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12 March 2011

समाचार News (1) 12.03.2011


मुख्य समाचार :
  • पूर्वोत्तर जापान के भूकम्प प्रभावित क्षेत्रों में व्यापक राहत कार्य शुरू। पचास हजार राहतकर्मी तैनात, मृतकों की संख्या एक हजार से ऊपर।
  • भारत ने जापान को हरसंभव सहायता की पेशकश की।
  • एक संसदीय समिति ने जनजातिय मामलों के मंत्रालय से वामपंथी उग्रवाद से प्रभावित राज्यों में वितरण व्यवस्था बेहतर करने को कहा।
  • दिल्ली विश्वविद्यालय की छात्रा राधिका तंवर हत्याकांड का मुख्य आरोपी मुम्बई में गिरफ्‌तार।
  • कश्मीर के शोपियां जिले में सुरक्षाबलों के साथ मुठभेड में दो आतंकवादी ढेर।
  • किक्रेट विश्व कप में नागपुर में भारत और दक्षिण अफ्रीका आमने-सामने। भारत का टॉस जीतकर पहले बल्लेबाजी का फैसला।               

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जापान में पूर्वोत्तर इलाके में कल आए विनाशकारी भूकंप के बाद बड़े पैमाने पर राहत कार्य शुरू कर दिए गए हैं। देश के इतिहास में अब तक के सबसे शक्तिशाली भूकंप की तीव्रता रिएक्टर पैमाने पर ८ दशमलव ९ आंकी गई। भूकम्प का केन्द्र होन्शु द्वीप के सेंदाई इलाके की पूर्वी दिशा में ८१ मील दूर और १५ मील की गहराई पर था। भूकंप के बाद दस मीटर तक ऊंची त्सुनामी लहरें उठीं। करीब सात किलोमीटर से ज्यादा चौड़े पानी के बहाव में कारें और मकान बह गए । रिहायशी इलाकें और धान के खेत बुरी तरह तबाह हो गये। समुद्र के पानी में डूबे मलबे के रूप में तब्दील हो गए। भूकंप से सबसे ज्यादा तबाह तटवर्ती शहर सेंदाई में अब तक तीन सौ शव निकाले जा चुके हैं।

जापान के प्रधानमंत्री नाओतो कान ने भूकंप प्रभावित फुकुशिमा के परमाणु संयंत्र का दौरा किया और बताया कि इसके एक रिएक्टर से विकिरण हो रहा है। श्री कान ने तोक्यो लौटने के बाद पत्रकारों से कहा कि इस त्सुनामी से भारी नुकसान हुआ है।

उन्होंने यह भी कहा कि आज राहत बचाव दल के सामने जीवित बचे लोगों को सुरक्षित निकालने की महत्वपूर्ण चुनौती है। उन्होंने कहा कि सबसे ज्यादा नुकसान वाले इलाकों में ५० हजार राहतकर्मी लगाये गये हैं। इसमें जापानी आत्मरक्षा बल के सदस्य भी शामिल हैं। फुकुशिमा के सबसे बड़े परमाणु बिजलीघर से रेडियोधर्मी भाप के मामूली रिसाव के बारे में मुख्य केबिनेट सचिव युकिओ अदानो ने बताया कि इस भाप से लोगों के स्वास्थ्य को फौरी तौर पर कोई खतरा नहीं है।

जापान के प्रधानमंत्री के आदेश के अनुपालन में स्थानीय सरकार ने नम्बर-एक परमाणु बिजली घर के १० किलोमीटर के दायरे में और नम्बर-दो परमाणु बिजलीघर के तीन किलोमीटर के दायरे में रहने वाले लोगों को वहां से चले जाने को कहा है। दाइची के दो परमाणु संयंत्रों और फुकुशिमा दैइनी की तीन इकाइयों के आसपास आपातकाल की घोषणा कर दी गई है।

