Last year, National Highway Projects Crawled The Slowest Ever

The country's biggest infrastructure upgrade under the National Highways Development Programme (NHDP) has recorded the lowest-ever progress rate under this government in 2007-08.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has posted a56 per cent project completion rate across all phases of the NHDP in 2007-08 in terms of completion of projects the lowest since the UPA came to power and Union Minister TR Baalu came to head the Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways.

The NHDP exercise is on along 33,000 km of national highways across NHDP I, II, III and V.

It has only been a slide down in the NHDP progress rate since 2004 and that was evident earlier this week when Baalu held a review with NHAI.

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Secular Republic of Nepal is born

Half an hour before the stroke of midnight today, Nepal became a Republic. The transition to "a secular, federal, democratic, republic nation" was formalised with a resolution moved by Home Minister K P Sitaula and right away passed by 560 votes against four by the newly-sworn in Constituent Assembly.

Minutes later, the Royal Standard flying atop the Narayanhiti palace - home to five kings so far - was brought down by palace officials.

The transition to a democracy means abolition of the monarchy and dethronement of King Gyanendra, with all the privileges of the royal family taken away with immediate effect. He will have no rights in social, political, cultural or religious fields more than what any Nepali citizen is entitied to.

However, constitutional experts raised some concern about the speed with which the resolution was passed, without members being allowed to record their objections. "It is unheard of, unacceptable and unconstitutional that such an important resolution was passed in such a shabby manner," constitutional lawyer Bipin Adhikari told The lndian Express.

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Gurjjar quota hot potato is passed on to Law Ministry

With the Vasundhara Raje govemment passing the buck to the Centre on the Guijjar demand for ST status, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today called Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Law Minister HR Bhardwaj to discuss the matter.

Following Raje's latest letter to the PM,wherein she reiterated her earlier stance of seeking a separate category for Gujars, over and above the existing quotas, and giving them 4 to 6 per cent reservation, the Prime Minister's Office decided to refer the matter to the Law Ministry to examine such a possibility.

Today's meeting also saw a general appreciation of the fact that politics aside, the trouble in Rajasthan may not remain confined there and may spread to other states, including those ruled by the Congress, if not handled properly.

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Patil reminds Omar of a bad film: Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot

The of a smiling President Pratibha Patil with an AK-47 during her visit to forward posts in north Kashmir has become more than a photo-op here. So much so that National Conference president and MP Omar Abdullah took aim at it in his blog on the party's official website.

"Yesterday my newspaper had a photograph prominent on the first page of this country's First Citizen the President. The photograph was of President Patil brand ishingan AK-47 and smiling. Somehow the two things didn't seem to go together," the blog says. "I know she's the Commander in-Chief of the Armed Forces but the photograph reminded me of a rather forgettable Sylvester Stallone movie Stop! Or My Mom Wil Shoot".

The media had not been invited to cover Patil's visit to the forward posts and this picture was taken by a photographer in the President's encourage who then distributed it to the media.

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Gurjjar impasse continues as Bainsla sends Raje back empty-handed

With the toll in the Gujjar violence up to 38 dead and 80 injured, the Rajasthan government was today no closer to a break through. Gurjjar leader Col Kirori Singh Bainsla refused to travel to Jaipur for talks, and showed no signs of bending down as Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje flew down to Bayana, where the protestors continue to hold their stir.

Raje stayed for about 40 minutes and sent a message to Bainsla, who was at Kherawadi, about 15 km from Bayana. However, addressing a late-evening media conference, Bainsla ruled out talks unless the state government came out with a letter to the Centre recommending ST status for Gurjjars.

He also claimed that the Chief Minister had not come to Bayana - near the Dumria Railway Station, on the Delhi Mumbai rail route - for talks with him, but to survey the situation in the wake of the Gujjar agitation.

After that, Raje went back and called a meeting of her Cabinet, which was going on till late in the night.

Before leaving for Bayana, the Chief Minister had held a press conference at her residence in the state capital, waming that there was a limit to everything and that she would not allow the Gugjars to hold the state to ransom.

She also repeated that while her government was open for talks to resolve the issue peacefully, Bainsla had been rejecting her appeals. Bainsla and his supporters insist that any dialogue should take place on the railway tracks, in front of protestors.

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Bollywood actress, Aussie troops: Afghan 'sex scandal' under probe

A small time Bollywood import from Australia has landed in the middle of a raging controversy back home with the Australian government saying it is investigating claims that she had sex with Australian soldiers while touring a military base in Afghanistan last month.

