Members of Parliament cutting across party lines had spoken in one voice on tackling terror calling it a war on India during the debate on Mumbai attack on Thursday in the House.

But just three days after showing a rare unity on the Mumbai terror attack and just two weeks after the Mumbai siege got over, only 10 MPs turned up in to pay homage to the martyrs of the December 13 Parliament attack of 2001.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Leader of Opposition and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader LK Advani, Chairperson of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and Congress President Sonia Gandhi and just a few other leaders of political parties offered floral tributes.

The widow and son of Ghanshyam Singh of Delhi Police were among others who offered flowers at the plaque put up on the spot of the encounter with the terrorists on December 13, 2001.

Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha had on Friday paid tributes to the martyrs and recalled the supreme sacrifice by the security personnel in foiling the attempt of the terrorists.

Five security personnel of Delhi Police, one woman constable of the Central Reserve Police Force and two security assistants of Parliament Watch and Ward section had died preventing the entry of terrorists into Parliament House. A gardener and a photojournalist, too, lost their lives.

The families of those killed in the attack have been protesting for some time that the various promises made to them have not been kept by different governments.

“What Raj Thackeray is doing is wrong. This is dividing the country,” Rahul said, while interacting with the students of H N Bahuguna University in this hill state.

He was asked what was the Maharashtra government doing to prevent attacks on north Indian students who had gone there to appear in a Railway examination.

He also accused Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray of praticising divisive politics.

“There is nothing like north India, west India or south India. It is only India, which you should remember. Do not differentiate between west and north India,” Rahul said, when asked why north Indians are being attacked in the
Congress-ruled state.

Take a look...

Comment: A dada among cricketers

“This will be my last series,” the former captain confirmed. “Before coming here I spoke to my team-mates and hopefully I will go out with a winning knock.”

Indian batting has become toothless: Boycott

Ganguly’s selection in the squad for the first two Tests had been debated with much fervour across the country.

His failure in his two knocks for India A against New Zealand A did not help matters.

Team India discards shine, even as Ganguly fails

At last, the former Indian captain has himself brought the debate to an end with his announcement.

It is interesting to note that there had been talk even before the selection of the team about a compromise deal between Ganguly and the selectors.

The deal was said to have been brokered after Ganguly had assured the five wise men that he would call it a day at the end of the series.

Ganguly is a terrific player: Tendulkar

The 36-year-old has made 6,888 runs till date in 109 Tests, the most by an Indian left-hander. He led India in 49 Tests and with 21 wins is also the most successful skipper the country has seen till date.

In 311 ODIs, he notched up 11,363 runs at 41.02. He led India in 147 of them. His final ODI was against Pakistan at Gwalior in November 2007.

Tata Group Chief Ratan Tata and the Chief Minister Narendra Modi had jointly announced the project in the state.

Tatas have identified the site at Sanand, near Ahmedabad, where the state government will give 1,000 acres land from the Anand Agricultural University for housing the project.

“A drunkard driver not only risks his life but endangers the lives of others as well. Such a drunkard driver is no less than a live human bomb prepared to blast himself and innocent people on roads and pavements including friends and relatives riding in his vehicle,” Justice Kailash Gambhir said.

The HC’s observation came while dismissing the bail plea of Sanjeev Nanda, grandson of ex-Naval Chief S M Nanda, who is undergoing five years of rigorous imprisonment for mowing down six persons in 1999 while driving a BMW car in an inebriated condition.

“This court is of the view that it is high time that legislature undertakes a re-look at the present law so as to prevent drunken driving which is taking a toll of precious human lives,” the court said adding that alcohol plays a major role in social ills in the society.

These Solar-powered cycle rickshaws are designed by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and launched at a function organized on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti at Yudhbir Singh Park near the Chandni Chowk Metro Station. Union Minister of Science and Technology and the Earth Sciences Kapil Sibal and CSIR director general Samir K. Brahmachari were also present in the function.

Eco-friendly solar-electric rickshaw can seat two passengers besides the driver. Its speed limit is fixed at 15 km an hour. The prototypes rickshaws was designed at Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI) lab at Durgapur in eight months. CSIR is planning to tie up with some corporate houses to promote its use in the country. Mark-II and Mark-III version of auto rickshaws would be ready before the Commonwealth Games in 2010.

Mr. Kapil Sibal also said that the government would provide environment friendly houses to the poor families. These houses would be water-proof and fire resistant and build with the help of eco friendly composite material.

It was reported in Mumbai Mirror, that both, Akshay Kumar and Brandon Routh insisted on doing their stunts themselves instead of having a body- double. When asked, Sajid said, “We roped in Sylvester as we needed a Hollywood star from the generation of Rocky and Rambo, but since we needed another Hollywood star from today’s generation, we thought of Brandon. We were told that he is very fastidious and does not sign any film easily. though it took us two months to get him on board , the wait was well worth it. We shot with him in July for about five days in LA.”

When Sajid was enquired about the enormity of the sum paid to the actor, he replied, “Today everybody is expensive. Forget the stars, even the film tickets are costly. I want to give my audience their money’s worth. Brandon plays himself in the film and the best part was both Brandon and Akshay got along like a house on fire. It was nice to see them talking and behaving like best buddies.”

The wrangling over the Nano car plant in Singur has finally been put to rest. Tata group chairman Rattan Tata on Friday announced the pull out of Nano plant out of Singur in West Bengal.

The sad incident is not only a bad news for the industrialization program of the West Bengal but also for India as an attractive and investment friendly destination.

Tata’s decision has raised many questions that the political class needs to answer in order to ensure that future economic progress of the country is not held hostage to the short-term political interests of various parties.

It also puts in focus the question of land acquisition and the stake of farmers in the industrialization process of the country.

Nano has been proclaimed as one of the biggest product from India by the national as well global media especially for being the cheapest car in the world.

The car plant in Singur would have generated huge amount of job and employment in the state but its exit from Singur will definitely have a bearing on the future course of industrialization in the state of West Bengal.

Hope, the politicians across the country learn some lesson from the episode and should be guided by vision rather than short-term political gains.

However, it’s a fact that in the recent past industrialization has generated a lot of resistance by the local population e.g. Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Haryana.

The governments in the states as well as at the Centre really needs to ponder at this vexed issue and reach at a consensus on the future path of industrialization in the country, which should be all inclusive and not for select few rich.

Singur is a microcosm of the larger problem facing the country; let’s learn something from this.

After a month-and-a-half of incessant attacks against Christians in Orissa, the central government on Friday issued an ultimatum to the state government-stop the violence or face action.

The warning comes on a day in which the government began seriously looking at the possibility of banning the Bajrang Dal, a move which clearly comes with political risks.

There has still been no final decision on what the Centre will do, though Railway Minister Lalu Yadav went to the extent of suggesting that President’s rule could be imposed if the situation did not improve.

Since August 23, when an RSS leader was killed, Christians in the state have been targeted constantly.

Earlier this week, Manmohan Singh faced uncomfortable questions from leaders of the European Union, regarding attacks on Christians. The Prime Minister had condemned the attacks as a national shame.

The Home Ministry is now preparing a Cabinet note to ban the Bajrang Dal, but ultimately it will be left to a tribunal to decide.

Pressure is being mounted on the UPA government to act not only firmly against the BJP-BJD government in Orissa but also on the Bajrang Dal, who many in the Cabinet feel is seen as flaring up the communal violence across the State.