ट्रेन संचालकों का कहना है कि मियागी और इवाते के तटवर्ती इलाकों की चार रेलगाड़ियां अभी भी लापता हैं। यह नहीं पता चल सका है कि इन पर कितने लोग सवार थे। इस बीच राष्ट्रीय पुलिस एजेन्सी ने कहा है कि कल आये विनाशकारी भूकम्प में मरने या लापता होने वालों की संख्या एक हजार से भी ज्यादा है। एजेन्सी ने कहा है कि तोक्यो सहित नौ शहरों में करीब चार सौ शव निकाल लिये गये हैं। एजेन्सी के मुताबिक अभी भी ८०५ लोग लापता हैं।  जापान के पूर्वी तटवर्ती इलाकों में कल के भूकम्प के बाद से अब तक पांच से छह दशमलव आठ तक की तीव्रता वाले कम से कम १५ झटके महसूस किये जा चुके हैं।
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भारत ने विनाशकारी भूकम्प और त्सुनामी से प्रभावित जापान को हरसम्भव मदद का आश्वासन दिया है। जापान के प्रधानमंत्री नाओतो कान को लिखे एक पत्र में डॉक्टर मनमोहन सिंह ने इस प्राकृतिक आपदा पर गहरा दुख व्यक्त करते हुए कहा है कि संकट की इस घड़ी में भारत, जापान की सरकार और जनता के साथ मजबूती से खड़ा है। डॉक्टर सिंह ने श्री कान और जापान के उन लोगों के प्रति गहरी सम्वेदना व्यक्त की जिन्होंने इस प्रकृति की इस विनाशलीला में अपने परिजनों को खो दिया है या इससे प्रभावित हैं। विदेश मंत्री एस० एम० कृष्णा ने भी शोक सम्वेदना व्यक्त की है। विदेश मंत्रालय चौबीसों घंटे स्थिति की निगरानी कर रहा है। मंत्रालय के एक प्रवक्ता ने कहा कि जापान में त्सुनामी या भूकम्प से अभी तक भारतीय समुदाय के किसी व्यक्ति के मरने की कोई खबर नहीं है। त्सुनामी प्रभावित इलाकों में करीब २५ हजार भारतीय रहते हैं। भारतीय दूतावास ने लोगों के मार्गदर्शन के लिए एक नियंत्रण कक्ष की स्थापना की है, जिसका टेलीफोन नम्बर है-  ० ० ८ १ ३ - ३ २ ६ २ २ ३ ९ १ से लेकर ३ ९ ७ तक  तोक्यो में भारतीय दूतावास और ओसाका में वाणिज्य दूतावास भारतीय समुदाय के लोगों के साथ सम्पर्क में है।
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संयुक्त राष्ट्र सुरक्षा परिषद ने जापान के विनाशकारी भूकम्प में मरने वाले लोगों को श्रद्धांजलि देने के लिए दो मिनट का मौन रखा। संयुक्त राष्ट्र में परिषद के आसपास और चीन के स्थायी प्रतिनिधि ली बाओ दोंग ने पत्रकारों से कहा कि सदस्यों ने जापान के लोगों और सरकार को अपनी गहरी सम्वेदना भेजी। इससे पहले संयुक्त राष्ट्र महासचिव बान की मून ने भीषण प्राकृतिक आपदा से प्रभावित देश के लोगों को सम्वेदना भेजी।
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संसदीय समिति ने जनजातीय मामलों के मंत्रालय से कहा है कि वामपंथी उग्रवाद से प्रभावित राज्यों में वितरण व्यवस्था को बेहतर बनाये। कल संसद में पेश रिपोर्ट में मंत्रालय से कहा गया है कि वह इसके लिए तीन महीने के अंदर समन्वय समिति का गठन करे। संसदीय समिति ने केन्द्र की आलोचना की है कि उसने जनजातीय लोगों के प्रति अपने दायित्व पूरे न करने वाली राज्य सरकारों को फटकार क्यों नहीं लगायी और इस दिशा में अन्य केन्द्रीय मंत्रालयों के प्रयासों को समन्वित क्यों नही किया। हमारे संवाददाता ने खबर दी है कि सरकार ने जनजातीय लोगों के बहुमुखी विकास के लिए पहले ही एक कार्यदल गठित किया है और उनके हालात सुधारने के लिए कई प्रशासनिक तथा कानूनी उपाय किये है।
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पर्यावरण मंत्रालय से जुड़ी एक समिति ने पर्यावरण संरक्षण अधिनियम में कुछ  संशोधनों का सुझाव दिया है। इनमें इस कानून के उल्लंघन को संज्ञेय और गैर-जमानती अपराध बनाने के अलावा और भी कड़ी कार्रवाइयां शामिल है। परियोजनाओं पर निगरानी रखने से संबंधित मुद्दों की जांच के लिए गठित इस समिति की रिपोर्ट में यह भी कहा गया है कि पर्यावरण संबंधी मंजूरी की शर्तो को पूरा न करने पर सजा बढ़ायी जानी चाहिये। पर्यावरण मंत्रालय के अपर सचिव और समिति के अध्यक्ष जे.एम.मौस्कर ने बताया कि सजा और जुर्माने की प्रक्रिया तेजी से पूरी होनी चाहिये और जुर्माने की अदायगी भी फौरन होनी चाहिये। रिपोर्ट में यह भी बताया गया है कि मंत्रालय के क्षेत्रीय कार्यालयों तथा राज्य प्रदूषण नियंत्रण बोर्डो की वर्तमान व्यवस्था को किस तरह मजबूत, बेहतर और लोगों के प्रति ज्यादा जवाबदेह बनाया जा सकता है।
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केरल में अब जबकि अगले महीने होने वाले विधानसभा चुनाव की अधिसूचना जारी होने में सिर्फ छह दिन बचे हैं। सीटों के बटवारे और उम्मीदवारों की सूची को अंतिम रूप देने की प्रमुख राजनीतिक पार्टियों की कवायद जारी है। तिरूअनंतपुरम में आज उम्मीदवारों की सूची को अंतिम रूप देने के लिए कांग्रेस की दो दिन की बैठक शुरू हुई। भारतीय जनता पार्टी पहले ही अपने ४० उम्मीदवारों की पहली सूची की घोषणा कर चुकी है।
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तमिलनाडु के मुख्य चुनाव अधिकारी प्रवीन कुमार ने बताया है कि राज्य में कई जगहों से कुल १५ करोड़ रूपये की  बेनामी रकम जब्त की गई है। पत्रकारों से उन्होंने कहा कि वाहनों की जांच पड़ताल भी शुरू कर दी गई है। श्री प्रवीन कुमार ने बताया कि इरोड में एक सभासद के घर से ११ करोड़ रूपये जब्त किये गये जिसे आयकर विभाग को सौंप दिया गया है।
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झारखंड सरकार ने बोकारो के एक निजी इस्पात कारखाने में काम करने वाले चीन के मजदूरों के वीजा के मुद्दे की जांच कराने का फैसला किया है।  विधानसभा में इस मुद्दे के उठने पर झारखंड के श्रममंत्री चन्द्र प्रकाश चौधरी ने कहा कि वे इसकी जांच करायेंगे और उसकी रिपोर्ट सदन में पेश करेगे। खबर है कि इस कारखाने में लगभग एक हजार चीन के मजदूर काम कर रहे हैं।
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पश्चिम बंगाल में आज सुबह हावड़ा रेलवे स्टेशन पर जमालपुर-हावड़ा एक्सप्रेस रेलगाड़ी को एक कोच से जिलेटिन की ५० छड़ियां, १० डेटोनेटर्स, १५ किलोग्राम विस्फोटक और पांच पिस्तौल बरामद किए गए। हावड़ा के रेलवे पुलिस अधीक्षक रबिन्द्रनाथ मुखोपाध्याय ने बताया कि इस सिलसिले में तीन लोगों को गिरफ्‌तार किया गया है।
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राधिका तंवर हत्या मामले के मुख्य आरोपी को मुम्बई में पुलिस ने गिरफ्‌तार कर लिया है। चार दिन पहले राधिका तंवर की दिल्ली में कॉलेज जाते समय दिन-दहाड़े हत्या कर दी गई थी। दिल्ली पुलिस की टीम ने २५ वर्षीय रामसिंह उर्फ विजय को राधिका की हत्या के सिलसिले में गिरफ्‌तार किया। पुलिस ने उत्तरप्रदेश में सीतापुर में दो लोगों को हिरासत में लेकर पूछताछ करने के बाद ये गिरफ्‌तारी की। इन दोनों ने राधिका हत्याकांड के दो दिन बाद रामसिंह को दिल्ली से बाहर निकल जाने में मदद की थी।
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कश्मीर घाटी में शोपियां जिले में हफ्‌रीपुरा में सुरक्षा बलों और पुलिस की संयुक्त कार्रवाई में दो आतंकवादी मारे गये। कुलगाम के पुलिस अधीक्षक ने बताया कि निशानदेही के आधार पर कल शाम कार्रवाई शुरू की गई। मारे गये दोनों आतंकवादी लश्करे तैयबा से सम्बन्धित हैं और इन पर पिछले हफ्‌ते यारीपुरा में एक पुलिस पार्टी के हथियार लूटने का आरोप है।