Tania Zaetta, whose most famous role to date has perhaps been playing actor Arshad Warsi's Australian wife in the 2005 hit Salaam Namaste, has denied the allegations and the Australian Defence Department has since issued an unreserved apology for her name getting leaked to the media from a draft briefing note.

Although the final note prepared to brief the Australian Defence Minister does not include names, the investigation into what has been termed "inappropriate behaviour" will continue, the department said.

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Vijayakanth knocks on Karat door, Left eyes star in south

They have the name, the fame and the money. So when superstars from South India look to politics, guess what's on their mind? Communists.

After Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi and Malayalam actor Mammootty, Tamil matinee idol-cum-politician Vijayakanth is knocking on Left doors. Recently, he met CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat at the party headquarters in Delhi and the two had a closed-door meeting lasting more than 30 minutes.

Vijayakanth claims to be the true heir to MGR's legacy and is called 'Black MGR' by his supporters. He made his political ambitions amply clear when he launched the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) in 2005.

Not only did the DMDK bag around 8 per cent of the total vote in the last Assembly elections, it also upset the chances of many candidates of all the major parties.

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A Bihar village plays incubator for a prized Virginia idea

A good news story from a Bihar village is now being celebr ated in a US university.

Mangi Sinha and Charles 'Chip' Ransler, students at University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, along with partner Gyanesh Pandey, started a project that provides low-cost electricity to two villages in Bettiah by burning the rice husk.

Last week, Sinha and Ransler received $50,000 and a big vote of confidence in their business plan when they won the Social Innovation Competition at the University of Texas. The University of Texas' RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service awarded the prize to their business, Husk Power Systems (huskpowersystems.com), which uses a proprietary technology to bum rice husk and generates electricity and waste ash that can be sold as an ingredient for cement, and ensures a reduction in carbon emissions.

So far, two rice husk generators are providing power to two villages but the business plan calls for a rapid expansion that will put the miniature power plants in hundreds o f villages within a few years, says Sinha, who along with his partners are scouting for investment to expand their project.

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In 50 years, India has not seen another playwright like him

BY the time I got to know Vijay Tendulkar through friends Satyadev Dubey and Govind Nihalani in the early '70s, I was already acquainted with the great playwright's works. I had seen Dubey's theatre production of Sakharam Binder in which AmrishPuri played the central character, as well as his big screen version of Shan tata! Court ChaluAahe (both are landmark plays by Tendulkar).

My association with him strengthened when he wrote the screenplay of Nishant while Dubey took care of the dialogue. And you can see what great work he has done in this film about the power of the rural elite and the sexual exploitation of women. The 1975-film received National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi, and was invited to the Cannes film festival.

In the past five decades, India has not seen another playwright with such a fine sense of drama. His uncanny ability to create dramatic situations drew me to work with him. After Nishant,we worked together again for Manthan, which was written by him. It brought Tendulkar the National Film Award for Best Screenplay. He was also involved in giving shape to the story of Bhumika. He was more of a 'script doctor' than a writer for the film.

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It was like living in hell... I had left it to destiny

Two families are celebrating Eid today in India, it's festive time," said a jubilant Munir Ahmed Nasib at his Mumbai residence as news came of the release of his son-in-law Naeem Sarang Mohammed after 28 days in the custody of kidnappers in Afghanistan.

Naeem, an officer with HEB International logistics contracted to supply logistics to Afghan police training camps, and 55-year-old Gurong Karna Bahadur were kidnapped by unknown militants while they were travelling in western Adraskan district bordering Iran on April 21. Their Afghan driver was later let off by the abductors.

Naeem is among the 30 Indian employees in the firm, all holding top managerial positions. Bahadur worked in the catering department.

Describing his ordeal while speaking to The Indian Express over phone, Naeem said: "It was like living in hell...


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In first for Valley, Jammu and Kashmir school girls set the football rolling

It's not a sight that has been seen in Srinagar before a group of 45 schoolgirls, some even attired in hijabs, sweating it out on a football field, dribbling and jostling past each other to safely net the ball into the goal-post.

Their dream: to represent the state in the Under-19 category football tournament at the national level.

The competition is already intense. Of the 45 girls, who represent different schools, only 18 players will be picked to participate in the inter-district tournament to be held at Kargil in June. The state team will then be selected, and the next step will be the national level Under-19 championships scheduled later in the year.

For the time being, however, the girls are enjoying their time under the hot May sun at the coaching camp organised by the Department of Youth Services and Sports.

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Joining the dots: Sketch, Avon bike, underwear in bomb wrap

As investigators grope in the dark after yesterday's eight blasts in Jaipur that have now killed 63 and injured 118, the one ray of light is the striking similarity they have found between the explosives used in Jaipur and the one used in the twin explosions in Hyderabad last August. A team from Andhra Pradesh Police is set to arrive in Jaipur to help in the probe.

