Philippine ex-Prez Gloria Arroyo arrested for poll fraud

Philippine police officers took the mugshots and fingerprints of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at a Manila hospital Saturday, where she is under heavy guard after being arrested on charges of fraud.

"The former president was sitting in a reclining position on her bed when her fingerprints and pictures were taken," Senior Superintendent Joel Coronel, head of the national police's criminal investigation and detection group, told reporters outside St. Luke's hospital.

"She was wearing a hospital gown and a neck brace but was responding to queries from our medical team. An intravenous fluid is hydrating her," he said.

A police officer took Arroyo's mugshots, Coronel said.

He declined to release copies of the photographs, saying they would be reported to a lower court that issued an arrest warrant Friday that stopped her from leaving the country.

Arroyo, elected into the lower house of Congress last year, was scheduled to fly to Singapore after the Supreme Court upheld its earlier suspension of the government's travel ban on her and her husband.

Her arrest comes 18 months after President Benigno Aquino won an election by vowing to fight corruption and prosecuting those responsible, and particularly pursue Arroyo.

The former leader's legal spokesman, Raul Lambino, said they will question the lower court's jurisdiction to handle the electoral sabotage charges against Arroyo when they appear before the Pasay City regional trial court Monday.

"The process was not only railroaded and the Pasay City court is the not right venue to hear the complaint," Lambino told Reuters, saying the arrest warrant against Arroyo could be quashed if the lower court loses jurisdiction over the case.

Arroyo says she needs to travel to seek medical treatment for a spine condition, but the government believes she wants to evade investigation and possible prosecution.

Arroyo, president from 2001-2010, has consistently denied the allegations against her.

The alleged vote rigging happened in the restive southern Muslim province of Maguindanao, where all 12 pro-Arroyo senate candidates won a clean sweep of the province at mid-term elections in 2007, at odds with national trends.

The charges carry a life sentence.

Arroyo also faces allegations of fraud over a 2004 presidential election and corruption in her administration, which the government is still investigating.

Arroyo's predecessor, Joseph Estrada, told local media her arrest was "karma" and he hoped she would recover her health to face the charges.

"She should be made accountable not only for electoral sabotage but also corruption," he said from Singapore.

Arroyo took office in 2001 when Estrada was forced from power, and prosecuted him for corruption. In 2007, Estrada was convicted of plunder and sentenced to life imprisonment, but Arroyo pardoned him.

Arroyo has not been seen in public since Tuesday night, when, following the initial Supreme Court decision to lift her travel ban, she had turned up at the airport in a wheelchair and her neck in a brace.

The government stopped her and her husband from boarding a flight and she has since been in the hospital, where she was formally arrested Friday.

Monday, the Pasay City court that issued her arrest warrant will hear a separate petition to issue a hold departure order, which could permanently prevent Arroyo from leaving the country.

Is pizza a vegetable? U.S. Congress will decide

WASHINGTON - Buried in a thick spending bill before Congress that must be approved to prevent a government shutdown is one line dealing with tomato paste.

The line would ensure that two tablespoons of tomato paste slathered on school pizzas can continue to be classified as a vegetable serving. It seeks to block a Department of Agriculture effort that critics say would make it harder to offer pizza in the federally subsidized school lunch program.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest has attacked the provision, saying in a statement that it "may go down in nutritional history as a bigger blunder than when the Reagan administration tried, but failed, to credit ketchup as a vegetable in the school lunch program."

Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the center, said in an interview that "Pizza should be served with a vegetable, not count as one."

The provision has drawn the attention, and ridicule, of "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart. Citing a congressional panel's struggles to come up with a deficit-reduction plan, Stewart joked, "So the one thing that you've all been able to sit down and agree upon is that pizza is a vegetable."

The Department of Agriculture, pushing for healthier food for kids, has sought a stricter provision requiring that food contain half a cup of tomato paste to qualify as a vegetable serving.

Currently, two tablespoons of tomato paste are considered by the government to be a vegetable.

The provision is included in a bill headed for congressional approval. The bill would fund the Department of Agriculture and some other federal agencies while extending spending authority for other departments until mid-December.

