, but situation is "not worrisome" in case of paddy -- a major Kharif crops.

"Monsoon is delayed but the situation is not that serious. It is true that overall delay of monsoon is by two weeks. Up to July 2, the country has a whole has deficiency 31 per cent. But rainfall is expected to be better from next week onwards," he told reporters here. Briefing media about the impact of monsoon delay on the farm sector, Pawar pointed out that the sowing operations have been affected in those states where early sowing takes place such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

"Widespread deficiency in rains in western and central India has affected coarse cereals particularly maize, bajra and jowar," he said. Pawar, however, said, "by and large, overall situation of rice is not worrisome". Asked whether rice production will decline this year, he said: "It does not look like...the sown area is more than normal. It is quiet possible that production will be good in major rice producing states like Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh".

Monsoon rains are crucial for the country's agriculture as only 40 per cent cultivable area is irrigated. On the back of good monsoon, India produced a record 252.56 million tonnes of foodgrains in the 2011-12 crop year (July to June).

Rice production stood at record 103.41 million tonnes last year, out of which 90.75 million tonnes were grown in Kharif.

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Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: Eight labourers injured in Paradeep as CISF jawans open fire at gate no 4 of Indian Oil Refinery plant site.

Report said that the victims injured labourers on Monday morning was on way to plant in IOCL gate number-4, CISF personnel guarding at the gate asked them to enter on gate 1. The guarding CISF personnel did not allow them to enter on gate no four. The labourers tried to enter using force as consequence CISF men tried to prevent and later fire on them when situation was out of control. After the news spread hundreds of labourers and plant site employees converged at gate. Later they attacked the CISF control room. Police rushed to spot maintaining law and order and tried to pacify the irate mob. Four labourers are severly injured. All the vicitms are send to SCB Medical college for treatment.

Earlier one Jaydev Nayak a labour working in IOCL plant site sustained injuries following attack of CISF personnel in Abhyachandpur near Paradeep on Saturday.

The situation had turned violent on Saturday afternoon and police rushed to spot maintaining law and order and tried to pacify the irate mob but failed to end the agitation, the agitators fumed after taking the victim labour under custody CISF men brutally assaulted him and behaved rough, informed Surendra Swain a trade union leader.

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ISRO to build third launchpad

ISRO to build third launchpad at Sriharikota

New Delhi, With plans for 60 missions over the next five years, ISRO will develop a third launchpad at its spaceport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh to meet the growing demand.

"We are planning to have a third launchpad at Sriharikota to cater to our future missions," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K Radhakrishnan told PTI. He said the new launchpad would help ISRO augment the frequency of missions, which was necessary to meet its

ambitious targets.

"We plan to launch 24 missions over the next 24 months, which include our communication satellites and some foreign payloads," he said, adding that over a five year period, the space agency has plans to launch 60 missions.

The new pad could also be used for launching Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk-III) carrying heavier satellites as also by the reusable launch vehicle, India's own version of a space shuttle.

Besides communications satellites, ISRO also has plans to launch Chandrayaan-II, the sequel to its successful moon mission, launch a satellite to study the Sun, send a probe to Mars and undertake a human spaceflight. On plans for developing another space port, Radhakrishnan said it was only at the stage of a feasibility study.

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Assam floods

77 dead in Assam floods, landslide; PM, Sonia to visit

Guwahati, With the current spell of floods and landslides claiming 77 lives in Assam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi are scheduled to visit the affected areas tomorrow. An official today said that 61 people died in floods and 16 in landslides, while six persons were reported missing.

The report said all the 27 districts have been affected by floods while landslides have occurred in three districts. It said the Brahmaputra and the Kapili rivers were flowing above danger level at various places. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister and the UPA chairperson are slated to visit the state tomorrow to take stock of the situation.

Singh and Gandhi are expected to reach Jorhat by a special flight and conduct an aerial survey of Majuli island, which has suffered serious damage in the flood. From there, they will come to Guwahati and hold talks with ministers and senior state government officials, before returning to Delhi.

The government report said 2,166 villages across 113 revenue circles in the state were hit and 19.37 lakh people affected. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been deployed in 16 areas and rescue operations are on in nine districts. Large segments of the Kaziranga National Park remained under water. In Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, 80 per cent of the area inhabited by rhinos is under water.

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Petrol price reduction

Karuna criticises Jaya's statement on petrol price reduction

Chennai, Criticising Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's statement that the recent reduction of petrol prices by oil marketing companies was an "eye wash", DMK Chief

M Karunanidhi today asked the state government whether it reduced the sales tax levied in fuel prices. "After increasing the fuel prices by Rs 7.50 in May, the UPA had reduced the price of fuel two times in a month, as crude prices at the international level were low. But did the

state government made any announcement on reducing the sales tax levied on fuel prices?", Karunanidhi asked in his party organ 'Murasoli".

Petrol price were reduced twice by the oil marketing companies last month. Jayalalithaa, describing the reduction as an "eyewash", demanded complete rollback of the hike as international crude oil prices were falling. Stating that the AIADMK government had increased prices of milk, electricity and bus fares last year, Karunanidhi asked "did they reduce it?"

The DMK patriarch said that his party conducted various protests in June demanding the government to reduce the sales tax levied on fuel prices and prices of essential commodities.

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India-Pakistan Under-19 Asia Cup final ends in thrilling tie

Kuala Lumpur: The final of the Under-19 Asia Cup ended in a thrilling tie with India U-19 level on scores with Pakistan U-19. The title was thus shared between both teams.

Unmukt Chand, the India U-19 captain, hit a magnificent 121 to keep the chase on track till the final over, when seven runs were needed. With Chand falling, the equation came down to five needed off the last two balls, and Rush Kalaria, who had taken 5 for 37 when India bowled, took strike. He hit a four to level the scores, but fell of the final ball to leave India on 282 for 8 – tied with Pakistan.

Earlier, a fine 134 by Sami Aslam had powered Pakistan U-19 to 282 for 9 – a score that proved just enough in retrospect.

Brief Scores: Pakistan Under-19 282 for 9 (Sami Aslam 134, Umar Waheed 48; Rush Kalaria 5 for 37) tied with India Under-19 282 for 8 (Unmukt Chand 121, B Aparajith 90; Mohammad Nawaz 3 for 45, Ehsan Adil 3 for 68)

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