TOP STORY OF THE DAY |
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| PC Sorcar, the magic wand passes on to gen-next | | | |
SUPRATIK SENGUPTA, KOLKATA, MAY 31
After taking the mantle from her world famous magician father the legendary P C Sorcar, Maneka Sorcar is now upbeat about her first ever solo show as the new-gen performer.
Appropriately titled 'Maya Bignan' (Science of Illusion), the show aims at creating a new genre of magic shows based on scientific rationale, explains Maneka who is an Ohio University MBA graduate.
Explaining he would not draw the curtains on his own show after passing on the mantle to his daughter, P C Sorcar (Junior) says both Maneka's show 'Maya Bignan' as well as his 'Indrajal' could be hosted at two different venues by daughter and father in future.
"While as a father and guru I would like her to excel in her craft and live upto the name of my father Pratul Chandra Sorcar (P C Sorcar senior), as a professional performer there will be healthy competition between the two of us between my items and her attempt to restructure the whole format and give it a new contemporary look. You may call it the competition between two generations of magicians each mindful about ... | |
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FRONT PAGE STORIES |
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| Centre to fix tenure of IAS officers | | | |
NEW DELHI, MAY 31
In a bid to revamp the public Administration System, the Centre would soon be coming out with a policy of fixing the tenure of IAS officers in states for two years, ignoring strong opposition expressed by some states to the same.
The Department of Personnel today informed the states that the order would be implemented but would not, in any way, affect or infringe upon inherent powers of state governments, official sources said here.
The fixed tenure would not be applicable to such officers who are to retire, go on promotion, training or leave, the sources said.
The decision was conveyed to the states during a high-level meeting here chaired by Department of Per... | |
| | | | DySP Shailly cremated with full Police honour | | Thousands bid tearful adieu to brave cop | | |
Jammu | May 31
Thousands of eyes bid tearful adieu to the Martyr Dy SP Shailly Singh as he was cremated with full Police honour at Shastri Nagar cremation ground amid the presence of large gathering this afternoon. Director General Police, Gopal Sharma along with the entire posse of Police top brass were among the thousands of people gathered on the occasion to bid tearful farewell to the brave cop. Meanwhile, complete bandh was witnessed in some parts of Bhaderwah town against the killing of Shailly.
“Shailly was scheduled to be married next month, but destiny had some thing else for us in the kitty”, said Darshan Kour, his mother while weeping profusely. Shailly was inducted in JKP a... | |
| | | | India opposes Lanka seeking arms from Pak | | | |
CHENNAI, MAY 31
Sri Lanka should not seek weapons from Pakistan or China, but should come to India for its requirements, National Security Advisor M K Narayanan said here today.
He told reporters here after meeting Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi that "We are a big power in the region. We don't want the Sri Lankan government to go to Pakistan or China. Whatever may be their requirement, the Sri Lankan government should come to us."
However, he said, "India will not provide weapons with offensive capabilities to Sri Lanka."
To a query on opposition from political leaders in Tamil Nadu to providing radars to Sri Lanka, Narayanan said, "Radars are seen as defensive. Hence w... | |
| | | | India, US hold talks on nuclear deal | | | |
NEW DELHI, MAY 31
India and the US today held high-level talks on a proposed agreement to operationalise the civil nuclear deal with Washington saying that the two sides were almost there and little more work was needed to conclude the pact.
Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon met US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns to iron out remaining differences on the '123 Agreement' which has already witnessed "90 per cent progress".
Before going in for talks, Burns told reporters that the two countries had come a long way in the talks on the Agreement since the negotiations began two years ago.
Burns said the two sides are almost there and little more work was needed to conclude th... | |
| | | | BSNL likely to slash domestic roaming charges | | | |
NEW DELHI, MAY 31
State-owned telecom major BSNL is understood to have finalised plans to cut the domestic mobile roaming charges to as low as Re 1 a minute for incoming calls and Rs 1.50 for outgoing calls.
Charges for receiving a call while roaming are at present Rs 1.75 per 60 seconds, while that for making calls are a maximum Rs 2.40 a minute, company officials informed.
However, the rates cannot fall below this level as there is a 65 paise carriage charge and 30 paise termination charge involved, which have to be covered when a person receives an incoming call while roaming.
Telecom Minister A Raja had earlier said that the Department of Telecommunications was looking at th... | |
| | | | Will Taj Mahal be in world's wonder list? | | | |
BL KAK
NEW DELHI, May 31
Taj Mahal at Agra in UP is India's spectacularly gorgeous while marble mausoleum. Will it find a place on the list of the new Seven Wonders of the World? It is generally felt that it may not. This could be because Indians are not caring muc h about the monujment making it to the world's list of Seven Wonders.
When the result of the contest for the Seven Wonders is out July 7 at Lisbon, Portugal, many may shockingly find Taj Mahal's name missing. Taj needs at least 300 million votes on http://www.new7wonders.com to make it to the list. However, so far, this "monument of eternal love" has got just 0.7 per cent votes, while Peru's Incan sanctuary Machu Pic... | |
| | | | Indian troops to stay put in Siachen sector | | Politicking on withdrawal will be harmful, warns Army | | |
BL KAK
NEW DELHI, May 31
Back-channel talks on the future of troops on the 18,000-foot-high Siachen glacier in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir have borne little fruit, with the tough stand taken by the top echelons of the Army Headquarters in New Delhi and Udhampur-based Northern Command against the withdrwl of Indian troops from the militarily strategic trans-Himalayan location.
According to sources in the Indian Defence Ministry, a major breakthrough vis-a-vis the India-Pakistan dispute over Siachen sector is not in sight, even as the two countries are committed to resolving all outstanding issues through bilateral talks. The renewed talk by the Defence Minister, AK Ant... | |
| | | | J&K caught in serious fiscal web | | | |
Jammu, May 31
Despite tall claims of fiscal discipline and series of packages from the central government, the economic position of Jammu and Kashmir is going from bad to worst.
Even though the state government is making organised efforts to plug the gaps in income and expenditure but only long term sustainable program can take the state out of present economic scenario which has already assumed dangerous proportions. Adding more to the worries of the state government is the anytime-expected recommendations of the sixth pay commission.
The chairman of the sixth pay commission, who was recently in Jammu and Kashmir during the last leg of his consultations in various states, is likely... | |
| | | | PDP eyeing Bakaya for new script | | With KP segments in mind, party luring him with cabinet berth | | |
Jammu, May 31
Close to the heels of his exit from the plush office of the World Bank funded Economic Reconstruction Agency, the one of the most sober bureaucrats Vijay Bakaya has before him a political avenue calling. Courtesy: the Peoples Democratic Party.
Reliable sources told Early Times that the Peoples Democratic Party is eyeing at Vijay Bakaya to garner a constituency among the Kashmiri Pandits. “PDP leaders have been in touch with him but Bakaya is yet to give his mind”, said a source close to the former Chief Secretary. Bakaya, who retired as Chief Executive Officer of the Economic Reconstruction Agency last weekend, however, could not be reached for comments.
Sources said... | |
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