"If the USDA rule went forward as is, pizza would most certainly be all but impossible to serve in school lunch programs," said Corey Henry, a spokesman for the American Frozen Food Institute.

"Schools have to meet nutrition requirements at every meal to get reimbursed by the federal government," he added. "To get a vegetable credit using tomato paste under the USDA's proposed rule, schools would have to drown pizza in tomato sauce to the point where kids would never want to eat a slice of pizza. If schools have to add so much sauce to get a vegetable credit that pizza becomes inedible, they simply won't serve pizza any longer."

Wootan said the provision to retain the two-tablespoon-only threshold comes in response to heavy frozen-food industry lobbying.

"It's a shame that Congress seems more interested in protecting industry than protecting children's health," she said. "But this is Washington."

Henry of the frozen-food group said in an interview that "everybody agrees that there needs to be a concerted effort to improve nutrition, particularly in school meals. However, we don't think you can improve nutrition by removing items from school meals that kids like to eat and provide important sources of nutrients and vitamins like a single slice of pizza can.

"Pizza is not the problem here," he added. "Pizza can be served in a perfect healthy way."

Department of Agriculture spokesman Aaron Lavallee said the USDA proposal is backed by "practical, science-based standards" to serve more vegetables to kids, "either by putting other vegetables on the pizza itself or serving them elsewhere on the tray."

The tomato provision is in addition to another provision of the bill, pushed by lawmakers from potato-producing states, that would block proposed Department of Agriculture nutrition rules to limit the consumption of starchy vegetables, including potatoes and, Wootan notes, fries in schools.

John Keeling, executive vice president and chief executive of the National Potato Council, said in a statement that the group hopes to work with the Department of Agriculture "to promote the nutritional and economic value of potatoes, which provide school food service professionals the flexibility they need to deliver healthy meals to students."

A House Republican aide said that members of both parties have been contacted by local school officials expressing concern about changes to the lunch program. "Our primary concern was the cost to local school districts," the staffer said.

Courtesy: McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

"Kick A Ginger" Day

Darcy Wintonyk 

British Columbia 

A nationwide event that encourages students to harass kids based on the colour of their hair is garnering serious attention from anti-bullying groups and parents. 

The Facebook event "Natiaonal Kick a Ginger" day has almost 4,700 members across Canada and has sparked a rash of opinions in support and against on the social networking site. 

The movement was started after an episode of the controversial animated show South Park advocated "Kick a Ginger" day Nov. 20. 

The episode refers to red-headed people as "nasty" and "born with a disease." 

Ottawa mother Juanita McNairn said she let her 13-year-old son stay home Thursday because he was so afraid. 

"My son was beside himself," said McNairn. "He was delaying getting out of bed and when it came down to the crunch he just burst into tears and told me about the whole ginger thing." 

McNairn said the students in her son's class told him all week they were planning to kick him when he arrived at school. 

Anti-bullying advocate Rob Frenette said he was shocked when he found out about the group. 

"We are very taken back that students would pick a certain group of people to harass due to their hair color," he told CTV News from New Brunswick. 

Frenette said attacking someone based on their physical appearance could be considered a hate crime. He adds that social networking sites like Facebook that allow young people to group quickly makes a potential problem escalate quickly. 

"This is definitely something that is growing globally unfortunately," said Frenette. "I think this needs to be looked at closely and quickly before it gets out of hand." 

Irene Lanzinger, the president of the B.C. Teachers Federation, agreed. 

"This is sometimes excused as a joke and we have to make sure we understand that it is never funny or acceptable to harm or harass another person," she said. 

Lanzinger said that even though most kids may treat the "Kick a Ginger" day as a joke, some kids may escalate the level of violence. But she says there can be an opportunity to use this day as a lesson for kids. 

"Teachers can ask kids what they think of it and make it into an acceptable debate," she says. "It's a good way to encourage each other and kids will always come to the conclusion on their own that you need to be respectful of each other."

Sexting, Facebook can put students in danger, expert warns

The popularity of smartphones and social networking sites is keeping a growing number of people connected - to danger, deception and a loss of academic or career opportunities.

