Vijay Bahuguna sworn in as Uttarakhand chief minister (India)

Vijay Bahuguna sworn in as Uttarakhand chief minister (India)

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Dehradun: Vijay Bahuguna, Congress MP from Tehri Garhwal, has been sworn in as the chief minister of Uttarakhand despite a revolt by Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Parliamentary Affairs Harish Rawat and his supporters. Bahuguna was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Margaret Alva in Dehradun on Tuesday evening.

Only 15 Congress MLAs attended the swearing-in ceremony even though the party won 32 seats in the 70-member Uttarakhand Assembly, and has the support of three independent and three Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) legislators.

Earlier, the Congress had made it clear to Rawat that would be sworn in as Uttarakhand chief minister on Tuesday evening.

Congress Sonia Gandhi chaired a meeting of senior party leaders at her residence 10 Janpath in New Delhi on Tuesday following Rawat's revolt and his offer to quit from the Union Cabinet over the question of Uttarakhand chief ministership. The meeting was attended by Uttarakhand Congress leaders Yashpal Arya, Harak Singh Rawat and Congress in-charge of the state, Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Image Credit: http://media2.intoday.in

Vijay Bahuguna sworn-in as Uttarakhand chief minister despite revolt

The rebellion by Rawat threatened to delay the swearing-in ceremony. Rawat had offered to resign from the Cabinet and wrote a letter to Sonia Gandhi that he would like to work just as an ordinary worker.

This is the second time that Rawat's claim has been ignored as almost 10 years ago ND Tiwari was made the chief minister at the last moment by the party leadership.

Rawat, representing Hardwar constituency in the Lok Sabha, was a strong contender for the post.

Hailing from Almora in Uttarakhand, Rawat was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1980. He served as the president of Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee from 2000 to 2002 and is reportedly upset at being overlooked by the party high command. Rawat claims to have the support of at least 17 MLAs in Uttarakhand Assembly.

source: http://ibnlive.in.com

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PM begins his New Year by praying at the Golden Temple (India)

PM begins his New Year by praying at the Golden Temple (India)

AMRITSAR: 

According to news report of Times of India, on a personal visit to the holy city, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh began his new year by paying obeisance at the Golden Temple this morning.

Singh along with his wife Gursharan Kaur reached the Golden Temple at 6.30 am and went to the sanctum sanctorum where they spent half an hour.

They listened to the Shabd Kirtan (religious hymns) and Ardas (prayer) while sitting cross-legged with folded hands in the VIP corridor of the sanctum sanctorum of the Harmandar Sahab,

Image Credit: Jagbani

popularly known as Golden Temple.

The Prime Minister was attired in a white Kurta-Pyjama and a dark grey jacket while Gursharan Kaur wore a maroon-colored shawl and cream-colored 'salweer kameez'.

The couple, who arrived here last evening, took full round of the marbled periphery around the water pool of Golden Temple to reach the sanctum sanctorum.

They listened to the religious hymns for half and hour with rapt attention and closed eyes.

Afterwards they went to Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, to pay obeisance where they listened to the Ardas for five minutes.

The PM was escorted in the periphery of the Golden Temple in three different human chains created by the NSG from Delhi, troops of Punjab Police and then Task force of the the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, the apex religious body of the Sikhs.

Meanwhile, after paying obeisance at the Golden Temple in the morning, the couple while coming out had to face the protest of supporters of Anna Hazare.

The incident took place when Hazare supporters numbering around 40, including some women, raised slogans against the government as well as corruption. 

source: Times of India

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President, Vice-President, Prime Minister greet nation on Christmas 2011 (India)

President, Vice-President, Prime Minister greet nation on Christmas 2011 (India)

NEW DELHI: President Pratibha Patil, vice-president Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today greeted the nation on the joyous occasion of Christmas saying the festival signifies the ideals of brotherhood, love and compassion. 