एक अन्य घटनाक्रम  में  उत्तरी कश्मीर में सोपोर कस्बे में आज सुबह से पुलिस और आतंकवादियों के बीच गोलीबारी जारी है। बारामुला के पुलिस उप महानिरीक्षक ने हमारे संवाददाता को बताया कि मुखबिरों से मिली सूचना के बाद पुलिस ने मुस्लिम पीर इलाके की घेराबन्दी की।
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एक अन्य घटना में जम्मू कश्मीर में उत्तरी इलाके में सोपोर कस्बे में आज सुबह से पुलिस और आतंकवादियों के बीच गोलीबारी जारी है। बारामूला के पुलिस उप महानिरीक्षक ने हमारे संवादाता को बताया कि मुखबिरों से मिली ये मिली सूचना के बाद पुलिस ने मुस्लिम पीर इलाके की घेराबंदी की। आतंकवादियों ने पास के एक क्लिनिक में छिप कर पुलिस पर गोलियां चलानी शुरू कर दी।
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राष्ट्रीय डेरी विकास बोर्ड ने केन्द्र और राज्य सरकारों से देश में दूध उत्पादन दोगुना करने के तुरंत उपाय करने का आह्‌वान किया है। अगले १५ सालों में दूध उत्पादन दोगुना करने के लिए इस क्षेत्र में १७ हजार करोड़ रूपए के निवेश की जरूरत होगी। बोर्ड की अध्यक्ष अमृता पाटिल ने बताया कि यह दूध की आपूर्ति और मांग के बीच बढ़ते अंतर को समाप्त करने के लिए बहुत महत्वपूर्ण है। सरकारी सूत्रों ने कहा कि राष्ट्रीय डेरी विकास बोर्ड को दूध की मांग पूरा करने के लिए इसके निर्यात पर प्रतिबंध लगाने के अलावा कर मुक्त स्कीम्ड मिल्क पाउडर के आयात करने की अनुमति दे दी है।

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काशी हिन्दू विश्वविद्यालय के ९३वें दीक्षांत समारोह में आज २६ विद्यार्थियों को स्वर्ण पदक प्रदान किए गए। अपने दीक्षांत भाषण में उपराष्ट्रपति मोहम्मद हामिद अंसारी ने भारतीय संघीय प्रणाली के महत्व पर जोर दिया और राज्य व्यवस्था तथा समाज के सामने मौजूद चुनौतियों का जिक्र किया। कुलपति डॉ. करण सिंह ने विभिन्न विषयों में सर्वोच्च स्थान पाने वाले २६ प्रतिभाशाली विद्यार्थियों को स्वर्ण पदक प्रदान किए। सात हजार से ज्यादा विद्यार्थियों को डिग्रियां दी गई। इस अवसर पर तीन सौ ६४ विद्यार्थियों को पीएचडी की उपाधि से भी सम्मानित किया गया।
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नेपाल में आज ६८ जिलों में १३वां राष्ट्रव्यापी पोलियो अभियान का दूसरा चरण शुरू हुआ। यह अभियान कल भी जारी रहेगा। नेपाल सरकार की पांच साल से कम उम्र के करीब ४५ लाख बच्चों को पोलियो की खुराक पिलाने की योजना है।
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पाकिस्तान में क्वेटा सूबे की राजधानी जफ़राबाद में आज सुबह एक रॉकेट हमले में एक ही परिवार के छह लोगों की मौत हो गई। पुलिस ने बताया कि अज्ञात लोगों ने बगती कबायली इलाके से राकेट और मोर्टार से ये हमले किये।
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लीबिया में कर्नल गद्दाफी की निरंकुश सरकार पर दबाव बनाते हुए अमरीका ने उनकी पत्नी और बच्चों तथा वरिष्ठ सहयोगियों पर प्रतिबंध लगा दिए हैं। अमरीका के पर्यटन और वित्तीय सतर्कता उपमंत्री डेविड कोहेन ने वाशिंगटन में कहा कि नये आदेशों के बाद अमरीका में उनकी संपत्तियां जब्त कर ली जाएगी और अमरीका के लोग उनके साथ किसी किस्म का कारोबार नहीं करेंगे। इससे पहले अमरीका ने लीबिया में आम नागरिकों पर हिंसा के आरोप मे २५ फरवरी को कर्नल गद्दाफी की संपत्ति जब्त करने के आदेश दिए थे।
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चीन में दक्षिण-पश्चिमी गुइझाऊ सूबे में एक कोयले की खान में गैस विस्फोट से १९ लोगों की मौत हो गई। स्थानीय अधिकारियों ने बताया कि लिउपानसूई शहर में झिनचेंग कोयला खान में आज तड़के उस समय विस्फोट हुआ जब ३४ खनिक काम पर थे। १५ खनिक बच निकलने में कामयाब रहे। विस्फोट के कारणों की जांच की जा रही है।
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क्रिकेट विश्वकप मुकाबले के ग्रुप बी में नागपुर में दक्षिण अफ्रीका के साथ मैच में भारत ने टॉस जीतकर पहले बल्लेबाजी का फैसला किया है। पीयूष चावला की जगह मुनाफ पटेल को टीम में शामिल किया गया है। ताजा समाचार मिलने तक भारत ने तीसरें ओवर में बिना किसी नुकसान के विकेट पर २४ रन बना लिए हैें। भारत इस मैच को जीतकर ग्रुप में अपनी स्थिति को और मजबूत करना चाहेगा

यह मुकाबला भारत की एग्रेसिव बैटिंग लाइनअप और साउथ अफ्रीकन बॉलिंग फायर पावर के बीच होगा। तेंदुलकर, सहवाग, युवराज सिंह, विराट कोल्ही और कप्तान एम.एस. धोनी के अलावा लोअर मेडिल ऑर्डर के बल्लेबाज डेलस्टेन मोर्न मोर्कल, सोतसोवे और रॉबिन पीटरसन की गेंदों को कैसे खेलेंगे यह देखना थोड़ा दिलचस्प होगा। दिलचस्पी इस बात में भी होगी कि दोनों टीमें अपने लास्ट ११ का इस्तेमाल कब और कैसे करती है।

कप्तान एम.एस. धोनी को जहां अंडर फोर्मिंग खिलाड़ियों को समर्थन देने की वजह से अलोचनाओं का शिकार होना पड़ा हैं, वहीं गेंदबाजी इक्वेशन भी सही फिट नहीं बैठ रही है। ऐसे में नॉक आउट स्टेज से पहले आज के फाइनल-११ पर बहुत कुछ निर्भर करेगा। वहीं दक्षिण अफ्रीकी कप्तान ग्रीम स्मिथ को भी जोटिल खिलाड़ियों की समस्या से जूझना पड़ रहा है। साथ ही आखिरी मैच में इंगलैंड से उसकी हार ने साउथ अफ्रीकन स्ट्रेटिजी को और भी एक्पोज कर दिया है। रही सही कसर कल शाम बंगलादेश ने इंगलैंड को हराकर पूरी कर दी है। यानि अब ग्रुप बी से दक्षिण अफ्रीका और बंगला देश दोनों के चार-चार अंक है। हालांकि दक्षिण अफ्रीका ने बंगला देश से एक कम यानी तीन मैच खेला है। वहीं भारत चार मैचों में सात प्वाइंट लेकर पहले और वेस्टइंडीज चार मैचों में छह अंक के साथ दूसरे नंबर है, जबकि इंगलैंड के पांच मैचों में पांच अंक है। सूरते हाल यह है कि अब टॉप फोर में जगह बनाने के लिए नीचे की तीन टीमों में जोरदार मुकाबला होगा और एक भी अपसेट वेस्टइंडीज, इंगलैंड, साउथ अफ्रीका और बांगलादेश की नइया को इस दसवें वर्ल्डकप में कभी भी डूबो सकता है।
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प्राकृतिक सौन्दर्य से समृद्ध सिक्किम की यात्रा अब आसान हो जाएगी। राजधानी गंगटोक से लगभग ३० किलोमीटर दूर पाक्योंग में राज्य के पहले हवाई अड्डे का निर्माण अगले वर्ष तक पूरा हो जाने की उम्मीद है। इसके निर्माण की अनुमानित लागत ३ सौ १० करोड़ रूपये है। इस ग्रीनफील्ड हवाई अड्डे के निर्माण स्थल का दौरा कर हमारे संवाददाता ने खबर दी है कि वहां मिट्टी का क्षरण रोकने के लिए ७४ मीटर ऊंची दीवार बनाई जा रही है, जो विश्व में अपनी तरह की सबसे ऊंची दीवार होगी।