Many haven’t set secure privacy settings on their profiles, and may not realize how easy it is for a Facebook friend to spread embarrassing content from a private profile. Add in impulsivity, multitasking and the ability to instantly post or text from a mobile device, and the results can be disastrous, said Sameer Hinduja, the co-director of Florida Atlantic University’s Cyberbullying Research Center.

"I’ve seen personal and professional damage occur to individuals who posted or sent something online that will plague them for the rest of their lives," said Hinduja, an associate professor of criminology.

For example, an 18-year-old in Orlando, Fla., texted a nude photo of his 17-year-old girlfriend - and ended up on Florida’s sex offender list. A job applicant at a Miami Shores university ranted online about having to take a typing test, and lost the chance for the position. And a 13-year-old Hillsborough teen killed herself after sexting photos were spread around her school.

As a result, colleges and school districts say they’re making Internet safety a priority in their training efforts. They’re holding workshops, adding Internet safety to freshmen orientation exercises and counseling students as they apply for colleges or jobs.

In a recent session at Florida Atlantic University, Hinduja warned students to lock down their privacy settings and resist the urge to put profanity-laden rants and drunken keg stand pictures on their profiles.

At least 75 Facebook friends thought Boca Raton, Fla., resident Carolina Droze had created a new Facebook account. But the invitation came from an impostor who stole her photo and asked her friends for money.

She and her husband, Ryan Droze, said in March that they considered themselves savvy Web users, having worked for websites and having promoted their wedding photography business on Facebook.

"It creeped me out. I thought social networking was so important," Ryan Droze said at the time. "But I’ve changed my mind."

Ashley Atchison was fooled when she got a friend request last year from someone purporting to be an alumnus of her Florida State University sorority. But the "friend" started making sexually explicit requests and threatened to get Atchison kicked out of the sorority if she didn’t comply, she told NBC’s "Today" show.

Police say the person on the other end was actually Mitchell Hill, 27, of Key West, Fla., who used Facebook to harass sorority members at FSU, Louisiana State University, the University of Florida, the University of Alabama and Auburn University.

The practice of sexting - using a mobile device to send out explicit photos - has become mainstream, with more than half of college students acknowledging they’ve sent or received such an image, according to a recent University of Rhode Island study.

Hinduja conducted a study on sexting at middle and high schools and found that 13 percent of children aged 11 to 18 had received a naked or semi-naked photo of someone from their school. Nearly 8 percent admitting sending a photo.

Hope Witsell, 13, suffered from vicious bullying after a suggestive photo she texted to a boy got out at her middle school, according to the St. Petersburg Times. She hanged herself in 2009.

In a high school outside of Milwaukee, at least 31 male students reported they were seduced into sending naked photos of themselves after receiving a Facebook request from a pretty young girl. But it wasn’t actually a girl. On the other end was an 18-year-old named Anthony R. Stancl, who threatened to expose the photos if they didn’t have sex with him. He was sentenced last year to 15 years in prison.

Sexting has also led to child pornography convictions in Florida. The most famous happened four years ago when Phillip Alpert of Orlando, who had just turned 18, forwarded naked pictures of his 17-year-girlfriend to her family and friends after an argument. He is now a registered sex offender.

"He was unable to live with father, because his house was too close to a school," said his lawyer, David Lawrence. "He got kicked out school and couldn’t get a job."

Minors have also been prosecuted as sex offenders for sexting, although the state passed a law this year that decriminalized sexting charges among minors for first-time offenses.

The stakes are getting higher as more employers and colleges start to check out applicants through their social media pages and Google searches. Nearly a quarter of admissions officials check out an applicants’ Facebook page, up from 10 percent in 2008, according to a new survey from Kaplan Test Prep.

A 2010 survey from Microsoft showed that nearly 70 percent of all companies used the Web to research job candidates.

In 2007, a woman used the social networking site MySpace to vent her frustrations about a job interview at Barry University in Miami Shores. She was applying for a job overseeing the school’s online newsletter. She probably didn’t expect one of her readers to be Michael Laderman, Barry’s assistant vice president for communications.

