Junior Digest

WASHINGTON, April 7, 2016 : Criticising the “disturbing and hateful” poll rhetoric, First Lady Michelle Obama has asserted that America is a “nation of immigrants” and diversity will always be its greatest strength.

“We think America is strongest when we recognise our many traditions, when we celebrate our diversity, and when we lift each other up,” Ms. Obama said during Nowruz celebrations at the White House on Wednesday.

‘Cherish the beautiful traditions and cultures’

“In times like these, when we think all — that’s more important than ever before, right now and today with what’s going on. Right now, when we’re hearing so much disturbing and hateful rhetoric, it is so important to remember that our diversity has been — and will always be — our greatest source of strength and pride here in the United States,” she said.

“We are a nation of immigrants. And we should cherish the talent and energy and the beautiful traditions and cultures that come with that heritage, not just today but every day,” she said.

Various festivals of various cultures at White House

In her remarks, she underscored the number of festivals of various cultures now the White House has been celebrating.

“I’m proud that here at the White House, we host special events to mark the holidays but we celebrate St Patrick’s Day, Diwali, Cinco de Mayo. And with your help, today, we’re celebrating Nowruz, which is one of our newest White House traditions,” Ms. Obama said.

On Nowruz

Nowruz, she has said, is a time to visit loved ones. It’s a time to reflect on the past year, and to renew hopes for the New Year to come.

Nowruz is a traditional Iranian festival of spring and considered as the beginning of the New Year among Iranians.

@ Agency report.

Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif, speaking at a development conference on the impact of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), said the significance of a Pakistan-China economic alliance had “raised eyebrows” in the region.

Pakistan’s army chief on Tuesday accused longtime regional rival India of seeking to undermine his country’s $46 billion project to build an economic corridor to transport goods from China’s western regions through the Pakistani deepwater port of Gwadar.

Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif, speaking at a development conference on the impact of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), said the significance of a Pakistan-China economic alliance had “raised eyebrows” in the region.

“In this context, I must highlight that India, our immediate neighbour, has openly challenged this development initiative,” Sharif told the conference in Gwadar.

New Delhi, Apr 12 ,2016 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making efforts to resolve the water crisis in drought-hit Latur and sought his help to send water to the parched district in Maharashtra’s Marathwada region.Kejriwal in a letter to the Prime Minister said the people of Delhi are ready to send 10 lakh litres of water per day to Latur for the next two months and demanded that the Centre make arrangements for transportation.

“Latur is going through an acute water crisis. The central government has decided to send water to Latur by train. This is an admirable step.

“It will be shameful for the entire country if anyone dies due to water crisis in India in the 21st century. It is the responsibility of the entire country to help the people of Latur,” he said.

“Delhi also faces water shortages. But considering the sinister situation in Latur, it is our responsibility to help people there.

“If you find it appropriate, you may appeal the chief ministers of other states in this regard. I am sure they will also extend a helping hand,” Kejriwal said.

@ Agency report.

Washington, Apr 8,2016 : The World Bank has unveiled an ambitious climate action plan that will help developing countries add 30 gigawatts of renewable energy, bring early warning systems to 100 million people and develop climate- smart agriculture investment plans for at least 40 nations.

The World Bank has set the target for achieving this by 2020, officials said as they released details of the Climate Change Action Plan, which comes just two weeks before world leaders officially sign the landmark Paris Agreement in New York.

“Following the Paris climate agreement, we must now take bold action to protect our planet for future generations,” World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said.

“We are moving urgently to help countries make major transitions to increase sources of renewable energy, decrease high-carbon energy sources, develop green transport systems, and build sustainable, livable cities for growing urban populations. Developing countries want our help to implement their national climate plans and we’ll do all we can to help them,” he said.

To maximise impact, the World Bank Action Plan is focused on helping countries shape national policies and leverage private sector investment.

International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, aims to expand its climate investments from the current USD 2.2 billion a year to a goal of USD 3.5 billion a year and lead on leveraging an additional USD 13 billion a year in private sector financing by 2020.

Apart from its own financing, the World Bank also intends to mobilise USD 25 billion in commercial financing for clean energy over the next five years.

