by rakesh | Dec 19, 2006 | India News
The Minister of Tourism and Culture Smt. Ambika Soni informed the Rajya Sabha today that no proposal has been drawn up to set up Special Tourism Zones (STZs), on the lines of Special Economic Zones (SEZs). In a written reply she said, Ministry of Tourism has formulated a scheme of Assistance for Large Revenue Generating projects for development of tourism infrastructure in public private partnerships and in partnerships with other Government /Semi-Government agencies.
by rakesh | Dec 8, 2006 | India News
The Railways propose to introduce a better designed and passenger friendly AC 3-tier coaches with increased capacity of passengers. Indian Railways have always endeavored to improve upon the passenger coaches to make them as passenger friendly as possible. Design changes towards this objective is a continuous process.
Arising out of a transfer of technology from M/s. ALSTOM, Indian Railways have started manufacturing state of the art Air Conditioned coaches including Air Conditioned 3 Tier sleeper coaches to Linke Hoffman Busch (LHB) design.
These are presently running in a number of Shatabdi and Rajdhani Express services. These coaches have aesthetically pleasing interiors, and higher passenger carrying capacity. Newly introduced Air Conditioned 3 Tier coaches for “Garib Rath” Express Trains have also been designed with a higher passenger carrying capacity of 75 persons as against 64 berths in the conventional Air Conditioned 3 tier coaches being run on Railways until now. Two rakes of such coaches have already been manufactured at Rail Coach Factory (RCF), Kapurthala / Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai. All passenger amenity items viz., Snack Tables, Bottle holders, Mirrors, Magazine holders, improved illumination using Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL), mobile charging sockets etc. have been provided and comfort of passengers taken due care of these coaches.
Furthermore, by increasing the overall height of the coach shell, a new Air Conditioned 3 Tier coach design and layout is presently under consideration of the Ministry of Railways wherein the passenger carrying capacity is expected to be further enhanced to 81 passengers per coach. This information was given by Shri R.Velu, Minister of State for Railways in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.
by rakesh | Dec 1, 2006 | India News
Three rounds of talks with People’s Consultative Group (PCG) set up by the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) have been held. The Government had agreed favourably to consider the request of ULFA for release of five ULFA detenues in consultation with the Government of Assam provided ULFA made a formal approach to Government of India / Government of Assam for holding direct talks, nominated the delegation for these talks, indicated the time frame and abjured violence in all forms including extortions, notices, etc. Efforts with People’s Consultative Group representatives for holding these talks were continued even after three rounds through mutual initiatives. Government had also declared unilateral suspension of operations by Army against ULFA from 13 Aug 2006 to 20 Sep 2006 with a view to create a conducive atmosphere for holding peace talks. Since there was no direct response from ULFA and reports were received of regrouping, new raisings, violence and extortion by ULFA cadres, operations against ULFA have been resumed.
The Government is open to talks with any militant group provided they shun violence. However, Government is duty bound to protect the lives and property of its citizens.
This information was given by the Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in a written reply to Shri Girdhari Lal Bhargava and others in Lok Sabha today
by rakesh | Nov 30, 2006 | India News
With an objective to promote India as a favourite tourist destination, the Government has introduced a long term tourist visa with multi entry facility for the nationals of 18 countries. They are France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Spain, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Vietnam.
The visa will have five-year validity with the stipulation that continuous stay in India on each visit shall not exceed 90 days. The long term visa would facilitate repeat visits by the nationals of these countries for tourism purposes.
by rakesh | Nov 28, 2006 | India News
At 1100 hrs on 25 Nov 2006 HQ Eastern Air Command received an SOS (Save Our Souls – emergency message) from Army to locate and evacuate a team of stranded mountaineering expedition members from Yongyap La area on the Chinese border in Dibang Valley. The mountaineering team had encountered severe bad weather for five days and was stranded in a narrow valley with four to five feet of snow at approximately 14,000 feet altitude. Indian Air Force took the gauntlet immediately, by positioning 2 Cheetahs and one Mi-17 helicopter at Mohanbari for launch by afternoon of 25 Nov 2006. Even after repeated attempts, inclement weather prevented launch of rescue operations till 26 Nov 2006. The helicopters were laden with emergency food, clothing, fuel and communication sets.
On 27 Nov 2006, as soon as the weather showed improvement, the valiant helicopter pilots in their flying machines got airborne. Braving low clouds and poor visibility in the narrow, treacherous valley, the pilots located the stranded mountaineers in a small clearing surrounded by tall trees and thick snow. From low hover, the helicopters pulled in the casualties into the helicopter. Faced with the chances of weather clamping down soon and the emergent requirement to evacuate the sick, the Cheetah helicopters were flown in once again ignoring subzero wind blasts, the Indian Air Force pilots once again reached the spot as Angles of Mercy. Maximizing the capability of the tiny helicopter, which normally carries only three passengers, four casualties were brought in By evacuating a total of nine casualties who were in dire straits, the helicopters facilitated the move of the rest of trekking team down the valley, equipped with the relief material dropped by the helicopters.
by rakesh | Nov 28, 2006 | India News
(i) Abolition of homework for the children of Classes 1 to II.
(ii) Interesting and meaningful alternative activities to replace the dull and mechanical homework from classes II to V
(iii) Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation from class I to V with no pass/fail criterion.
(iv) Gradual implementation of grading system for the assessment of students.
(v) Comprehensive School Health Programme and establishment of Health Clubs in the schools.
(vi) Education in life skills for the students of class VI to VIII with focus on developing self-awareness, interpersonal relationship, equanimity and strength of character.
(vii) Adolescence Education programme for students of classes VI to XII to cater to the special needs of the adolescent in physical, emotional, mental and social development.
(viii) Providing counseling services to children before and during examination and after the announcement of results using multimedia, newspapers and television.
(ix) Providing guidelines to teachers for diagnostic techniques of teaching children with learning difficulties.
(x) Greater emphasis on soft subjects like dance, art, music, craft etc. in order to foster creativity and harmonious development of the total personality of children.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Smt. D. Purandeswari in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
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