by rakesh | Jan 5, 2010 | India News
“I welcome you to this consultation on the issues arising out of the recent agitations in Andhra Pradesh in favour of and against a separate State of Telangana.
We have invited the eight recognised political parties in Andhra Pradesh to this consultation. The founding fathers believed – and we believe – that parliamentary democracy is the best form of representative government and has the capacity to find solutions to all issues and problems. Debate, discussion and consultation are the best means to resolve differences and find answers. Political parties are integral to a parliamentary form of democracy. The wishes and aspirations of the people are reflected by the political parties. The argument that parliamentary democracy can be sustained without political parties is an argument that has to be stated to be rejected. Each one of you represents a recognised political party and, therefore, I would respectfully submit that each one of you bears a responsibility to help in resolving the differences and finding appropriate answers.
There are a number of misconceptions surrounding the issues that have brought us here today. There is a misconception that the Central Government acted in haste; that the political parties were not consulted; and that I, as Home Minister, acted as an individual. As you are well aware, none of these misconceptions is supported by facts, but I shall not waste your time refuting these misconceptions.
You are all aware of the long history behind the demand for a separate State of Telangana. It is sufficient to refer to the report of the States Reorganisation Commission; the Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1956 and the amendment of Article 371(1) of the Constitution; the Six Point Formula of 1973; and the introduction of Article 371D in the Constitution. More recently, in the elections to the State Assembly of Andhra Pradesh held in May, 2009, the political parties outlined their positions in their respective election manifestos. All this is in the public domain.
The Central Government was concerned when an agitation was started in November, 2009 demanding a separate State of Telangana. Quite rightly, the political parties in Andhra Pradesh were the first responders to the agitation. You are aware of the proceedings of the Business Advisory Committee of the Andhra Pradesh State Assembly on December 7, 2009 followed by the proceedings of the all party meeting convened by the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh later in the evening of the same day.
I wish to reiterate that the first statement on behalf of the Central Government was made on the basis of the minutes of the all party meeting held on December 7, 2009.
It is true that the situation on the ground has altered significantly since the all party meeting of December 7, 2009 and the first statement on behalf of the Central Government on December 9, 2009. Taking note of the altered situation, on December 23, 2009, the Central Government promised to hold wide ranging consultations with all political parties and groups in Andhra Pradesh. It is therefore that we have convened this meeting of the recognised political parties. As stated in my letter to you, the agenda is to “deliberate on the mechanism and lay down a road map for the consultations.”
I urge each of the political parties represented here to show accommodation and goodwill. Ultimately, you must find the answers and you must help the Central Government find a solution. The agenda for this meeting may appear limited, but I am confident that if we take one step at a time we will, eventually, find a solution. I request you, therefore, to give your views on the agenda. What is the mechanism that you visualise for the consultations with all political parties and groups in Andhra Pradesh? What is the road map for such consultations?
While we deliberate on these issues and take forward the process of consultations, we must recognise the fundamental importance of restoring normalcy in Andhra Pradesh. There must be a halt to agitations and bandhs. Law and order must be maintained. Children must go to schools and colleges. People must be allowed to carry on their normal day-to-day activities. Government must be able to focus on development and the welfare of the people. It is in the interest of all sections of the people of Andhra Pradesh that peace and harmony prevail while the consultations take place. I wish to caution all political parties that there are forces waiting on the wings who ridicule the parliamentary form of democracy and who would be happy if we collectively fail to find answers to the issues that concern us, and we should not give any room for these forces to gain strength or credence.
Let me conclude by saying that let us demonstrate the strength of our democracy and the capacity of our political parties to resolve differences and find solutions. I shall now ask each of the political parties to place their views on the agenda before us.”
[size=xx-small][Source: PIB][/size]
by rakesh | Jan 2, 2010 | Travellers look
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Pick your favourite combination of Taj or &Beyond lodges on the tiger circuit and discover the secrets of the jungle on twice-daily game drives led by expert &Beyond trained naturalists.
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by rakesh | Jan 2, 2010 | Business
BROCTON, N.Y., Jan. 1 /PRNewswire/ — Today Criminal Record has announced the deployment of powerful new programming, databases and hardware that make conducting a criminal records search anywhere in the United States a much more accurate and painless process.