The Bank Group will also continue to deepen its work to help countries to put a price on carbon pollution to create incentives for public and private sector decision makers to make the right climate choices, a statement said.

This is a plan that primarily aims supporting countries that the Bank works with, to turn their ambitious commitments that they made in December in Paris, into a reality, John Roome, Bank’s Senior Director for Climate Change told reporters during a conference call.

“It’s a plan that aims at swinging the pendulum away from investments in fossil fuels towards investment in clean energy and to put new resources to critical areas like green transport and climate smart agriculture,” he said.

Under the plan, the World Bank would be working on expanding universal access to early-warning systems in the case of disasters, for the goal to provide 100 million more people, in 15 developing countries, with access to these early-warning systems by the year 2020.

@ Agency report.

New Delhi, Apr 12 , 2016 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi today hosted British royal couple Prince William and Kate Middleton for lunch to the accompaniment of classical music.

The Prime Minister received the couple on the steps of the Hyderabad House located next to the India Gate. While Kate wore a knee-length gauze green dress, William donned a dark-coloured suit and a tie.

A four-course Indian meal, both vegetarian and non- vegetarian, was served at the lunch hosted at the historic mansion here which before Independence served as the grand residence of the Nizam of Hyderabad.

The event was marked by santoor recital by classical musician Rahul Sharma. One of the highlights of the performance was the rendition of Beatles’ famous number ‘Let It Be’.

Among those who attended the event included External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.

Bharti Group chief Sunil Bharti Mittal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ICICI Chanda Kochhar, actor Anupam Kher and former badminton player Pullela Gopichand were among some of the noted personalities who also attended.

The royal couple are on a week-long tour of India and Bhutan that began on Sunday.
Their India visit began in Mumbai where they paid homage to the victims of the 26/11 terror attacks. In Delhi, they yesterday visited Gandhi Smriti, Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial at Tees January Marg, and paid tribute to the Father of the Nation.

The couple also paid homage to Indian soldiers at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at the India Gate and attended a reception at the British High Commissioner’s residence last evening to commemorate the 90th birthday of William’s grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.

@ Agency report.

HANOI, Vietnam : Vietnam’s  parliament on Thursday elected Nguyen Xuan Phuc as prime minister, and he takes office at a time of soaring public debt, a worrying budget deficit and China’s growing assertiveness in nearby seas.

In a formal vote, 446 of the 490 members in the National Assembly voted to install Phuc, 61, as the head of government.

The appointment of Phuc, who rose from governor of the central province of Quang Nam to deputy prime minister five years ago, was a mere formality after he was picked at the Communist Party’s congress in January as the sole candidate to replace Nguyen Tan Dung, who was removed from office Wednesday.

Phuc took the oath of office and vowed “absolute loyalty to the country, people and the Constitution.”

In a televised inaugural speech, Phuc vowed to continue with reforms and fight corruption.

He raised his voice when pledged to “firmly defend the country’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Phuc takes office at a time when the country is crippled with soaring public debt, a serious budget deficit, China’s territorial assertiveness in the South China Sea, as well as an unprecedented drought and salt intrusion in the country’s main rice-growing region of the southern Mekong Delta.

“Mr. Phuc will begin his tenure when the economy has been in big trouble,” Le Hong Hiep, a visiting fellow at Singapore’s Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, said in an email.

“He will have to overcome major challenges to reform the state-owned sector and banking system, improve the country’s fiscal position, and strengthen the private sector to make the economy less dependent on foreign investments,” Hiep said.

Phuc’s appointment completes the triumvirate of power, which includes General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong who was re-elected at the party congress in January and President Tran Dai Quang who was elected by the assembly last week.

Nguyen Quang A, an economist and political analyst, said the trend of reforms and international integration in Vietnam will not be stopped regardless of who is in power.

“No one can delay or derail the international integration, that is the only way for the country’s survival.”

International rights groups and U.S. government have often criticized Vietnam for jailing people who peacefully express their views, by using vaguely worded security laws. Hanoi says that only law breakers are punished.