हवाई अड्डे के निर्माण का काम युद्ध स्तर पर किया जा रहा है। काम को समय से पूरा करने के लिए करीब साढ़े सात सौ मजदूर और ढ़ाई सौ भारी मशीनें दिन रात काम में जुटी है। एक तरफ से पहाड़ों को काटना और दूसरी तरफ से गहरी खाई को मिट्टी से भरना सचमुच बेहद मुश्किल काम है। कार्य की निगरानी कर रहे भारतीय हवाई अड्डा प्राधिकरण के महाप्रबंधक श्री जीसी गुप्ता ने बताया कि क्षेत्र के संवेदन के पर्यावरण को ध्यान में रखते हुए निर्माण कार्य बेहद पर्यावरण परक ढ़ंग से किया जा रहा है।
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THE HEADLINES:
  • Massive earth quake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale hits Japan; Devastating  13 feet Tsunami waves sweep North East Japanese coast; Widespread damage reported in Tokyo and elsewhere.
  • Tsunami warning issued for several countries including Russia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and the US state of Hawai.
  • Finance Minister announces hike in Member of Parliament Local Area Development scheme; Each MP to get five crore under the scheme.
  • CBI interrogates DMK Rajyasabha MP Kannimozhi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi's wife Dayalu Ammal in connection with the 2G Spectrum case.
  • India successfully test-fires nuclear capable ballistic missile DHANUSH  off the coast of Orissa.
  • Sensex drops 235 points in afternoon trade.
  • And in the world cup group b cricket matches: West Indies set a victory target of 276 against Ireland; Bangladesh have won the toss and elected to field against England at Chittagong.
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Japan was struck by a magnitude 7.9 earthquake off its northeastern coast today. The quake unleashed a 13-foot tsunami that washed away cars and tore away buildings along the coast near the epicenter. There were reports of injuries in Tokyo. The quake that struck at 2:46 p.m. JST.  It was followed by a series of powerful aftershocks, including a 7.4-magnitude one. The Japanese National   broadcaster NHK  said it   struck at a depth of 10 kilometers, about 125 kilometers off the eastern coast,   The area is 380 kilometers northeast of Tokyo. The US Geological Survey upgraded the strength of the first quake to a magnitude 8.9, while Japan's meteorological agency measured it at 7.9.    The meteorological agency issued a tsunami warning for the entire Pacific coast of Japan. NHK is warning those near the coast to get to safer ground.
In various locations along Japan's coast, TV footage showed massive damage from the tsunami, with dozens of cars, boats and even buildings being carried along by waters. According to footage on public broadcaster NHK, a large ship swept away by the tsunami rammed directly into a breakwater in Kesennuma city in Miyagi prefecture.
Officials were trying to assess damage, injuries and deaths from the quake but had no immediate details. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said a tsunami warning was in effect for Japan, Russia, Marcus Island and the Northern Marianas. A tsunami watch has been issued for Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and the US state of Hawaii.
In downtown Tokyo, large buildings shook violently and workers rushed into the street for safety. TV footage showed a large building on fire and bellowing smoke in the Odaiba district of Tokyo.
In central Tokyo, trains are stopped and passengers walked along the tracks to platforms. NHK said that ceiling in Kudan Kaikan, a large hall in Tokyo, collapsed, injuring an unknown number of people, The nuclear power plant in Miyagi prefecture has stopped operating. Power has been cut in Sendai city, where there are numerous reports of gas leaks. The government has set up a crisis management team at the prime minister's office. Meanwhile, the Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index has plunged 1.7 percent,  after the  a powerful earthquake
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A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 struck off West Nusatenggara in central Indonesia this morning. An official of the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said the quake jolted at 00:08 a.m. Jakarta time with the epicenter at 165 km northwest of Sumbawabesar of West nusa Tenggara and with a depth of 523 km under the sea bed. The official said the intensity of the quake was felt at 4 Modified Mercally Intensity in Denpasar, the capital of Bali province. However, there was no initial report of damage or casualty.
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A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 struck off West Nusatenggara in central Indonesia this morning. The quake jolted at 8 minutes past 12 midnight. Jakarta time with the epicenter 165 km northwest of Sumbawabesar of West nusa Tenggara and with a depth of 523 km under the sea bed.
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In China, soldiers with sniffer dogs and life detectors kept searching in the rubble today for survivors after a quake hit southwest Yunnan Province yesterday. The 5.8-magnitude tremor, which jolted Yingjiang County of the Province near the border with Myanmar, has left 25 people dead and 250 others injured. Doctors said 134 people were in a serious condition. The earthquake destroyed more than 18,000 houses and damaged around 50,000 others.
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The Finance Minister today announced a substantial hike in the MPLAD scheme. Replying the debate on the general budget in the Lok Sabha today the Mr. Pranab Mukherjee said that each MP will now get five crores instead of two crores in the scheme. He said it will involve an expenditure of 2370 crore rupees. He however made it clear that in the States where assembly elections have been announced, the funds can be used after the process is over.
Refuting the allegations of the Opposition Mr. Pranab Mukherjee said that the issue of black money can be tackled within the framework of law and the system needs to be improved. He explained the rationale of the budget proposals saying that agriculture and infrastructure remained the focus. He said that increasing agricultural productivity and reducing wastage has been his priority and gave the steps envisaged in the budget for the purpose. He said that the agricultural credit has been enhanced manifold and farmers who have been making loan payments continue to get inter subvention. Those farmers who pay their loans in time are paying only four percent interest. He accepted that it is important to augment the electric supply but dismissed the opposition charge that nothing substantial has been done in this sector. The House later passed the supplementary demands for grants for the year 2011-12.
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The Government has decided to intensify diplomatic efforts through consultations with the government of Egypt and the  UAE where the owners of concerned vessels reside to seek the safe and secure release of the Indian sailors held hostage by Somali pirates. Making a statement in the Lok Sabha today after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on security in New Delhi, the External Affairs Minister said that it will also coordinate with the government of other nationalities whose people have been held hostage, besides intensifying efforts at the multilateral level and within the framework of the  United Nations. Mr. S.M. Krishna said the government will also step up contacts with the owners of the vessels. He said an inter ministerial group under the chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary will act as an apex forum at the national level to monitor the early release of Indian ships, cargo or crew.