For years conducting background checks has been problematic in the sense that not every record was covered and quality of data varied greatly in quality plus scope from company to company.
The new system announced by Criminal Record today (code named Raptor) is using a new type of artificial intelligence to collect and parse information from over 3000 U.S. counties and 98 Federal Districts. The new system is then taking that information and attaching it to Social Security Numbers, Dates of Birth, Relatives, Address Histories, Previous Jobs and public records to provider individuals with a much more complete overview.
This application has been in beta for the last 5 months and has preformed beautifully. It is now being released to the general public, private corporations and Government Agencies.
Because this application is web based and can be located at http://www.criminalrecord.net/ there is no need for a user to download and install software. This solves speed problems along with allowing users to conduct preliminary searches on other individuals in a purely private manner.
To find out more about how CountyCriminal.com can be of use to you or to peruse their powerful new feature, visit them online at http://www.criminalrecord.net/.
by rakesh | Jan 2, 2010 | Business
NEW YORK, Dec. 31 /PRNewswire/ — The media’s coverage of mixed economic news led to a marginal rise in the Dow Jones Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) in December. The ESI rose to 38.7, up only minimally from 38.3 in November. This slight rise is the ESI’s third weakest performance in a year and much less convincing than increases in October and November.
While the ESI ends the year significantly higher than the 22.4 level it registered in January at the start of the year, December’s weaker performance means the indicator failed to break back above the level it held before the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008.
The Dow Jones Economic Sentiment Indicator aims to predict the health of the U.S. economy by analyzing the broad coverage of 15 major daily newspapers in the U.S. During December, media coverage that included references to better-than-feared holiday retail sales was outweighed by articles referencing mixed or negative economic news including continuing double-digit unemployment and slower economic growth.
“The ESI’s significantly slower rate of improvement in December suggests the U.S.’s economic rebound could be starting to level off and that non-farm payrolls neither advanced nor declined by much during the month,” Dow Jones Newswires ‘Money Talks’ columnist Alen Mattich said.
The ESI represents one of the most comprehensive and far-reaching examinations of media coverage as an economic indicator. The ESI’s back-testing to 1990 shows that the ESI clearly highlighted the risk that the U.S. economy was sliding into recession in 2001 and 2008 and suggests the indicator can help predict economic turning points as much as seven months in advance of other indicators.
Unlike some other indicators where 50 is a clear break-point between recession and recovery, the ESI needs to be read with reference to longer trends. Based on the ESI’s performance since 1990, previous recoveries have been marked by substantial month-to-month gains, with a jump of three points seeming to be a sign of significant improvement. A drop below 50 marks the point at which there is a clear risk of a slowdown.
The Dow Jones Economic Sentiment Indicator is calculated using a proprietary algorithm through Dow Jones Insight, a media tracking and analysis tool. More information about the Economic Sentiment Indicator and its development is available at http://dowjones.com/esi .
Dow Jones Insight uses innovative text mining and analytic technologies to help organizations keep informed about relevant issues, news, conversations and trends emerging in mainstream, Web and social media. Dow Jones Insight’s global content collection includes more than 25,000 news and information sources as well as blogs, message boards, and posts from YouTube and Twitter.
[size=xx-small]Source: Dow Jones via prnewswire[/size]
by rakesh | Jan 1, 2010 | India News
The drought manual is expected to prove an effective practical guideline for administrators, experts and civil society in implementing drought mitigation and relief measures and for alleviating distress of the drought affected people.
The Department of Agriculture and Cooperation had requested the National Institute of Disaster Management to prepare a manual reflecting a comprehensive and coordinated approach to management of drought recommending measures, which need to be implemented for effective drought relief and mitigation. The manual is to draw upon the rich and diverse past experience of drought management and suggest an extensive list of procedures and measures required to be taken for alleviating the impact of drought.
India has witnessed 22 major droughts in the past 120 years and 7 droughts during the last three decades alone. Increased climate variability coupled with global warming has made rainfall pattern more inconsistent and unpredictable leading to increase in the recurrence of droughts and drought like situations. Apart from resultant fall in agricultural production , droughts have other multifarious long drawn impacts , such as shortage of drinking water, fodder, deficiency of water in dams/reservoirs for power generation severely affecting overall growth of the economy.
MP:SB:CP: drought manual (01.01.2010)[size=xx-small]Source:[PIB][/size]
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