The sentencing of seven bloggers and activists in March for “abusing democratic freedoms” and “spreading anti-state propaganda” drew strong opposition from the U.S. government and international rights groups.

“I don’t think that Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuc as the new prime minister will have a big role in improving Vietnam’s human rights record,” Quang A said, noting the country is ruled by collective leadership.

@ Agency report.

Hiroshima, Japan,April 11, 2016 :  US Secretary of State John Kerry and G7 foreign ministers today called for a “world without nuclear weapons”, citing North Korea’s sabre-rattling as a key challenge to achieving that goal.

“We reaffirm our commitment to seeking a safer world for all and to creating the conditions for a world without nuclear weapons in a way that promotes international stability,” the group said in their “Hiroshima Declaration”, after a landmark visit to the Japanese city’s atomic bomb memorial.

“This task is made more complex by the deteriorating security environment in a number of regions, such as Syria and Ukraine, and, in particular by North Korea’s repeated provocations,” it added.
On Saturday, Pyongyang said it had successfully tested an engine designed for an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) that would “guarantee” an eventual nuclear strike on the US mainland.
It was the latest in a series of claims by North Korea of significant breakthroughs in both its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.

The G7 statement came as ministers wrap up their final day of meetings with discussions focused on global hotspot issues including terrorism and other security threats as well as instability in the Middle East, and the refugee crisis.

@ Agency report.

Mumbai/Pune, Apr 14 ,2016: Two petitions have been filed in Bombay High Court seeking liberty to people who practise “atheism” to take oath in the name of Constitution in the courts, instead of swearing in the name of God.

Currently, as per Oath Act, 1969, a witness or any person who deposes in the court, can swear in the name of God or by placing hands on a religious book.
In a PIL, a Pune-based couple, Sunil Mane and his wife Laxmikanta, cited a couple of cases in Maharashtra at Bhivandi Magistrate Court and Pune District Court wherein senior government officials have told the court that they do not believe in God and expressed their willingness to take oath in the name of Constitution but unfortunately they have not been permitted, the PIL said.

In another petition, an officer of Bhiwandi Municipal Corporation has made a similar plea.

Both the petitions are slated to come up for hearing in due course, High Court sources said.

“The Oaths Act, 1969, needs to be declared as violative of Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution,” the Pune-based couple said in the PIL.

They urged the court to issue directions to the Union and state governments that persons who are not willing to take oath in the name of God or by putting their hands on any religious book should be allowed to take oath in the name of Indian Constitution.

“People who are not believers of God but have full faith in the Indian Constitution are getting denial during judicial proceedings at various levels in Maharashtra when they request that they be administered oath in the name of Indian Constitution,” the PIL said.

“It is high time to make the oath system suitable to democracy and in accordance with the spirit of Indian Constitution,” the PIL states.

Advocate Asim Sarode, through whom the PIL has been filed, said, “People, who are non-believers of God, are not allowed to swear in the name of Indian Constitution or placing hands on the rule book.”

He said that a person of any religion would not have objection to taking oath in the name of Constitution as it is his or her duty to abide by the Constitution.

“This will help avoid flaring of communal thoughts and feelings and it will also not create problems for people who are atheists,” Sarode added.

@ Agency report.

New Delhi, Apr 12 ,2016 : The government is considering the demand of Jews for minority status, Union Minister Najma Heptulla said today.

Heptulla said her ministry had received a proposal from the members of the community recently and it has been forwarded to other departments, including the Law Ministry, seeking their opinion.

“Jews have demanded minority status. The proposal has been moved to other departments for their opinion,” the Minority Affairs Minister told reporters.

There are around 5,000 Jews living the country, she said.

There are currently six minority communities in the country – Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains.

Jains, with a population of about 50 lakh people, were the last to get the status in January, 2014.

@ Agency report.

New Delhi, Apr 12, 2016: To encourage women and the differently-abled to pursue research, UGC has relaxed norms allowing students eight years instead of present six to complete Ph.D and three years instead of two to complete M.Phil degrees.

In addition, women candidates will also be provided maternity, child care leave for up to 240 days in the entire duration of their M.Phil or Ph.D degrees.