The group will also consider welfare measures necessitated after the release of hijacked Indian nationals.
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India  has put it very strongly before the UN Security Council that  ship- owners are primarily responsible to secure the release of sailors taken captive by the Somali pirates. The Indian envoy to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri said this at a debate on Somalia.  External Affairs Ministry sources said in New Delhi that Mr.Puri also called for strong collective action on the part of the international community to rein in piracy.   53 Indians are being currently held by pirates on ships belonging to different countries.  Expressing concern over their condition,  he said sailors are in many circumstances required to endure very harsh conditions under the captivity of pirates and are often tortured by their captors.
Several diplomats at the debate condemned the recent killing of four Americans on the yacht,  captured by Somali pirates off the coast of Oman in the Indian Ocean.
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A four-member CBI team has begun interrogation of DMK Rajya Sabha MP, Kanimozhi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi's  wife, Dayalu Ammal  in connection    with the 2G spectrum case. Both are  share holders in Kalaignar TV.   The interrogation is  going on at the  Kalaignar TV  office inside the DMK's headquarters building.
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The Mumbai Sessions court will today decide whether the Enforcement Directorate should be given Hasan Ali's custody or whether he should be granted bail. The court has for the last 2 consecutive days slammed the ED for its incomplete investigation. The court also asked ED to gather enough evidence against Ali to ask for his custody. Meanwhile, Hasan Ali has been produced in the court today. Proceedings are currently on in the court.
After being rapped by the court for not doing its homework, the Enforcement Directorate yesterday said that Hasan Ali Khan needed to be probed as it has a bearing on national security and pressed for his 14-day custodial interrogation. The ED also cited alleged non-cooperation by the Pune-based businessman and stud farm owner in its probe into the money laundering charges to seek his remand.
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President Smt. Pratibha Patil has urged the people of Manipur to maintain harmony and join the national mainstream   for the development and progress of the country. Laying the foundation stone of Information Technology Park at Mantripukhri in Imphal and opening the State Wide Area Network (SWAN) this morning at Imphal, the President said, sustained development can take place in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility. Congratulating Manipur for being the top state in the country at the recently held Jharkhand National Games, the President expressed that the state will continue to produce world class sports persons and bring glory to the nation.
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India today successfully test- fired nuclear capable ballistic missile DHANUSH from a naval ship off the Orissa coast.  The missile with a range of 350 kilo metres was fired at 1005 hrs this morning by  the Indian Navy as part of user training exercise.  The single-spage ship-based missile was flight-tested in the Bay of Bengal at a spot between Paradip and Puri.  Dhanush has  a pay load capacity of 750 kilo grams and is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear war heads.  It can hit both sea and shore-based targets.  The missile which has Liquid Propellant is the Naval version of India's indigenously developed surface-to-surface Prithvi missile system.  Dhanush was successfully flight-tested on 27th March last year from INS Subhadra in the Bay of Bengal off the Orissa coast.      
Similarly, India also successfully test-fired the Prithvi-II missile from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) of Chandipore in Balasore off the Orissa coast today.  The missile was test-fired  at 10.59 hrs this morning from Launch Complex No.3 of ITR at Chandipore.
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In Assam, political activity is  gaining momentum after the issuance  of the formal notification for the first phase of Assembly Election scheduled to be held on the 4th of next month. However, no candidate submitted their nomination forms on the first day of notification yesterday.  AIR correspondent reports that, the last day of filing nominations for this phase of election cancellation of nomination has been fixed on the 17th and  cancellation of the nomination has been fixed on 21ST of this month.
The ruling Congress likely to declare its list of candidates within a day or two- Party sources said that members of screening committee met yesterday to shortlist  the candidates. The committee is expected to meet today again. The AIUDF also likely to announce its first list of candidates within a day or two. The party has already declared to contest in 86 constituencies without any alliance. The main opposition Asom Gana Parishad is expected to announce its fourth list of candidates tomorrow. The party has pre-poll alliance with BPPF and Gana-Sakti. Meanwhile, Election Commission directed the observers appointed for the assembly election to examine critical polling stations of the state. The State Election Department is fully prepared for the polls. The district election officers are instructed to make all necessary arrangements. The Election observers from outside the state is expected to arrive in Assam by next week.
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In Tamil Nadu, talks on identifying constituencies between the Congress and the DMK ended   in Chennai .  This is the third round of talks between the  Election Committees of both parties.  Speaking to newsmen after the talks,  the TNPCC President K.V. Thangabalu said that the talks were smooth and satisfying.  He said that another round of talks will be held this evening.  The DMK has offered  63 Assembly constituencies to  the Congress in the coming elections. 
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Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly has today unanimously condemned the violence took place on the Tank Bund during the Million March Protest called by Telnagana Joint Action Committee yesterday. Both ruling and Opposition parties have condemned the demolition of Statues of eminent Telugu personalities of yesteryears by the agitators. While the Opposition members from Telugu Desam Party held the Government responsible for the demolition of the statues, members of the ruling Congress party said the violence had been restricted due to the precautionary measures taken by the police. The left parties, CPI and CPM have demanded the government to set up an enquiry committee to probe the violent incidents.
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Cutting across party affiliations, members in the Rajya Sabha today expressed serious concern over incidents of vandalism in Hyderabad yesterday describing such acts as a crime against the culture of the state. They also condemned the destruction of 13 statues of the state's popular figures. Raising the issue, Senior BJP leader, Mr. Venkaiah Naidu alleged that external forces were behind the incidents and said it was a sad day for democracy. Mr. M V Mysura Reddy of the  Telugu Desam, Mr. D Raja of the CPI and Mr Janardhana Reddy of the Congress, also expressed grave concerns.