"I saw that she had posted how ridiculous and insulting it was that she was asked to take a typing test," Laderman said. "Of course, she said it in much harsher words than I can repeat. And needless to say, there went any chance of me wanting to hire her."

People have lost jobs as well, including a Port St. Lucie, Fla., teacher whose skimpy bikini photo got out, and a Georgia teacher who was photographed on vacation with a glass of beer. A Lake County, Fla., teacher was suspended this year after he made derogatory comments about gay people on his Facebook page.

These decisions may not always seem fair, but they are a reality, Hinduja said.

Hinduja said people should focus on creating websites and social media profiles that present a positive online presence.

"Colleges, grad schools. Employers. They get a boatload of applications," he said. "What’s the quickest way to thin out the pile? Run your first and last name through Google."

TIPS FOR A SAFE ONLINE EXPERIENCE

- Learn about and use the privacy and security settings on social networks. Consider restricting access to your page to a select group of people, for example, your friends from school, your club, your team, your community groups, or your family.

- Think twice before posting pictures you wouldn’t want your parents or future employers to see.

- Be cautious about how much personal information you provide on social networking sites. The more information you post, the easier it may be for a hacker, thief or stalker to commit a crime.

- Install a security suite (antivirus, antispyware and firewall) that is set to update automatically.

- Use tools to manage the information you share with friends in different groups. If you’re trying to create a public persona as a blogger or expert, create an open profile or a "fan" page that encourages broad participation and limits personal information. Use your personal profile for trusted friends.

- Let a friend know if he or she posts information about you that makes you uncomfortable.

- If someone is harassing or threatening you, remove the person from your friends list, block the person, and report the incident to the site administrator.

- Make sure that your password is long, complex and combines, letters, numerals, and symbols. Ideally, you should use a different password for every online account you have.

- Be cautious about messages you receive on social networking sites that contain links. Even links that look they come from friends can sometimes contain malware or be part of a phishing attack.

- Be aware people you meet online may be nothing like they describe themselves, and may not even be the gender they claim.

- Flirting with strangers online could have serious consequences. Because some people lie about who they really are, you never really know who you’re dealing with.

Source: Florida Atlantic University

Demi Moore To Divorce Ashton Kutcher

After six years and two alleged affairs Demi Moore has finally had enough.

"It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I have decided to end my six-year marriage to Ashton," the Ghost actress said in a statement released to the media.

"As a woman, a mother and a wife there are certain values and vows that I hold sacred, and it is in this spirit that I have chosen to move forward with my life,” she continued. “This is a trying time for me and my family, and so I would ask for the same compassion and privacy that you would give to anyone going through a similar situation."

For his part, Kutcher took the matter seriously enough to keep his thoughts within 140 characters.

"I will forever cherish the time I spent with Demi," Kutcher (or his media oversight company) Tweeted. The message continues: "Marriage is one of the most difficult things in the world and unfortunately sometimes they fail. Love and light, AK."

Moore, 49, and Kutcher, 33, were married in 2005 in a private ceremony.

Judging by Moore's statement, it appears no amount of Kabbalah counselling nor couple's retreats could save the marriage. In September, a flurry of tabloid headlines were roused by the Two and a Half Men star's alleged affair during a guys' weekend in San Diego.

There is no official word as to when Moore plans on filing the necessary papers.

Sukh Ram gets 5-year jail

New Delhi, November 19
A CBI court today sentenced former Union Telecom Minister Sukh Ram to five years imprisonment for taking a bribe of Rs 3 lakh while awarding a Rs 30 crore contract to a private company in 1996.

Judge RP Pandey also slapped a fine of Rs 4 lakh on 86-year-old Sukh Ram, who was the telecom minister when PV Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister during 1991-96.

Yesterday, the court had convicted him under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) for misusing his official position to favour Haryana Telecom Limited (HTL) in the award of contract for supplying cables to the telecom department.

The CBI prosecutor said Sukh Ram, a veteran politician from Himachal Pradesh who has been a senior minister in the state Cabinet, was being taken into custody immediately and sent to Tihar jail as statutory bail was granted only if a sentence was for three years or less.