HRD Minister Smriti Irani, who announced the relaxation of norms by UGC at a press conference here, said the government aims to boost the entry of women and the differently-abled in the fields of research.

Last week, Irani, while releasing the domestic rankings for Indian educational institutes, had announced that the government had asked the regulator to consider relaxing the norms for women and the differently-abled.

Speaking at the conference where UGC chairman Ved Prakash and senior HRD officials were present, Irani said another key decision taken by the Commission pertains to autonomy about which “there has been a lot of debate” in the country.

In its meeting today, the UGC has decided that a college which will be awarded the highest grades in two consecutive cycles of six years and ensures the highest grade in the third cycle will be granted autonomous status if it can get a ‘no-objection certificate’ from the university concerned.

“This will grant them freedom to design curricula, prescribe syllabi, assess student performance and declare student results,” she said.

Irani said there has also been “widespread debate on licence raj and vice grip of regulator on institutions of higher education”.

In this context, she said, it has also been decided that if an institute is accredited with highest grade in two cycles by NAAC and continues to do so in the third cycle, the validity of accreditation would be made seven years instead of the present five years.

At the press conference, Irani also announced that in case of relocation of a woman Ph.D or M.Phil scholar due to marriage or otherwise, research data shall be allowed to be transferred to the university to which the scholar intends to relocate, though subject to certain norms.

@ Agency report.

New Delhi, Apr 12, 2016 : Supreme Court today castigated the government for delay in releasing funds for MGNREGA to drought-hit states saying this was “totally unacceptable”, as it also questioned its role in declaring drought in states.

“The money should be released in advance so that the (MGNREGA) work does not get hampered. Nobody is here to criticise the government. The only point being made is delay in payments, which is undeniable and totally unacceptable,” a bench headed by Justice M B Lokur said.

The apex court directed the Centre to submit a detailed chart of 10 drought-hit states and specify the number of people and districts including villages affected by it.

It also asked the Centre to provide details with regard to notification on declaration of drought and sought budgetary allocations of National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Fund.

Initiating arguments on behalf of Centre, Additional Solicitor General P S Narsimha said the power to declare drought was completely vested with the states and the Centre has no role other than providing funds and placing a monitoring system.

“If there is a situation, the statute speaks who will decide or take a call. All powers are vested in the state. Centre has only advisory role. The Ministry of Agriculture can only issue guidelines and broad parameters to be followed.

“The power to declare drought is completely vested with the states. Centre has no role other than providing funds if required and placing a monitoring system. Once drought is declared, incidental steps like providing money and relief work follow. Your lordship can very well pass an order if it feels a state should have declared drought,” he said.

The bench then asked, “in case the drought situation in a state is very poor and the facts are stark, you are saying that the SC can pass an order. So what is the Centre supposed to do if there is a grave problem and the affected state is not declaring?”

The ASG replied that in a federal structure where there is a democratically-elected government in power, declaration of drought fell completely under states’ responsibility and maximum contemplation for the Centre which the Constitution lays down is guidelines and advisory.
The bench, also comprising Justice N V Ramana, further said, “so it is between the state goverment and the courts. Centre has nothing to do with it?”

ASG said that under the statute, it is the sovereign power of the state and if there is a drought situation, the statute speaks who will decide or take a call.

During the hearing, the ASG said the government was looking at revising the crop compensation paid to farmers for the coming year and has constituted a committee on it.
Opposing the appointment of an independent commissioner to look after implementation of guidelines on drought, the ASG said there was already a statutory regime in place.

“What will a court commissioner do? If any right is violated, the individual may approach the court. There are many Prashant Bhushans in this country.

“There is some authority to ensure compliance at every stage. We can put the burden on officers. We can’t make the statute redundant. Why create a parallel institution and law enforcing agency. We are bound to comply with all the directions passed by this court,” the ASG said.

To this, the bench said “at least the commissioner can bring it to our notice. You can’t expect persons affected by drought to come to us and tell that we have not been paid. Why can’t you yourself appoint observers who can inform you.”