Patil in her message said, "Christmas is a time of great joy, cheer, hope and happiness. It proclaims Lord Jesus Christ's message of love and sacrifice, compassion and service, courage and humility, peace and harmony." 

Image Credit: tribune.com.pk

Observing that the festival is an occasion to imbibe divine teachings of Lord Jesus Christ, vice-president Ansari said, "Christmas is an occasion to imbibe the divine teachings of Lord Jesus Christ and spread joy and happiness. The festival also signifies the ideals of brotherhood, love and compassion." 

Hoping that the festival will inspire people to work tirelessly for progress of the nation, he said, "The festival also signifies the ideals of brotherhood, love and compassion." 

Prime Minister Singh in his message said the festival may fill everyone's heart with hope and joy.

"The festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ is an occasion to celebrate and imbibe Lord Christ's message of love, compassion and forgiveness", he said, adding that it may fill the hearts of people all over the world with warmth, hope and joy. 

Extending her wishes on the occasion, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar said, "The noble spirit of this festival inspires our lives and touches our hearts. Christmas gives us the message of charity and sacrifice." 

Wishing peace, harmony and human values to prevail, she said, "Let it fill our hearts with passion and guide us to share our delights with others, especially those who are less privileged and who need our love, respect and support."

Merry Christmas 2011 - from "Indo Pinoy Family" 

 source: Times of India

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Mukesh Ambani to PM : We’ll invest 70k crore (India)

Mukesh Ambani to PM : We’ll invest 70k crore (India)

From Times of India's Report- After a long spell of gripes over policy inaction, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani has provided some much-needed support to the government, saying he did not share the gloom and pessimism that several industry leaders were talking about.

At the meeting of the Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry on Thursday, the country's richest man went on to talk about his group's mega investment plans. "Sir, I don't share the gloom and pessimism on India. I plan to invest Rs 70,000 crore in India over the next two years. To me, India remains the best investment destination," a senior government official present in the meeting quoted Ambani as saying.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is learnt to have responded by saying that he hoped that others shared Ambani's views. "Very good! I hope others also follow your example," the official quoted Singh as saying. Government representatives present in the meeting also emphasized that the mood was not as negative as it had appeared before the deliberations began.

Several industry leaders, such as Ratan Tata, N R Narayana Murthy, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Sunil Munjal and Vindi Banga endorsed Ambani's view and suggested that they were all betting big on India. Industry leaders said the perception that India was not a profitable place to do business was wrong, stressing that they were not planning to shift their business overseas.

They, however, urged the government to expedite infrastructure and other large projects. Industry leaders were assured that a mechanism would be put in place to sort out bottlenecks in implementing large projects.

There did seem to be a sense of exasperation with the Anna Hazare-led movement. Sunil Bharti Mittal is learnt to have said that there was no place for such a confrontation in a parliamentary democracy. Sources quoted him as saying that maintaining constitutional order was critical for a conducive business climate.

Ashok Ganguly, former HUL chief, also spoke in the same vein. Significantly, the RS member was part of the group of industrialists which went public with its lament over policy inaction, but pressed for backing the government on FDI in retail.

The statements from industry leaders came against the backdrop of some straight talking by the prime minister. "I must confess that it is a little disappointing to sometimes hear negative comments emanating from our business leadership or be told that government's policies are causing slowdown and pessimism in the industrial sector," Singh had said. "Such comments have added to uncertainty and have emboldened those who have no stake in our economic growth. It is true that our country faces a large number of issues which need urgent resolution. The energy sector, the port sector, the transport sector, the supply of gas and coal, all need greater attention. Corruption and better governance also require firm handling," the PM said.

He went on to talk about the possibility of reduction in interest rates if the easing trend on inflation was sustained. Besides, he agreed with concerns on the sharp depreciation of the rupee but urged exporters to take advantage of the situation.

Image Credit: newsreporter.in

The business leaders expressed confidence in the fundamental strength of the Indian economy. They were generally of the view that the economy was poised to return to a high rate of growth in the near future. 

source: Times of India

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