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The Orissa Legislative Assembly (OLA) witnessed uproar scenes today with opposition Congress and BJP members demanding resignation of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik over the multi-crore pulses scam. Congress members stormed into the well of the houses as soon as the question hour of the second phase of budget session began. They shouted anti-government slogans and blamed the Chief Minister for supplying poisonous and poor quality pulses to lakhs of school children under Mid-Day Meal and thousands of pregnant women under special nutrition programme schemes.  Speaker Pradeep Kumar Amat had to adjourn the house time and again for three times as opposition members interrupted in the running of the house.
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In Uttar Pradesh,  Rail traffic on the Delhi -Moradabad route has been continuously disturbed for the last one week following the Jat agitation.  The  agitators  held demonstrations in Meerut and Bijnore today. A Northern Railways spokesperson told our AIR Allahabad correspondent that  about a hundred trains have been cancelled in the last seven days. The Jat community leaders are demanding reservation in central government jobs under the OBC quota. They are sitting on dharna on the railway tracks since the  5th of march at Kafurpur station on the Moradabad division.
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In Jammu and Kashmir, Police yesterday arrested a Lashkar-e-Toiba Hawala Operator from the hilly border Doda town of Jammu Division and recovered 1.84 lakh rupees worth hawala money from his possession.
According to Superintendent of Police, Doda Mr. Mohd. Arif Reshu the said Lashkar Hawala operator was captured when he was heading towards a militant’s location on outskirts of Doda along-with the hawala consignment. He has been identified as Bashir Ahmed. The militant was taking the consignment for delivery to Javed Ahmad alias Hurera on the directions of Lashkar commander Mohammadi. Bashir is being subjected to sustained interrogation to ascertain his links with other militants of Lashkar outfit.
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Still with Jammu and Kashmir an amount of 375 crore rupees has been spent under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) Scheme so 400 crore rupees has been  earmarked for the current financial year. The information was given at a high level meeting convened in Jammu under the Chairmanship of the Minister for Rural Development Mr. Ali Mohammad Sagar. It was informed at the meeting that the next proposed budget for the State under the scheme would be to the tune of 1433 Crore rupees which would provide employment to 7.45 lakh household by generating 664 lakh mandays work .
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The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange fell 128 points, to 18,200 in opening trade, today, on continued selling by foreign funds, amid weak global markets. Later, the Sensex lost further ground, and stood 235 points, or 1.3 percent in the negative zone, at 18,093, in afternoon deals, a short while ago.
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The rupee depreciated by 7 paise to 45.25 per US dollar in early trade today. Forex traders said that dollar gains against other Asian currencies and a weak opening in the stock market mainly put pressure on the rupee.
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And now we bring you news from the ICC Cricket World Cup:
In the on-going Group-B encounter between West Indies and Ireland at Mohali, the Windies have amassed a competitive 275 in their allotted 50 overs.
The West Indian innings featured a well crafted 107 from Opener Devon Smith and a belligerent 94 from Dangerman Keiron Pollard. Put into bat, the Caribbeans endured a slow and steady start but it was the fourth wicket stand between Pollard and Smith that helped their team compile a formidable total. For the Giant Killers Ireland, Kevin O'Brien bagged 4 wickets.
In the other Group-B clash, the co-hosts Bangladesh have won the toss and opted to field against England in a day-night match at Chittagong.
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Nominated member and noted agricultural scientist, Dr M S Swaminathan today suggested several of measures to increase the country's farming produce. Participating in the resumed discussion on the General Budget for 2011-12 in the Rajya Sabha, Dr Swaminathan pleaded with the government to fix the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) of cereal crops like ragi, bajra and jowar. He said the move will encourage the farmers to grow these crops on a large scale.
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The Government has initiated several programmes to increase awareness among the people about population control. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, the Minister of State for Health Mr. Dinesh Trivedi said that his ministry uses the media to educate people on the importance of population stabilization besides inter personal communication. The Minister said that Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh has also decided a schedule for the telecast of population related short films.
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In Afghanistan, the police chief of the northern Kunduz province and two other police officials were killed last evening when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-packed motorcycle just 150 feet from the police headquarters.
AIR correspondent reports that in another incident, Taliban carried out an attack intended to prevent people from taking part in a cash-for-work program run by the government and NATO troops in the southern province of Kandahar.
Violence in Afghanistan is picking up as traditional fighting season of spring has begun. The suicide attack on police chief again reinforces Taliban presence in relatively peaceful northern provinces. At least 31 people were killed last month in the same city during another suicide attack. Taliban has intensified its attacks in its southern stronghold of Kandahar and Helmand while security in capital Kabul has been beefed up following reports that several suicide bombers are planning attack in the city. NATO-led forces have also upped their offensive with the top US commander saying they expect a tough fighting season ahead. Civilians are increasingly becoming casualty and one of Afghan President’s cousin was killed in a NATO raid yesterday. The incident is under investigation and such casualties have drawn strong criticism from Afghan President in the past.
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Pakistan this morning test-fired a short range surface to surface ballistic missile HATF II (Abdali) with a range of 180 kilometres. The missile can carry nuclear and conventional warheads.
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The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has set up a 20 billion dollar development fund for Bahrain and Oman, which have been hit with protests.
In a statement at the end of a meeting of the foreign ministers' of six member GCC in Riyadh, the countries also promised to deal decisively with threats to any member's security. Rejecting any attempt of foreign interference in its affairs the GCC declared, they will firmly curb those trying to foment sectarian rift.
Meanwhile protests continue in some countries in the region while Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh ,who is facing deadly protests has announced to draft a new constitution and move to a parliamentary system of government.
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Mahavir Tyagi

