UN political chief to visit Iran today for Syria talks
26082013 |
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Chinese leader Bo Xilai’s trial adjourns abruptly
26082013
Disgraced Chinese leader Bo Xilai’s high-profile trial was abruptly adjourned after prosecutors produced more evidence to nail the former Communist strongman, who in turn described his ex-police chief and a key witness as a “liar with extremely bad character.”
Bo, 64, was sacked as the head of the Chongqing city last year and removed from the ruling party following allegations of bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power against him.
The Jinan Intermediate People’s Court in east China’s Shandong province, which is hearing the case regarded as the most sensitive after the 1981 ‘Gang of Four’ trial’ involving Mao Zedong’s widow, adjourned the hearing till tomorrow after over two hours of proceedings on the fourth day on Sunday.
At Sunday’s dramatic trial, prosecutors presented more evidence on the charge of power abuse against the fallen politician, a spokesperson of the court told media in Jinan.
During the past three days court held session for the entire day spanning to about eight hours a day but on Sunday, it lasted over two hours.
Footage shown by state-run TV channel displayed two policemen taking Bo out of the court room holding his arms.
The evidence showed that Bo ordered the investigation against officials in-charge of handling the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood allegedly by his wife Gu Kailai, who was sentenced to death last year with two year reprieve after she confessed to the murder.
Bo violated organisational procedures to remove police chief Chongqing city Wang Lijun from his post after he started probing Gu’s involvement, prosecutors alleged.
The evidence also showed that Bo allowed his wife, who was not a civil servant, to take part in discussions about how to handle Wang’s defection, and sanctioned her suggestion to ask a hospital to fake a diagnosis that Wang had mental illness as well as the release of such false information to the public, state-run news agency reported.
Bo admitted that he made mistakes in handling these incidents but insisted that he was not involved in any conducts of power abuse and the responsibilities were all on his wife and a third participant surnamed Wu.
Bo said, “His (Wang’s) character is extremely bad, he created rumours… and threw dust in the public’s eyes. “It’s beneath legal credibility to present such a person as a key witness. Wang Lijun was lying during the trial and his testimony was not valid at all. His testimony was full of lies and fraud.”
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Environment Ministryconfers Wildlife Awards
26082013
Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife Conservation Award 2009 has been conferred upon Shri S. P. Yadav, Deputy Inspector General in National Tiger Conservation Authority . The Amrita Devi Bishnoi Wildlife Protection Award 2010 was conferred upon inindividual to Shri Saurabh Gupta and Shri Gaurav Gupta and in institutional category to Shri Dadu Paryavaran Sansthan of District Tonk in Rajasthan.
These awards were given away on the occasion of birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi by the Secretary (Environment and Forests) Dr V.Rajagopalan . The award presentation ceremony coincided with the inauguration of the consultation workshop on “Developing Strategies for Mitigation of Human-Animal Conflicts”, organized by the Ministry of Enviornment & Forests and Wild Life Institute of India at India Habitat Centre. Dr. K. Jude Sekar, Director General of Forests and Special Secretary, Dr. S. S. Garbyal, Additional Director General of Forests (Wildlife), senior forest and wild life officers from the State Government all over the country and members of Civil Society from the wildlife fraternity participated. The Minister of State for Environment and Forests Smt JayanthiNatarajan has congratulated the winners of the Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife Conservation Award 2009 and the Amrita Devi Bishnoi Wildlife Protection Award 2010.
The Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife Conservation Award was conferred upon Shri S. P.Yadav, Deputy Inspector General in National Tiger Conservation Authority for cracking a hub of thriving illegal trade in wildlife specimens, during his tenure as Divisional Forest Officer, Agra in 2007-08. He was instrumental in major seizure of almost 30,000 wildlife specimens, including a large number of endangered species, in close coordination with the local Police and Special Task Force of Utter Pradesh for successful prosecution of the offenders.
The enormity of this seizure highlighted the scale of thriving illegal trade in lesser known endangered species of wildlife, and its networking for their use in educational institutions. It served as an eye opener and fostered the much needed awareness amongst local people, eventually leading to considerable reduction in demand for such specimens.
The Amrita Devi Bishnoi Wildlife Protection Award-2010 in individual category was conferred upon Shri Saurabh Gupta and Shri Gaurav Gupta for their significant contribution for protection of Wildlife. The awardees have been assisting government authorities in detection, apprehension and prosecution of large number of offences under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 in the States of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Haryana and Union Territory of Delhi. The efforts of Shri Saurabh Gupta and Shri Gaurav Gupta, made at considerable personal risks, have strengthened the enforcement of wildlife laws in the concerned States, resulting in check on wildlife crime.
The Amrita Devi Bishnoi Wildlife Protection Award in institutional category was conferred upon Shri Dadu Paryavaran Sansthan of District Tonk in Rajasthan. The organization made remarkable contribution not only in saving the endangered wild animals, especially black bucks, from poachers, but also by working continuously for developing suitable habitat for them. They have worked for conservation and protection of black bucks and have raised awareness for the cause.