As Sukh Ram stepped out of the court at Rohini in North-west Delhi, he was attacked by a person. The unarmed assailant, identified as Harvinder Singh, slapped and kicked the 86-year-old politician.

Harvinder was overpowered and taken to Prashant Vihar police station for questioning. The motive for the attack could not be ascertained immediately.

During the arguments on the quantum of sentence, Sukh Ram pleaded for leniency in view of his advanced age and the premise that he had participated in the trial for the past 13 years. Further, he has been suffering from age-related problems and has lost his wife.

Opposing his plea, the CBI pointed out that Sukh Ram was a habitual offender and had been sentenced in two other cases.

Sukh Ram would be lodged in prison number one of Delhi’s high-security Tihar Jail.

NY senator introduces law against cyber-bullying

Some 30 U.S. states already have laws dealing with online harassment. At least five states have laws dealing explicitly with cyber-bullying.

A New York State senator has introduced a cyber-bullying bill, saying outdated harassment laws fail to punish bullies who use the Internet and smartphones to torment others.

The bill presented by Jeffrey Klein is a response to several highly publicized cases of teen suicides following some form of online bullying.

Klein argued that current state law had not kept pace with technology as life increasingly moved online.

"If people know there is a tough law on the books and they’re going to be punished, they are going to act accordingly," he told a news conference on Monday.

Some 30 U.S. states already have laws dealing with online harassment. At least five states have laws dealing explicitly with cyber-bullying.

Under Klein’s bill, the crime of stalking in the third degree would be updated to explicitly include harassing a child using electronic communication.

The bill also removes requirements that the offender initiate the contact and that the victim be a direct recipient of the communication.

Although it is already a crime to intentionally cause or aid another person's suicide, the bill would update the state’s second-degree manslaughter statute to explicitly include cyber-bullying as a possible cause of a suicide.

Democratic Senator Diane Savino, a co-sponsor of the bill, said that although bullying has existed “since Cain and Abel,” it has been transformed by the Internet and smartphone technology.

Anne Isaacs, whose daughter Jamie, now 15, had to switch schools because of bullies, said online bullying was also much harder to escape than other forms.

“When Jamie would go online to do her homework she would go online and be screaming because messages would come up,” said Isaacs, who joined Klein at the press conference.

An attempt to legislate against cyber-bullying at the federal level foundered in 2008, and it has been left to the states to decide how to deal with the problem.

Lady Gaga launches youth empowerment foundation

Lady Gaga on Wednesday launched the Born This Way Foundation to support programs dealing with youth empowerment and help people facing bullying and abandonment.

The foundation, named after the Grammy-winning singer's hit album and single of the same name, was launched by Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta.

"My mother and I have initiated a passion project," the singer said in a statement. "Together we hope to establish a standard of Bravery and Kindness, as well as a community worldwide that protects and nurtures others in the face of bullying and abandonment."

It follows on the singer's interests in supporting gay rights and being outspoken on issues affecting youth.

The Born This Way Foundation will be work closely with the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and The California Endowment, both focusing on youth empowerment.

The Foundation will also work with the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, which focuses on the power of the Internet as a means to promote change. The singer has harnessed the power of the Internet to attract more than 44 million fans on Facebook and 15 million followers on Twitter.

Winter Driving is not a game in Canada

A pickup truck skidded off of Henday Drive, west of Terwilligher Drive, and wrapped around a light standard during a winter storm in Edmonton on Nov. 17, 2011. 

This is an image from the AMA highway camera taken at 9:20 on Anthony Henday Drive at the North Saskatchewan River crossing between Cameron Heights and Terwilligar Drive.

Edmonton issues parking ban to give plows clear path

All vehicles must be off residential bus routes by 7 a.m. Friday

EDMONTON - A seasonal parking ban was issued Thursday after Edmonton’s first wallop of wintry weather brought heavy snow, high winds and frigid temperatures.

The parking ban affects vehicles parked along residential bus routes and is effective immediately, until further notice, the city says.

