Arunachal

Three killed in landslide in Arunachal

Itanagar: Three persons were killed and two others seriously injured in a massive landslide in Arunachal Pradesh's East Siang district.

The landslide occurred at 20 Mile 38 km from Pasighat town, official sources said on Tuesday.

Chief Minister Nabam Tuki announced an ex-gratia of Rs 1.5 lakhs each to the next of kin of those who died. He also directed payment of of relief to the injured.

Petrol price hiked

Petrol price hiked by Rs 1.50, diese l. 45 paise

New Delhi, Feb 15th  Petrol price was hiked by Rs 1.50 per litre and diesel by 45 paise a litre with effect from midnight tonight. While petrol rates have been revised in step with the steep rise in international rates, oil firms used the newly accorded freedom to increase diesel price in small dozes to effect the second price adjustment in one month. The increase announced is excluding local sales tax or VAT and the actual hike for consumers would be more after the incidence of duty is included. Petrol price in Delhi will go up by almost Rs 1.80 per litre after taking into account 19 per cent VAT. Diesel rates would go up by 51 paise.

New rates for petrol in Delhi would be Rs 69.05 per litre, while a litre of diesel will cost Rs 48.16. Petrol price was last revised on January 18 when the price was cut by 30 paise to Rs 67.26 a litre in Delhi. The reduction in rates on that day coincided with the government decision to give oil firms freedom to raise diesel prices in small monthly dozes to eliminate all of the losses on the fuel. Oil firms hiked diesel price on that day by 50 paise to Rs 47.65 a litre in Delhi.

Former advisor to Kalam dies

New Delhi, Maj Gen (Retd) R Swaminathan, advisor to former President A P J Abdul Kalam, died following brief illness at the age of 74.  Swaminathan breathed his last at 2.15 PM at the Army Research and Referral Hospital here. Immediately, Kalam drove to the hospital to pay his last respects and placed a wreath
on his body. He was associated with Kalam for several years, including the latter's tenure at the Rashtrapati Bhavan from 2002 to 2007.

Condoling the death, Kalam said, "Today is a sad day for me. I lost a very good friend of mine Maj. Gen R Swaminathan. May his soul rest in peace. "As a friend, I had an opportunity to work with him and we both had associated together for more than a decade. It is a personal loss for all of us." Calling him a "knowledge repository and "a man of honesty and integrity", Kalam recalled Swaminathan's contributions to a number of national defence projects as a scientist and a Chief Controller of Defence.

Satellite launch on February 25

Indo-French satellite SARAL set for launch on February 25

Bangalore, Indo-French satellite 'SARAL', aimed at oceanographic studies, would be launched along with a mix of six foreign mini and micro satellites on board PSLV-C20 from the spaceport of Sriharikota on February 25. The core-alone PSLV-20 is slated for the blast-off at around 6 pm on that day, sources in Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The Bangalore-headquartered space agency had initially planned to launch SARAL on December 12 last year but postponed it to carry out additional tests to "address technical issues to ensure reliability". The co-passengers of SARAL would be two micro-satellites from Austria and one each from Denmark and Britain, as also one micro-satellite and one mini-satellite from Canada, the sources said.

ISRO officials said SARAL is a 410-kg satellite with payloads -- Argos and Altika -- from French space agency CNES for study of ocean parameters towards enhancing the understanding of the ocean state conditions which are otherwise not covered by the in-situ measurements. The satellite has been built by ISRO, which would also take care of the launch services.

SARAL will provide data products to operational and research user communities, in support of marine meteorology and sea state forecasting; perational oceanography; seasonal forecasting; climate monitoring; ocean, earth system and climate research, the officials said. Altimeter (Altika) would help study the sea surface heights while Argos payload is a satellite-based data collection platform. SARAL is a co-operative mission between Department of Space/ISRO and CNES, France with payloads from CNES and the spacecraft bus from DOS/ISRO.

Gardens opens for general public

Mughal Gardens opens for general public

New Delhi, President Pranab Mukherjee today opened for the general public the Mughal Gardens which will display some of the chosen best flowers and shrubs for visitors till March 17. Mukherjee took a stroll for about 30 minutes in the gardens going through minute details of the facilities and the flower carpets created in neat order in a 15-acre area of Rashtrapati Bhavan. "The President said he enjoyed morning walks every day in the gardens. He welcomed the public to come and see the Mughal Gardens in large numbers and enjoy seeing the flowers in full bloom. He expressed the hope that the future of the country would be as bright and vibrant as the flowers in the Mughal Gardens," a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement said.