The ASG said “if that process were to be followed then every statute will need a commissioner. My lords can issue a mandamus.”

An irked bench then shot back, “when we pass directions, you say we are encroaching. We say something, you have a problem. You are assuming that we are here to ensure every right given by the Constitution. Will you release MGNREGA funds if we ask you to do it tomorrow?”

The ASG told the court that the entire government was working on the issue and to say the Centre was not doing anything is not correct.

Seeking the appointment of court commissioner, advocate Prashant Bhushan appearing for petitioner NGO Swaraj Abhiyan said a large section of population is affected by drought and an independent commissioner should be appointed to look after the implementation of guidelines.The hearing remained inconclusive and would continue on April 19.

On the last date of hearing, the apex court had pulled up Gujarat and Haryana for their non-seriousness in dealing with the issue of drought.

On March 31, the apex court had asked the Centre to say how many states had drought management cells and why no district-level disaster management authorities were set up.

It had suggested that the Centre, with the help of satellite data, should analyse the expected rainfall in the monsoon season and take effective steps to tackle drought-like situations on time.

The bench is examining various aspects of relief given to drought-hit farmers during the hearing of a PIL filed by NGO Swaraj Abhiyan seeking urgent implementation of guidelines for areas hit by natural calamity.

Earlier, the court had expressed its concern over low compensation paid to calamity-hit farmers and observed that it was leading some of them to commit suicide.

The NGO, in its revised prayer, has sought a direction to Centre to abide by the provisions of MNREGA Act and use it for employment generation in drought-affected areas.

The PIL filed by the NGO has alleged that parts of 12 states of Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Haryana and Chattisgarh were hit by drought and the authorities were not providing adequate relief.

@ Agency report.

New Delhi:  Delhi government has offered a temporary Group C level job to Raja Vemula, the younger brother of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula, on “compassionate” ground, which has not yet been accepted by him.

Raja Vemula,25, who holds a Master’s degree in Applied Geology, “thanked” Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for the gesture but said he is yet to decide whether to accept the offer.
“We are thinking about it. My mother is also not keeping well. I am happy that Arvind Kejriwal sir has come forward. The state governments of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh should be ashamed for not taking a single step in this regard,” Mr Raja told Press Trust of India.

The communication of the Delhi government states that Mr Raja was being offered a temporary post of Grade IV as a special case under compassionate ground in the pay band-1 of Rs. 5,200-20,200 with grade pay of Rs. 1,900 plus allowances.

He has been asked to respond within two weeks.

“The candidate has been given relaxation from normal procedure of selection i.e coming through employment exchange and relaxation of skill test qualification,” it says. A government official said only Grade IV jobs can be offered on compassionate ground.

Asked whether he expected a better job offer, Mr Raja said he had no such expectations when he along with his mother approached Chief Minister Kejriwal in February this year. The AAP Cabinet had then cleared a proposal in this regard.

“We had no such demands so we are grateful. The political advisor to the Delhi Chief Minister rang me up regarding the offer and also two Delhi Ministers. Whereas here we are not even being allowed to enter the University of Hyderabad campus,” he said.

@ Agency report.

The United States Senate has unanimously adopted a resolution calling on the Maldives to rectify the “injustice” meted out to its former president Mohamed Nasheed and all other “political prisoners.”

The bipartisan resolution, adopted on Thursday, expressed “profound concern over the prosecution and conviction of former President Mohamed Nasheed without due process” and urged the government to “take all necessary steps” to “redress this injustice” and “to release all political prisoners.”

The resolution was introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy, who is Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programmes, and Senator John McCain, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Increasing civil rights resolution

In its resolution, the Senate noted that increasing civil rights violations in Maldives fuel instability and pose a threat to regional security. “President Abdulla Yameen of the Maldives has increasingly cracked down on dissent within his own party and the political opposition, presided over the erosion of judicial impartiality, and put increasing pressure on civil society,” it said.

Mr. Nasheed was allowed to travel to the United Kingdom for medical leave in January under intense international pressure.

“Leave extension, if he requests”

At the time, Minister for Legal Affairs Aishath Azima Shakoor told reporters that he would be able to stay abroad for necessary medical treatment and “[i]f he requests extension of medical leave, he will certainly get it.”