Motorists would normally have eight hours to move their vehicles once a parking ban is declared, but because this was the first ban of the season, the city is giving residents a grace period.

Vehicles parked on streets with signs noting a seasonal parking ban must be moved by 7 a.m. Friday or risk being ticketed or towed.

“We’re hoping people will comply and understand that it will help us get the job done faster,” said Bob Dunford, the city’s director of road maintenance.

Tickets are $50. Towed vehicles are taken to the city’s impound lot at 12230 124th Avenue. Restricted parking tows will cost drivers at least $116, plus $28 for each day cars are impounded.

Dunford said 106 pieces of city equipment were sanding and plowing streets Thursday. Graders were to hit the streets at midnight, Dunford said. Once arterial and collector roads are cleared, residential streets will be bladed to a five-centimetre snow pack, rather than down to the asphalt. Residents can look on the city’s transportation website to see when their neighbourhood will be plowed.

In the Edmonton area, blowing snow reduced visibility to one kilometre, with 40 kilometre-per-hour winds gusting up to 60 km/h.

The Alberta Motor Association was reporting poor road and highway conditions in the Edmonton area, including Highway 2 from Edmonton south to Leduc, and the Sherwood Park Freeway.

“It’s starting to slick up a bit. The snow has a heavy moisture content; it’s not a dry snow out there,” said AMA spokesman Don Szarko.

“Everything is conspiring to make the roads treacherous.”

In the city, poor road conditions contributed to 43 collisions before rush-hour Thursday, including four that caused minor injuries.

While no one was seriously hurt, acting inspector Gary Godziuk said a dog died after the car it was riding in hit a pole on Anthony Henday Drive, near Terwillgar Drive. Godziuk also noted that a 12-year-old boy was clipped by a car that failed to stop for him at a west-end crosswalk. Godziuk asked that both drivers and pedestrians exercise caution while on the streets during this first snowstorm.

The cold weather has prompted a warning from Edmonton Catholic Schools, which issued a reminder to parents to dress children in “warm hats, gloves and boots” and to return home or to a pre-selected location if a bus is 20 minutes late.

Environment Canada meteorologist Dave Wray said once the band of snow passes through the region, a blast of Arctic air will move in, dropping temperatures to an overnight low of -21 C. A high of -15 is forecast for Friday, and the mercury is expected to dip even lower over the weekend, with forecast highs of -20 C, Wray said.

“It’ll be sunny and cold for the weekend.”

Updated information on the weather warning can be found on theEnvironment Canada website.

Source: Edmonton Journal

Gallery: Wintry weather comes to Edmonton

Gallery: Wintry weather comes to Edmonton

Badrinath portals closed for winter

Dehradun, November 17
Portals of the Central Himalayan Hindu shrine of Badrinath in the Chamoli district of the state were closed for the winter today.

At a height of 10,248 ft above sea level, Badrinath shrine was closed for the winter in the afternoon in presence of priests, dharmadikaris and other temple committee members.

Badrinath Dham’s temple committee office bearer JP Sati said the temple was decked up with flowers and other decorations. An Army band was also present on the occasion.

The ‘Utsav Doli’ has also left Badrinath for Pandukeshwar, where the presiding deity will be worshipped during the winter.

With the closure of the shrine, the Char Dham yatra has come to a close in Uttarakhand. The other shrines of Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri have already been closed for the season.

Lifeline Express a boon to Haridwar residents

The Lifeline Express at Haridwar railway station. 

Haridwar, November 17
The Lifeline Express, a hospital on wheels, is proving to be beneficial to residents of Haridwar.

Stationed at the Haridwar railway station till December 1, it is equipped with the state-of-the-art medical facilities and equipment. It is a joint effort of the Impact India Foundation and Mahindra & Mahindra.

The Lifeline Express is an initiative against avoidable disablement, which has been on the national agenda for decades.

In five AC coaches with modern gadgets, a specialised team of doctors is performing operations and treating patients on a daily basis with local surgeons also offering their services.

This hospital on wheels has, so far, treated 6 lakh physically challenged persons and those suffering from with eye (cataract), ear (deafness), cleft lip, teeth and other ailments.