Mahavir Tyagi

Date of Birth : 1899
Date of Death : 1980
Place of Birth : Uttar Pradesh
Mahavir Tyagi was an Indian freedom fighter and famous parliamentarian from the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Tyagi was educated in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. He joined the British Indian Army and was posted in Persia but resigned after the Amritsar Massacre of April 13, 1919. He was court martialled in Quetta (capital of Baluchistan, now in Pakistan) and externed from Baluchistan with all pay deposits forfeited. Returning to India, Tyagi became a staunch follower of Mahatma Gandhi.

In Uttar Pradesh politics he was known as a "Rafian", that is, an associate of Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, the famous Indian nationalist Muslim. Tyagi, who was active in the Kisan (peasant) movement, remained a life-long member of the Indian National Congress. He was imprisoned by the British several times. In 1921 he was tried at Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh. Mahatma Gandhi wrote four articles on the trial in the journal Young India. Mahavir Tyagi was close to, and had been a jail companion of, the leading Indian nationalist, Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru's father. In the 1920s Tyagi helped resolve, with the help of Maulana Mohammad Ali, a misunderstanding that had arisen between Motilal Nehru and Jawaharlal Nehru. Tyagi became a legislator in the United Provinces (later known as Uttar Pradesh) before Indian independence. In this capacity, he was a member of a committee which heralded social and land reform in the tribal area of Jaunsar Bawar in Dehradun district of Uttar Pradesh (an area now forming part of Uttaranchal state). While he himself adhered to Gandhian non-violence, he had close contacts even among the "revolutionaries", that is those who were not opposed to using violent means to overthrow the imperial state. These included Sachindra Nath Sanyal, Prem Kishan Khanna and Vishnu Sharan Dublish. When riots broke out in the Indian subcontinent after its partition in 1947, Tyagi, taking inspiration from Gandhi, staked his own life to help save Muslims in his home state and to bring peace. Mahavir Tyagi was a member of the Constituent Assembly of India. In this capacity he is known especially for his strong stand against unsafeguarded Preventive Detention laws and against suspension of fundamental rights in emergency situations.On India's becoming a Republic in 1950, Tyagi remained a member of the Provisional Parliament (1950-52),and the Lower House of the Indian Parliament, that is, the First, Second and Third Lok Sabha (1952-67). Tyagi was Minister for Revenue & Expenditure in the Nehru Council of Ministers (1951-53). In this capacity he introduced the First Voluntary Disclosure Scheme, known as the Tyagi Scheme, primarily, as he put it, to bring into the open incomes which had not been revealed to the alien government prior to independence. While in the Ministry of Finance, Tyagi earned a reputation as a strict economiser. Later Mahavir Tyagi became Minister for Defence Organisation (1953-57). General B M Kaul records in his "The Untold Story" that as Minister of Defence Organisation, Tyagi opposed policy proposals involving draconian measures in the tribal areas of India's North-East. Tyagi also gave instructions for recruitment of Muslims in large numbers in the Indian Army. The proportion of Muslims in the Army had fallen after Partition of India in 1947. Known for his independence, Tyagi opposed, even while he was a minister, the reorganisation of Indian states in 1956. He also opposed the decision to dismiss the Communist government led by E M S Namboodirapad in Kerala state at the end of the fifties, saying that this would establish a wrong precedent. Tyagi was Chairman of the Direct Taxes Administration Enquiry Committee (1958-59) and in that capacity paved the way, along with the Law Commission, for the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Tyagi famously criticized Nehru's statement in the Indian Parliament in the prelude to the Sino-Indian War: Nehru commented that "Not a blade of grass grows in Aksai Chin", attempting to explain that Aksai Chin was a barren, inhospitable land and the nation had lost little by its occupation by China. Tyagi retorted, pointing to his bald head: "Nothing grows here ..should it be cut off or given away to somebody else?". A tense situation that had been developing in the House on the subject of the border conflict was averted as the House dissolved in laughter in which Nehru also joined. Tyagi continued to enjoy an affectionate relationship with Jawaharlal Nehru. He served as Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament (1962-64). In April 1964, a month before Nehru's death, Tyagi rejoined the Government as Cabinet Minister in charge of Rehabilitation. In the General Elections of 1967 which saw a popular backlash against the Congress Party, Tyagi lost to an independent candidate backed by an anti-Congress combination of parties. In 1968 he became the Chairman of the Fifth Finance Commission.After the split in the Congress in 1969, Tyagi stayed with the Congress(O), the organisational wing of the party. In 1970 he was elected to the Upper House of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, from Uttar Pradesh and led the Congress(O) in the House till he retired in 1976. Tyagi's being in the Congress(O) did not prevent him from being critical of the movement led by Jaya Prakash Narayan in 1974-75. He was equally critical of the Emergency imposed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975. Mahavir Tyagi passed away in New Delhi on May 22, 1980. A popular figure, he had friends across political parties and was widely admired for his integrity, outspokenness, ready wit and sense of humour.

His writings

Prior to independence, Mahavir Tyagi had written a booklet on proportional representation. His memoirs in Hindustani were published in the 1960s in two volumes : (i) Ve Kranti Ke Din and (ii) Meri Kaun Sunega. These volumes have now been combined in one and, along with some other unpublished articles by Tyagi, have been published under the title Azadi Ka Andolan: Hanste Huye Aansu (Kitab Ghar, 24 Ansari Road, Daryaganj, Delhi).

Dr.Shanker Dayal Sharma

Dr.Shanker Dayal Sharma

Date of Birth : Aug 19, 1918
Date of Death : Dec 26, 1999
Place of Birth : India
Tenure Order : 9th President
Took Office : Jul 25, 1992
Left Office : Jul 25, 1997
Successor : K.R.Narayanan
Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma was an Indian scholar and politician, most notable for serving as President of India from 1992 until 1997. Sharma studied in Britain as a young man. He attended Cambridge University and Oxford University. He was a bar-at-law from Lincoln's Inn and taught law at Cambridge University in 1946-47. He took his M.A. degrees in English literature, Hindi and Sanskrit. Shankar Dayal Sharma was married to Vimala Sharma. During the 1940s he was involved in the struggle for Indian independence from Britain, and joined the Indian National Congress, a party which he would remain loyal to for the rest of his life. In 1952 he became the chief minister of Bhopal and served in that position until the state reorganization of 1956, when Bhopal merged with several other states to form the state of Madhya Pradesh. During the 1960s Sharma supported Indira Gandhi's quest for leadership of the Congress Party. He served in her cabinet as the minister for Communication from 1974-77. Later on, he was given a variety of ceremonial posts. In 1984 he began serving as a governor of Indian states, first in Andhra Pradesh. During this time, his daughter and son-in-law were killed by Sikh militants.


In 1985 he left Andhra Pradesh and became governor of Punjab during a time of violence between the Indian government and Sikh militants, many of whom lived in Punjab. He left Punjab in 1986 and took up his final governorship in Maharashtra. He remained governor of that state until 1987 when he was elected for a 5-year term as Vice-President of India and chairman of the Rajya Sabha. Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma was known be a stickler for parliamentary norms. He is known to have broken down in the Rajya Sabha while witnessing the members of the house create a din on a political issue. His grief brought back some order into the proceedings of the house. Sharma served as Vice-President until 1992, when he was elected President. After a difficult campaign, he received 66% of the votes in the electoral college, defeating George Swell. During his five-year term, he was active in ceremonial matters and was in charge of dismissing and appointing governors. During his last year as President, it was his responsibility to swear in three prime ministers. He did not run for a second term as President. During the last five years of his life, Sharma suffered from ill health. On October 9 1999, he suffered a massive heart attack and was admitted to a hospital in New Delhi, where he died. He was cremated near the Vijay Ghat

Govind Ballabh Pant

Govind Ballabh Pant

Date of Birth : Sep 10, 1887
Date of Death : Mar 7, 1961
Place of Birth : Uttar Pradesh
Govind Ballabh Pant was an Indian freedom fighter, an important political leader from Uttar Pradesh and of the movement to establish Hindi as the national language of India. As a lawyer in Kashipur, Pant began his active work against the British Raj in 1914, when he helped a local parishad, or village council, their successful challenge of a law requiring locals to provide free transportation of the luggage of travelling British officials. In 1921, he entered politics and was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. In 1930, he was arrested and imprisoned for several weeks for organizing a Salt March inspired by Gandhi's earlier actions. In 1933, he was arrested and imprisoned for seven months for attending a session of the then-banned provincial Congress. In 1935, the ban was rescinded, and Pant joined the new Legislative Council.

During the Second World War, Pant acted as the tiebreaker between Gandhi's faction, which advocated supporting the British Crown in their war effort, and Subash Chandra Bose's faction, which advocated taking advantage of the situation to expel the British Raj by any means necessary. In 1940, Pant was arrested and imprisoned for helping organize the Satyagraha movement. In 1942 he was arrested again, this time for signing the Quit India resolution, and imprisoned until March of 1945, at which point Jawaharlal Nehru had to plead for Pant's release, on grounds of failing health. After independence in 1947, Pant became Chief Minister of the United Provinces, which he renamed Uttar Pradesh. Among his achievements in that position was the abolition of the zamindari system. He was called on to succeed Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as Home Minister after Patel's death in 1950; in that position, his chief achievement was the establishment of Hindi as an official language. In 1957, he was awarded the Bharat Ratna.