Yet on Thursday, the government of Maldives wrote to President Nasheed rejecting his request for an extension based on medical reports stating he required further treatment for his serious spinal cord issues, said a media release.

Get the message

“The government of Maldives should see this unanimous Senate resolution for what it is — a direct rebuke not only to their wrongful prosecution, conviction and sentencing of President Nasheed but also to their arbitrary request for him to return to the country against medical advice,” said Jared Genser, international counsel to Mr. Nasheed and founder of Freedom Now.

@ Agency report.

 

Kolkata, Apr 14 ,2016: The Election Commission today issued showcause notice to Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee for violating the model code of conduct, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi here said.

“The Commission has issued a showcause notice to her,” the CEC told at a press conference here.

“It was brought to our knowledge that she made the promise of creation of a new district of Asansol after which a detailed showcause notice was sent to her,” he said.

“She also made some other utterances which violated the model code of conduct,” he said.

“Upon receiving reply from Banerjee, the future course of action will be decided,” he said.

An unfazed Banerjee, however, dared the Commission and said, “Do whatever you like”.

@ Agency report.

Authorities imposed a curfew in Handwara and restrictions in parts of Srinagar after separatists called for a shutdown of Kashmir Valley on Wednesday to protest the army firing that killed three people.

Two youths were killed on Tuesday when the army opened fire in Handwara, about 85 kms from Srinagar, to disperse a stone-pelting mob protesting the alleged molestation of a girl by army personnel. A third person, a 50-year-old woman who was fatally injured in the incident, succumbed to injuries on Wednesday.

The killings triggered protests in Handwara town, Srinagar and Pulwama districts of Kashmir. Restrictions were imposed in six police station areas in the capital city of Srinagar on Wednesday.

The District Magistrate Srinagar, Farooq Ahmad Lone however said members of the Sikh community were free to move about these areas in view of the Sikh festival of Baisakhi.

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said she had spoken to the defence ministry regarding the matter, and announced a compensation for families of the deceased. “I was assured an inquiry will be conducted… I was also assured that those responsible will be punished,” she said.

@ Agency report.

New Delhi, Apr 12, 2016 : Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who is here on her maiden visit after taking over the reins of the state, today dismissed the possibility of shifting National Institute of Technology (NIT) out of the Valley.

The 56-year-old Mehbooba, who assumed charge of the PDP-BJP government on April 4, called on Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh here, a meeting she described as a “courtesy call”.

Emerging from the 45-minute meeting with Singh, Mehbooba said, “It is a courtesy call on the Home Minister after I took over as the Chief Minister”.

During the meeting, the two sides are believed to have discussed the present turmoil in the state due to clashes between outstation students and police besides law and order situation arising out of militancy.

Sources in the ministry said the Home Minister told Mehbooba that normalcy should be restored at the earliest.

As she was leaving the North Block, journalists asked her questions about the unrest at the NIT and the demand by outstation students to shift the campus to Jammu.

“Let me make it clear that it is an issue within the institute and please do not give it a colour of local versus outsiders. The Human Resources Development Ministry is looking into the grievances of the outstation students and I am hopeful that it will be resolved soon.

“As far as demands of some students to shift the NIT campus out of Srinagar is considered, let me make it clear that it won’t be possible,” she said.

To a question that many outstation students had not appeared in the examination that began yesterday, she said “Some students were not prepared for exams. Their exams would be conducted later.

“Some students have gone back to their homes because of the environment,” Mehbooba, the first woman Chief Minister of the state, said.

She later met Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and is believed to have discussed the issue of widening of state’s national highways which has been pending with his ministry for a long time.

She is also believed to have taken up the issue of bad road connectivity within the state.

@ Agency report.

Chandigarh, Apr 12 ,2016 : Gurgaon, the corporate hub of Haryana on the outskirts of Delhi, will now be known as ‘Gurugram’.

The decision was taken by the BJP government claiming that people of the area have been making a demand in this regard.