Chief executive officer of the Lifeline Express Randheer Singh said it had been serving people across the country since 1991 and its focus was more on the remote areas.

With the ambitious Rishikesh-Karanprayag railway line being built in the state, Subravrat Bhattacharjee, senior vice-president of Mahindra & Mahindra, expressed hope that this service would also be available to the people living in the hilly districts of the state.

Haridwar is the second city benefiting from the Lifeline Express in Uttarakhand. Earlier, it had been stationed at Rudrapur in 2007.

Nainital's Foundation Day celebrated

Nainital, November 18
The citizens of the Lake City celebrated the birthday of their town by organising various events. The celebrations were held at the Government Girls Inter-College at the Tallital area of the town where blankets were distributed among the poor. Sweaters were also given away to a large number of needy students from various schools.

A large number of people had gathered to savor the delicacies and wish each other. Game shows and cultural events were also held apart from a prayer held by religious heads from various communities. The day is celebrated to mark the discovery of the town by a Britisher, Rosa P Barron, in 1939. So charmed was he by the place that he laid the foundation of the town at the place.

Despite grappling with civic problems resulting from the increasing population pressure and the failure of the authorities on various fronts, Nainital has managed to retain the place as a global tourist destination all these years. 

Gurdwara Gyan Godri to be built at Ranipur

Sikh organisations which had been demanding the construction of the gurdwara at Har-ki-Pauri have now cleared the new site

Haridwar, November 18

The controversy surrounding the construction of Gurdwara Gyan Godri seems to be coming to an end as Sikh organisations that had been demanding the construction of the gurdwara at Har-ki-Pauri have now agreed to its construction at Ranipur.

Sikh organisations had been demanding that the gurdwara be constructed at Har-ki-Pauri, where there used to be a Sikh shrine a few decades ago and Guru Nanak Dev had stayed
during 1504-05.

Under the aegis of the Uttarakhand Gurdwara Gyan Godri Sangharsh Samiti, representatives of various Sikh organisations yesterday visited the site earmarked by the Uttarakhand Government at Ranipur (Chandracharya chowk) adjacent to the Ganga canal.

Gurdeep Singh Sohta, a member of the 20-point Programme of the Uttarakhand Government, said this was the best place for the construction of the gurdwara.

However, as a major portion of the Ganga canal is being operated by UP in Haridwar, a Sikh delegation had recently met Uttar Pradesh Transport Minister Ram Achal Rajbhar to demand their approval so that the construction could start at the earliest.

Daljit Singh Maan, chief of the samiti, expressed hope that both the Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh Governments would respect the sentiments of the Sikh community and complete the administrative procedures regarding the construction of the gurdwara at the earliest.

According to Sikh frontal organisations, Gurdwara Gyan Godri used to exist near Har-ki-Pauri. However, in the ’70s, it was demolished in the name of renovation. Later, the land was handed over to Bharat Scouts and Guides, where their office still exists. Since then, Sikh organisations had been demanding the allocation of the same place so that they could reconstruct
the gurdwara.

Gurdwara Gyan Godri Parbandhak Committee chief Harjit Singh Duwa, Gol Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Tek Singh Sandhu, Kulwant Singh Wirk and Nazar Singh Chima were also present on the occasion. 

Uttarakhand Gurdwara Gyan Godri Sangharsh Samiti members inspect the Ranipur site which the state government has earmarked for the construction of the gurdwara in Haridwar.

5,000-km range missile enough for India: Kalam

Rajpura/Fatehgarh Sahib, November 17
A nuclear-warhead capable inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) that has a range of 5,000 km was enough to watch India’s strategic interest, said former President Dr APJ Kalam while interacting with students of Chitkara University here today.

“An ICBM with 5,000-km range was enough as the potential enemies were well within this range,” said Dr Kalam, replying in context of India’s announcement to test Agni-V, an ICBM that can travel more than 5,000 km. On being asked about the need to develop ICBMs with longer range, the Missile Man of India, without referring to rapidly emerging neighbour China, said the threat was not from trans-Atlantic Ocean.