Contrary to claims by the local police, agencies here maintain that use of RDX is still not confirmed. It's learnt that ammonium nitrate was the principal explosive in Jaipur with an ammonium-based gel, possibly Neogel 90, that was also used in the twin explosions at Gokul Chaat Bhandar and Lumbini Park, Hyderabad. Sources said no RDX was found in the unexploded device that was defused just in time by the local bomb squad.

The Indian Express spoke to several investigators in Jaipur and New Delhi and police officials and the following have emerged as key leads in the case:

• Each bomb had an average of 7.5 kg of explosives and shrapnel packed into it. The bombs proved more lethal as they were "directional chargers," meaning on explosion the impact was focused in a particular direction to inflict maximum damage - similar bombs were used in last year's Hyderabad blast at the Gokul Chaat Bhandar.

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Strikes fit terror pattern: Mandir on Tuesday, Masjid on Friday 1

Be it the attack in New Delhi that came before Id-Diwali, the Sankat Mochan temple in Varanasi or the blasts at the Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad or the explosion today at the Hanuman Mandir in Jaipur, there's a chilling pattem to these acts of terror: target places of worship or "religious" occasions that draw the maximum people.

The intention is not only to cause maximum loss of human lives but also to inflame communal passions and hope it escalates to a bloody show down between communities.

Targets and dates have been carefully chosen. A close look at recent attacks reveals the sinister design: Hindu temples have been targeted on Tuesdays, an auspicious day for the devotees of Hanuman, while Muslims and their mosques have been attacked on Fridays.

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In a hut, a former Chief Minister's son fasts to chart Independent course

He may not get the votes, but Independent candidate and former Karnataka chief minister JH Patel's son Mahima has certainly managed the attention.

A two hour potholed drive from Davangere, next to a scenic lake in Channagiri, Patel has set up "headquarters" in a ramshackle, hand built thatched hut. And he hasn't ventured out to a single village or to address a single rally. Instead, Patel is on a fast, which will last till the results of the Kamataka Assembly elections are announced.

Though baffling, the engineering graduate's campaign against "buying of votes" has voters and even his opponents' supporters streaming in from villages around to meet the "enlightened" politician.

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60 years after it shut, money is raining on Kolkata Old Mint

If old is gold, the govemment is putting its money on the 180-year-old "silver mint". Sixty years after it shut operations and was reduced to a storehouse, the famous Old Mint Complex on Strand Road, Kolkata, is set for a Rs 148-crore makeover.

The Finance Ministry has decided to convert one of the country's oldest mints, spread over 12.1 acres in a prime Kolkata locality, into a museum-cum-convention and hotel centre.

Built in 1824 by the British, the mint complex, which resembles the Temple of Minerva in Athens, was closed down in 1947-48 and has since mostly been used to store old machinery as well as served as quarters for the CRPE.

Under the public-private partnership model approved for facelift of this "prime heritage structure", the Centre will give a grant or viability gap funding amounting to 26 per cent of the project cost. In other words, the Union Finance Ministry will provide up to Rs 28 crore to make the package attractive for developers.

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In new NCERT syllabus, art gets mainstream

The Government Boys Senior Secondary School in Trilokpuri has neither running water nor classroom fans-music and drama classes are far down the line. While the picture of arts education is brighter at resource-rich private schools, even here the time and space afforded to arts is a pale glimmer of that marked for mainstream subjects. That is set to change.

The new syllabi from the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), for Classes1-10,which will be circulated later this year, will upgrade arts education-theatre, music, dance and the visual arts from extra-curricular pastimes to subjects squarely positioned in the school curriculum.

"Students aren't given a chance to explore creativity in our education system," says classical singer Shubha Mudgal, who chaired the focus groups for art education while developing the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005. "And when they are, it's in limited bursts for annual days or the celebration of Independence." Chand Singh Bijiyan, principal of Government Boys Senior Secondary School in East of Kailash, puts this down to disinterest: "Government school students usually wish to take up science, or commerce streams, to find jobs.

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Post-Fidel Cuba sending biggest team with a shopping list

As President Raul Castro's Cuba allows computers and cellphones as it steps towards economic reforms, the biggest-ever Cuban trade delegation will be landing in India next week to talk business and strike deals to buy computers, television sets, refrigerators, medicines and food.

The delegation is likely to meet Commerce minister Kamal Nath, Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and Minister of State (ExternalAffairs) Anand Sharma in the government and representatives of the Tata group, Exim Bank, CII, ITPO, State Trading Corporation and members of trade organisations during its 10-day visit.