An official spokesman said the decision to change the name was taken on the basis of the representations received in several fora that it would be appropriate to rename Gurgaon as ‘Gurugram’, an official spokesman said.

Legend has it that Gurgaon derived its name from the name of Guru Dronacharya, the master of archery in Mahabharata who tutored the Pandavas.

The village was given as gurudakshina to him by his students — the Pandavas — and hence it came to be known as Guru-gram, which in course of time is said to have got distorted to Gurgaon.

“Haryana is a historic land of the Bhagwat Gita and Gurgaon had been a centre of learning,” the spokesman said.

“It had been known as Gurgaon since the times of Guru Dronacharya. Gurgaon was a great center of education where the princes used to be provided education. Therefore, since long the people of the area had been demanding that Gurgaon be renamed as Gurugram,” he reasoned.

Congress reaction to the decision was mixed.

While former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda welcomed it, his party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala, who also hails from Haryana, criticised the decision.

Hooda said the change of name is appropriate and the proposal had come during his time also.

Surjewala said Gurgaon has an international branding and this is an exercise in pure superficiality.

@ Agency report.

North Korea said Saturday it has successfully tested a new intercontinental ballistic rocket engine that will give it the ability to stage nuclear strikes on the United States.

The engine’s ground test, if true, would be a big step forward for the North’s nuclear weapons program, which saw its fourth atomic test earlier this year. But the North may still need a good deal of work before it can hit the U.S. mainland with nuclear missiles. South Korean officials say North Korea doesn’t yet have a reliable intercontinental ballistic missile, let alone the ability to arm it with a nuclear warhead.

The test, announced by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency, is only the latest in a string of what Washington and its allies consider North Korean provocations, including last month’s launch of a medium-range ballistic missile that violated UN Security Council resolutions that prohibit any ballistic activities by North Korea. It was the North’s first medium-range missile launch since early 2014.

@ Agency report.

Hiroshima (Japan), Apr 11 ,2016 : US Secretary of State John Kerry visited the revered memorial to Hiroshima’s atomic bombing today, delivering a message of peace and hope for a nuclear-free world seven decades after the US used the weapon for the first time in history and killed 140,000 Japanese.

Kerry became the most senior American official to travel to city, touring its peace museum with other foreign ministers of the Group of Seven industrialised nations and laying a wreath at the adjoining park’s stone-arched monument, the exposed steel beams of Hiroshima’s iconic A-Bomb Dome in the distance.

The otherwise somber occasion was lifted by the presence of about 800 Japanese waving flags of the G7 nations, including that of the US.

Kerry didn’t speak publicly at the ceremony, though could be seen with his arm around Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, a Hiroshima native, and whispering in his ear. The ministers departed with origami cranes in their respective national colours around their neck, Kerry draped in red, white and blue.

“Everyone in the world should see and feel the power of this memorial,” Kerry wrote in the museum’s guest book. “It is a stark, harsh, compelling reminder not only of our obligation to end the threat of nuclear weapons, but to rededicate all our effort to avoid war itself.”

“War must be the last resort never the first choice,” he added. “This memorial compels us all to redouble our efforts to change the world, to find peace and build the future so yearned for by citizens everywhere.”

Kerry’s appearance, just footsteps away from Ground Zero, completed an evolution for the United States, whose leaders avoided the city for many years because of political sensitivities.

No serving US president has visited the site, and it took 65 years for a US ambassador to attend Hiroshima’s annual memorial service.

Many Americans believe the dropping of atomic bombs here on August 6, 1945, and on the Japanese city of Nagasaki three days later were justified and hastened the end of the war.

Nevertheless, Japanese survivors’ groups have campaigned for decades to bring leaders from the US and other nuclear powers to see Hiroshima’s scars as part of a grassroots movement to abolish nuclear weapons.

As Kerry expressed interest, neither Japanese government officials nor survivor groups pressed for the US to say sorry.

And a senior American official travelling with Kerry said no apology would occur.

Shortly before the ceremony, Kerry called it “a moment that I hope will underscore to the world the importance of peace and the importance of strong allies working together to make the world safer and, ultimately, we hope to be able to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction.

@ Agency report.