On being asked about the education system in the country, he said though the Indian students were in big demand abroad, the educational establishments needed to focus more on research. “Good research would mean better teaching faculty and students with multi-pronged approach. The technologies and the system should converge,” he said while calling upon the faculty and students to learn integrated system design. Giving a success mantra to the students who would be graduating from the university, he said the future was for those who could design, integrate and manage systems and technologies such as nanotechnology, biotechnology and information technology.He interacted with students at a private university new Chandigarh.Stressing upon the audience to work for the nation’s welfare, he said everyone needed to deliver back to the system and society. “Nations with knowledge and synergy are the world leaders and others follow,” he said.

He outlined 10 pillars of Indian development profile 2020. Based his interaction with 12 million youths in the country and abroad, he said everyone would have become unique and think out of the box. “There has to be aim, regular update of knowledge, hard work and perseverance to achieve a goal in life,” he said while trying to strike a chord with the students who cheered to every advice handed out to them.

Earlier, he was at Sanghol in Fatehgarh Sahib to inaugurate the International Conference on Rural Development Challenges and Opportunities. The conference is being organised by Lord Rana’s, UK-based charitable trust at Cordia Group of Institutes.

He said nuclear energy was a clean energy and it would be beneficial for the people and the state. He said the states must go for nuclear energy.

He also stressed the need to ensure development of rural India by strengthening PURA (Providing Urban Facilities in Rural Areas) and to take it as a mission. Elaborating on PURA, he said it involved physical, electronic and economic connectivity. He suggested to the DC and Lord Rana to make Sanghol village “Sanghol PURA”.

Pure commercial interests in South China Sea, Manmohan tells Wen

A range of issues, including the situation along the Line of Actual Control and trade, were discussed during the 55-minute meeting between PM Manmohan Singh and Wen Jiabao

Bali, November 18
Against the backdrop of irritation in ties over the South China Sea issue, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today told his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao that India's oil exploration in the disputed maritime area is a "purely commercial activity" even as the two sides agreed that there was enough space and areas for them to work together.

A range of issues, including the situation along the Line of Actual Control and trade, were discussed during the 55-minute meeting, with Manmohan Singh saying India was committed to developing the "best of relations" with China, while the latter underlined that the countries should work "hand-in-hand" to ensure that the 21st century belongs to Asia.

"This matter did come up in the context of the East Asia Summit (taking place here tomorrow)," Secretary (East) in the External Affairs Ministry Sanjay Singh told reporters when asked whether the issue of Chinese objections to India's exploration of oil in South China Sea figured in the talks between Manmohan Singh and Wen.

The Prime Minister "observed that exploration of oil and gas in South China Sea by India is purely commercial activity", the Secretary said about the issue that has caused irritation in the ties between the two countries in the recent past.

China, which lays claim over entire South China Sea, had openly attacked India in September over its move to explore oil in the maritime area on offer from Vietnam. It had evoked a sharp retort from India.

This was coupled with an incident in which Indian Naval ship INS Airavat was threatened by the Chinese Navy while moving in that area.
In the context of China's claim over the entire South China Sea, the Prime Minister told Wen that "the issue of sovereignty should be resolved according to international law and practice".
India asserts that since it was not clearly defined that the maritime area belongs wholly to China, the laws of the sea will apply.
As the meeting began, the Prime Minister told Wen that "we are neighbours and also large growing economies of Asia. We should cooperate bilaterally and globally." To press this point, Manmohan Singh noted that whenever India and China had worked together on climate change, it has had a "positive impact" on the global stage.
Visualising "cooperative partnership" with China, the Prime Minister reminded Wen that he had said that "there is enough space in the world for both India and China to grow."
Adding to this point, Wen, who met Manmohan Singh here on the sidelines of the ASEAN and East Asia Summits, said: "There are enough areas in our world where India and China can enhance cooperation."
Referring to the oft-repeated contention that the 21st century should belong to Asia, the Chinese Premier said that for realisation of this goal, it is important for the two most populous countries of the world to "work hand-in-hand to forge ahead along the path of development. I have full confidence that the day of that kind of the world will arrive".