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Food Security Bill to Provide Minimum Support Price to more Farmers
26082013| In the wake of the increased requirement of foodgrains for implementation of the proposed Food Security Act, procurement operations will be further extended and more farmers will get the benefits of MSP operations. Foodgrain requirement for the implementation of the bill is estimated 614.3 lakh tonnes as against the existing requirement of 563.7 lakh tonnes for Targeted Public Distribution System.After implementation of the proposed Act, about 75 % persons in villages will get wheat at the rate of Rs. 2 and rice at the rate of Rs. 3 per kg. But farmers will get more for their produce i.e. Rs.12.85 per kg for wheat and Rs.12.50 per kg for paddy as minimum support price.
Access to highly subsidized foodgrains to small farmers under proposed Food Security Act and assured MSP for their produce will ease the burden on their earnings and allow them the option to spend the money so saved on other necessities. Hence it will help to improve their quality of life. Therefore, contrary to dissuading farmers from producing more, the Act will in fact encourage them to produce more.
Two-third of the population will become legally entitled to receive highly subsidized food grains after the enactment of the Food Security Bill. Each entitled person will receive 5 kg of food grains per month i.e. rice, wheat or coarse grains at Rs.3, Rs.2 and Re. 1 per kg respectively. The poorest of the poor will continue to get 35 kg food grains per household per month under AAY. The bill has special focus on nutritional needs of women and children. The eldest woman of the household above 18 years is considered the head of the household for the purpose of issue of ration cards as per provisions of the Bill. Pregnant women and lactating mothers will get maternity benefit of Rs. 6000 besides nutritious food. Children below 14 years of age will get food with higher nutritional norms. On the issue of redressing grievances that may arise in implementation of such a massive programme, it has been planned to give an increased role for Panchayati Raj institutions and women’s self help groups in programme-monitoring and social auditing. There will be provision for internal grievance redressal mechanism including call centres and helplines; and District Grievance Redressal Officers and State Food Commission for expeditious and effective relief to the people.
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GOI welcomes Indian Olympic Association decision
26082013| Government of India welcomes Indian Olympic Association decision to amend its constitution to bring it in line with the Sports Code |
1. The Government of India welcomes the fact that the General Body of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has met today and agreed to amend its constitution to bring it in line with the Sports Code. It is also happy that Observers from the IOC attended the meeting.
2. Although the amendments have not yet been officially provided to the Government, the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports understands that the age & tenure restrictions prescribed by the Sports Code have largely been adopted. Government of India welcomes this development and considers it a step in the right direction.
3. Shri Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs & Sports and Shri P.K. Deb, Secretary (Sports) met the observers Mr. Francisco Elizaide, Mr. Jerome Poivey from the International Olympic Commitee (IOC) and Mr. Haidar A Farman from Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) impressed upon them the need to ensure that the highest standard of ethics are maintained in the Indian Olympic Association. The Govt. has stressed in unequivocal terms that persons facing criminal & corruption charges should not be allowed to contest IOA elections. The Govt. of India also emphasised that Indian Sportspersons must be permitted to compete in International Events under the National Flag and if dispute between IOC & IOA cannot be resolved quickly, alternate enabling mechanisms may be considered for this purpose.
4. The Government of India has made strenuous efforts to get the IOC and the NSF in India to sort out their differences. It hopes that this meeting will culminate in India getting back into the Olympic fold.
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TOURISM MINISTER EXPRESS CONCERN
26082013
TOURISM MINISTER EXPRESS CONCERN OVER HARASSMENT MET BY US STUDENT
I was extremely pained when I read about the harassment that a student encountered during her year long stay in India. I have personally taken-up similar issues with several Chief Ministers and have addressed all State Tourism Ministers. Consequently, all state tourism departments have unanimously agreed to put into place, measures to give greater security to all tourists, specially women tourists.
Our Ministry has also launched a sensitization campaign called “I respect women” which is about according due respect to women. I am now coordinating with the concerned Union Ministries – firstly, to raise awareness about the need for more sensitive behavior towards women and secondly, to provide greater security.
In all cases that are brought to our attention, we will endeavour to take remedial action as appropriate.
I may mention that in the two unfortunate incidents that involved foreign tourists that took place this year, in both cases, the culprits involved were speedily acted against. In Madhya Pradesh, the culprits were arrested within two days and sentences of life imprisonment were given to them in 4 months. In Himachal Pradesh the culprits were apprehended within a week.
I am also co-ordinating with various Ministries like Ministry of Home Affair, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Law and Ministry of Justice & Justice etc to bring about further measures for enhancing the security of tourists, especially the women tourists.
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NATIONAL SPORTS DAY CELEBRATIONS
26082013
Rajpal Singh
Director
August 24, 2013
Dear Sir / Madam,
NATIONAL SPORTS DAY CELEBRATIONS
August 27, 2013
Federation House, Tansen Marg, New Delhi
To promote sports culture and to create awareness about the essence of the National Sports Day, FICCI is launching a nationwide National Sports Day celebration at 0945HRS on 27th August 2013 at Federation House, Tansen Marg, New Delhi.