The Gardens, opened for public between 10am-4pm, will have the main attraction of close to 2500 Dahlias flanked by trees of little 'China oranges' spread intermittently in the geometrical lawns meticulously brought up by a team of 35 dedicated gardeners of the President's Estate. "The main attraction this year is the floral wall of Dahlias which will be in full bloom and colour when the visitors start arriving. The indigenous soft 'doob' grass has been laid on the grounds which will present a soothing view to the visitors," Officer on Special Duty (Horticulture) at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Nigam Prakash said.

A host of flowers like Roses, Dahlia, Calendula, Gerbera, Linaria, Larkspur, Gaznia, Verbena, Viola, Pansy Carnation, Chrysanthemum, Marigold, Salvia and many more would welcome the visitors. Last year the gardens recorded 6.5 lakh footfalls when they were opened for a month's times.

Khurshid

Nalanda University should be in UNESCO heritage list: Khurshid

Rajgir (Bihar), External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid today advocated for inclusion of the ancient Nalanda University in Bihar in the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites. "The university deserves a place in the world's heritage list," he told reporters after a Parliamentary Consultative Committee meeting in Rajgir, about 80 km from Patna. Khurshid said Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's proposal for inclusion of Nalanda university, the Buddhist seat of learning in ancient times, in the world heritage list has reached Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

The union minister said the Centre would extend all assistance, including special arrangements in the budget, to accelerate the construction process of Nalanda  University so that the academic session could be started at the earliest. He said cultural diplomacy today holds primacy in betterment of relations with other nations.
"Trade and financial relationship are developed between two nations but cultural diplomacy has emerged as a more effective tool of establishing international relations as it establishes a chord between people of one country with another," Khurshid said. Besides Khurshid, eight members of Parliament participated in the meeting at the newly constructed International convention centre at Rajgir, the tourist hotspot of Bihar in Nalanda district.

The MPs who attended the meeting included Vijay Bahadur Singh, D Raja, Arjun Meghwal, Abdul Rahman, N K Raghvan, Ask Ali Tak, RCP Singh and Tarun Vijay. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who was present at the meeting, thanked Khurshid for making a trip to Nalanda university. Hailing Nalanda university's revival plan, Kumar said it was his desire that the place regains its pristine glory and serve as venue for resolving international dispute. Ministry of External Affairs is piloting the Nalanda university revival plan.

India, along with 16 countries of East Asia, are involved with the project to see Nalanda emerge as "icon of Asian renaissance". The proposed university is expected to contribute to the promotion of regional peace and vision by bringing together the future leasders of the East Asia. Noble prize winner economist Amartya Sen is the Chancellor of Nalanda university.

Olympic Committee drops wrestling from 2020

International Olympic Committee drops wrestling from 2020 Games: Reports

 Lausanne, Switzerland: International Olympic Committee leaders dropped wrestling from the program for the 2020 Olympics on Tuesday, an official familiar with the decision told The Associated Press.

In a surprise move, the IOC executive board decided to retain modern pentathlon — the sport considered most at risk — and remove wrestling instead, the official said.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision hadn't been announced yet.

The IOC board acted after reviewing the 26 sports on the current Olympic program. Eliminating one sport allows the International Olympic Committee to add a new sport to the program later this year.

Wrestling combines freestyle and Greco-Roman disciplines. It had 11 medal events in freestyle and seven in Greco-Roman at last year's London Olympics.

Wrestling will now join seven other sports in applying for inclusion in 2020. The others are a combined bid from baseball and softball, karate, squash, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and wushu. They will be vying for a single opening in 2020.

The IOC executive board will meet in May in St. Petersburg, Russia, to decide which sport or sports to propose for 2020 inclusion. The final vote will be made at the IOC general assembly in September in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The last sports removed from the Olympics were baseball and softball, voted out by the IOC in 2005 and off the program since the 2008 Beijing Games. Golf and rugby will be joining the program at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The IOC program commission report analyzed more than three dozen criteria, including television ratings, ticket sales, anti-doping policy and global participation and popularity. With no official rankings or recommendations contained in the report, the final decision by the 15-member board was also subject to political, emotional and sentimental factors.

Previously considered under the closest scrutiny was modern pentathlon, which has been on the Olympic program since the 1912 Stockholm Games. It was created by French baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic movement.

Modern pentathlon combines fencing, horse riding, swimming, running and shooting — the five skills required of a 19th century cavalry officer. The sport's governing body, the UIPM, has been lobbying hard to protect its Olympic status, and the efforts apparently paid off.

UIPM President Klaus Schormann had considered traveling from Germany to Lausanne for the decision, but decided to stay away.

"The Olympic movement always needs history," Schormann told the AP ahead of the IOC decision. "You cannot just say we look only at the future. You can have a future when you are stable on the basic part of history. We are continuing to develop, to renovate, to be innovative and creative. We are very proud of what we achieved so far and want to deliver this as well for the next generations in 2020.