Led by Cuba's Deputy Foreign Trade Minister Eduardo Antonio Escandell Amador, the 26-member delegation will comprise officials and business leaders from Cuba. Cuba's ambassador to India, Miguel Angel Ramirez Ramos, told The Indian Express, "This is the largest business delegation from Cuba in the history of India- Cuba relations, coming from both government and private sectors, which is coming here to look for business partners and suppliers of a whole range of products. Time is ripe for bilateral ties and trade to take a leap."

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Delhi High Court thinks thin isn't in, says Size Zero has not much appeal

Bollywood be bowled over by Size Zero. But the Delhi High Court hardly agrees with the trend.

The court's take on how fat is fashionably fat came out in the open during a discussion between one of the country's top government advocates, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Gopal Subramanium, and a Division Bench of Justices A K Sikri and J R Midha on what would be the "optimum fitness" for an Indian Airlines air-hostess.

"We do not want air-hostesses to be Size Zero.Even models now do not want to be Size Zero," Justice Sikri lightly put the rather "weighty" appeal of an Indian Airlines stewardess grounded for tipping the weight scale.

The "overweight" air-hostesses were in June 2007 left with the thin choice of "either battle the bulge or face the axe"by a Single Bench of Justice Rekha Sharma.

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Egg on both UPA and Left faces as NAM and Iran slam nuclear deal

In a severe embarrassment, ironically for both the UPA government and its Left allies although for quite the opposite reasons - the Non-Aligned Movement countries which are signatories to the Non-Proliferation Treaty have called for "complete prohibition" of any kind of nuclear cooperation with countries that have not acceded to the NPT Iran, too, has jumped in, making this part of a formal proposal and calling all NPT members for an endorsement.

At the ongoing meeting of the preparatory committee for the 2010 NPT Review Conference in Geneva, Indonesia, making a statement last week on behalf of NAM countries that have signed the NPT stated: "Without exception, there should also be a complete prohibition of the transfer of all nuclear-related equipment, information, material and facilities, resources or devices and the extension of assistance in the nuclear, scientific and technological fields to states, which are not parties to the NPT."

Going beyond this, the statement reads: "The recent developments, in particular the nuclear cooperation agreement signed by a NWS (Nuclear Weapon State) with a non-party to the NPT is a matter of great concern."

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Tobacco warnings get 'milder': scorpion, lungs

Having struggled for over a year to introduce gory pictorial warnings on tobacco products, the Union Health Ministry has finally zeroed-in on "mild pictures" of "TB-affected lungs" and a "scorpion" to discourage smoking and tobacco use.

The Ministry had earlier shortlisted photographs of cancerous tumours, sick babies, rotting teeth and diseased throats for use on tobacco products. But the Group of Ministers (GoM) looking into the proposal to print pictorial warnings on tobacco products decided recently to adopt "softer visuals" to make them "more acceptable" to the public.

"The GoM decided to use refined pictures which would be more appropriate. Like scorpion depicts death but is definitely a soft picture and will be accepted without problems," said a senior Ministry official.

"The pictures shortlisted earlier may gradually be used since we plan to change the pictorial war every year,"the oflicial said.

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China's new nuclear submarine base sets off alarm beIIs

China has deployed its latest Jin class nuclear submarine at a massive new military facility at Sanya on the Hainan Island in South China Sea - its newest and nearest naval base to India.

While the Indian Navy had been aware about the upcoming military facility for some time, satellite images for the first time show the extent of the base and the fact that the Jin Class submarine, which carries 12 nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles, has been deployed at Hainan.

This has raised concern as the Chinese naval base, complete with an underground facility that can hide the movement of submarines from spy satellites, is barely 1,200 nautical miles from the strategic Malacca Strait and an access route to the Indian Ocean a region that New Delhi considers its personal security responsibility.

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IPL windfall? Taxman knocks cricket board's door for service tax

To examine service tax liability, the Central Board of Excise and Customs has asked its regional commissioners to examine all contracts the BCCI has entered on or behalf of the Indian Premier League with all corporate bodies who have either bid for teams or are providing services from entertainment to broadcasting to advertising.

A fortnight ago, Director General of Service Tax (DGST) told field functionaries to collate findings on "relevant facts, the views regarding taxability of such activities, the amount of service tax involved, the amount of tax dues collected, if any" to be reported to him.

Under the franchise model, a sponsor owmng a team pays a stipulated fee to the BCCI to get ownership. The franchisees have to pay 10 percent of the bid amount every year to BCCI, as a franchisee fee.

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