This programme is a precursor to the National Sports Day, which will be celebrated on 29th Aug, 2013, across 300 organisations in the country with the support of Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, All India Council of Physical Education (AICPE), and Association of Indian Universities (AIU). All India Football Federation (AIFF) and Asian Football Development Project (FIFA) have also decided to support this initiative.
FICCI is pleased to invite you to the launch event and celebrations on this momentous occasion of 27th Aug, 2013 at 1030 HRS at Federation House, Tansen Marg, New Delhi . The registration will start at 0945hrs.
This would be followed by programme and refreshments at Major Dhyanchand National Stadium, New Delhi as per attached schedule.
Attached is the tentative programme of the 27th Aug, 2013 for your kind information.
Look forward to your kind confirmation. You can confirm your participation by replying tosports@ficci.com.
With best regards,
Yours sincerely,
(Rajpal Singh)
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AirAsia X to launch double daily services
26082013
AirAsia X to launch double daily services from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney, Melbourne and Perth
To celebrate, you can buddy up and save with our Buy 1, Fly 2 Sale!
SEPANG, 26 August 2013- AirAsia X Berhad, the leading low-cost, long-haul carrier, announced that the airline will increase its current flights to double daily flights services from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney,Melbourne and Perth later this year.
AirAsia X will increase its current flights to Sydney and Melbourne from 12 weekly flights and Perth from its current 9 weekly flights to 14 flights a week. The double daily flights from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne will start on 1 October 2013; and to Sydney and Perth on 25 November 2013 effectively.
The announcement follows the finalisation of a revised bilateral agreement between the Australian and Malaysian governments and an expansion of AirAsia X’s long-haul fleet of Airbus A330-300s which will comprise 16 aircraft at the end of December 2013.
AirAsia X is expected to become Australia’s fourth largest foreign carrier by the end of 2013 as it allocates its additional capacity for the remainder of the year to the market.
Azran Osman-Rani, CEO of AirAsia X said, “Overall, the airline has carried over 3.4 million passengers to and from its Australian routes since it began operations in Australia in 2007. Australia contributes over 40% of the airline’s total revenue, with an average of 83% passenger load in the first half of 2013.”
“We are delighted to increase the current flights to double daily flights on our Australian routes. Our flights from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney, Melbourne and Perth routes have performed extremely well and the new double daily services will help meet increasing demand.”
“The double daily services will provide guests with a greater choice of travel times and enable us to offer improved flight connections across our network and that of the AirAsia Group, which would further encourage the growth of tourism and trade of both countries. With the additional frequencies, AirAsia X is also looking at doubling our fly-thru arrivals into Australia and from Australia across our group network.”
“AirAsia X has been lobbying both governments for some time for the increased capacity, and we are delighted to be able to further expand our reach across these dynamic cities from Kuala Lumpur.”
“Australia is a huge part of our core focus, and Australians can expect to see us continuing to expand our operations in this vitally important market,” concluded Azran.
To celebrate the double daily flights, AirAsia X is offering a “Buy 1, Fly 2” sale which allows guests to book with a friend and split one amazing fare.
The sale is available for online bookings from 26 August 2013 to 1 September 2013 for the travel period for departures from Kuala Lumpur between 1 October 2013 and 5 August 2014; and Perth and Sydney departures from 25 November 2013 to 5 August 2014.
In one of AirAsia X’s best deals yet, two people can fly from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney, Melbourne andPerth from as low as MYR 599* one way.
Fly-Thru promotional deals are available from as low as MYR 699* from Penang to Perth. Guests may also opt for other exciting fly-thru deals that include services from AirAsia X other destinations such as from China and Korea to Melbourne, Sydney and Perth via the Kuala Lumpur hub. The Fly-thru service allows guests to seamlessly purchase two flight sectors and connect via Kuala Lumpur.
AirAsia X also recently announced its entry into Adelaide, with four weekly flights to its hub in Kuala Lumpur set to begin October 31, 2013 and a return to seven flights a week on the Gold Coast.
AirAsia X was the first long-haul, low fare carrier to introduce Premium Flatbed seats, which have standard business class specifications of 20” width, 60” pitch and stretch out to 77” in full recline position.
The Premium flatbeds feature universal power sockets, adjustable headrests and built-in personal utilities such as tray table, drink holder, reading light and privacy screen. Premium seat guests also enjoy premium complimentary products and services including Pick A Seat, Priority Check-in, Priority Boarding, Priority Baggage, 25kg Baggage Allowance, Complimentary Meal and Pillow & Duvet.
On top of that, AirAsia X recently introduced the “Quiet Zone” cabin on all its long-haul flights across China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Australia and Nepal. The new service enhancement is exclusively for guests who are above age 12. The “Quiet Zone” cabin features a new ambiance with soft lighting, offering a more relaxing cabin atmosphere, which will ensure a more pleasant journey for our guests.
AirAsia X was awarded the World’s Best Low Cost Airline Premium Seat and the World’s Best Low Cost Airline Premium Class titles at the 2013 Skytrax World Airline Awards which took place at the Paris Airshow. The AirAsia Group also received its 5th consecutive year title as the World’s Best and Asia’s Best Low Cost Airline at the 2013 Skytrax World Airline Awards.
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