Maulana Shaukat Ali

Maulana Shaukat Ali

Date of Birth : 1873
Date of Death : 1938
Place of Birth : Uttar Pradesh

Maulana Shaukat Ali was an Indian Muslim nationalist and leader of the Khilafat movement. He was the brother of Maulana Mohammad Ali. Shaukat Ali was born in 1873 in Rampur state in what is today Uttar Pradesh. He was educated at the Aligarh Muslim University. He was extremely fond of playing cricket, captaining the university team. Ali served in the civil service of United Provinces of Oudh and Agra from 1896 to 1913. Shaukat Ali helped his brother Mohammed Ali publish the Urdu weekly Hamdard and the English weekly Comrade. In 1919, while jailed for publishing what the British charged as seditious materials and organizing protests, he was elected as the first president of the Khilafat conference.

He was re-arrested and imprisoned from 1921 to 1923 for his support to Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress during the Non-Cooperation Movement (1919-1922). His fans accorded him and his brother the title of Maulana. Along with his brother, Shaukat Ali grew disilliusioned with the Congress and Gandhi's leadership. He opposed the 1928 Nehru Report, demanding separate electorates for Muslims, and attended the first and second Round Table Conferences in London. His brother died in 1931, and Ali continued on and organized the World Muslim Conference in Jerusalem. In 1936, Ali joined the All India Muslim League and became a close political ally of and campaigner for Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the future founder of Pakistan. He served as member of the Central Assembly from 1934 to 1938. He travelled over the Middle East, building support for India's Muslims and the freedom struggle. Shaukat Ali died in 1938.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

Maulana Mohammad Ali

Date of Birth : 1878
Date of Death : 1931
Place of Birth : Rampur

Maulana Mohammad Ali, also addressed with the suffix Jauhar, which was his pen name, was an Indian Muslim nationalist and leader of the Khilafat movement. Mohammad Ali was born in Rampur state in 1878 to a family of Pathan ancestry. He was the brother of Maulana Shaukat Ali. Despite the early death of his father, the family strived and Ali attended the Aligarh Muslim University and Lincoln College, Oxford University in 1898, studying modern history.

Upon his return to India, he served as education director for the Rampur state, and later joined the Baroda civil service. He became a brilliant writer and orator, and wrote for major English and Indian newspapers, in both English and Urdu. He himself launched the Urdu weekly 'Hamdard' and English 'Comrade' in 1911. He moved to Delhi in 1913. Mohammad Ali worked hard to expand the AMU, then known as the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, and was one of the co-founders of the Jamia Millia Islamia in 1920, which was later moved to Delhi. Mohammed Ali had attended the founding meeting of the All India Muslim League in Dhaka in 1906, and served as its president in 1918. He remained active in the League till 1928. Ali represented the Muslim delegation that travelled to England in 1919 in order to convince the British government to influence the Turkish nationalist Mustafa Kemal not to depose the Sultan of Turkey, who was the Caliph of Islam. British rejection of their demands resulted in the formation of the Khilafat committee which directed Muslims all over India to protest and boycott the government. Now accorded the respectful title of Maulana, Ali formed in 1921, a broad coalition with Muslim nationalists like Maulana Shaukat Ali, Maulana Azad, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari and Indian nationalist leader Mahatma Gandhi, who enlisted the support of the Indian National Congress and many thousands of Hindus, who joined the Muslims in a demonstration of unity. Ali also wholeheartedly supported Gandhi's call for a national civil resistance movement, and inspired many hundreds of protests and strikes all over India. He was arrested by British authorities and imprisoned for two years. Maulana Mohammad Ali was however, disillusioned by the failure of the Khilafat movement and Gandhi's suspension of civil disobedience in 1922, owing to the Chauri Chaura incident. He re-started his weekly Hamdard, and left the Congress Party. He opposed the Nehru Report, which was a document proposing constitutional reforms and a dominion status of an independent nation within the British Empire, written by a committee of Hindu and Muslim members of the Congress Party headed by President Motilal Nehru. It was a major protest against the Simon Commission which had arrived in India to propose reforms but containing no Indian nor making any effort to listen to Indian voices. Mohammad Ali opposed the Nehru Report's rejection of separate electorates for Muslims, and supported the Fourteen Points of Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the League. He became a critic of Gandhi, breaking with fellow Muslim leaders like Maulana Azad, Hakim Ajmal Khan and Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, who continued to support Gandhi and the Indian National Congress. Ali attended the Round Table Conference to show that only the Muslim League spoke for India's Muslims. He died soon after the conference in London, on January 4, 1931 and was buried in Jerusalem according to his own wish. Maulana Mohammad Ali is remembered as a fiery leader of many of India's Muslims. He is celebrated as a hero by the Muslims of Pakistan, who claim he inspired the Pakistan movement. But in India, he is remembered for his leadership during Khilafat and the Non-Cooperation Movement (1919-1922) and his leadership in Muslim education. The famous Mohammad Ali Road in south Mumbai, India's largest city, is named after him. The Gulistan-e-Jauhar neighborhood of Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, is named in honor of Maulana Mohammad Ali Johar. Johar Town, Lahore is also named after him.

Liaquat Ali Khan

Liaquat Ali Khan

Date of Birth : Oct 1, 1896
Date of Death : Oct 16, 1951
Place of Birth : Karnal



Nawabzadah Khan Liaquat Ali Khan was the first Prime Minister of Pakistan.He was born in Karnal, India, studied law at the University of Oxford, and was admitted to the English bar in 1922. Returning to India, he joined the All-India Muslim League in 1923 and was elected to the legislative council of the United Provinces. In 1936 he became secretary-general of the league and the chief aide to its founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. As such, he was the principal architect of the partition of India and the creation of Pakistan in 1947. An obvious choice for prime minister, he guided the country through its first difficult years. He was assassinated in October 1951 under circumstances never fully explained. He was born in the town of Karnal in present-day Haryana to a land-holding family.

Khan completed his early education at Aligarh Muslim University, and obtained a Law degree from the University of Oxford in 1921. Upon his return to India in 1923, Khan devoted himself to the Indian nationalist cause, and increasingly began to work for a Muslim state due to the injustices he felt were leveled upon Muslims by the British. In April 1933, he was married to Begum Ra'Ana Liaquat Ali Khan. He was invited to join the Indian National Congress, but refused, forming his own party. He joined the legislative council of Uttar Pradesh, and served there until 1940, when he was elevated to the central legislative assembly. During this time, Muhammed Ali Jinnah had moved to the United Kingdom, where he was disinvolved from Indian politics. Khan was instrumental in getting Jinnah back to the subcontinent, and Jinnah made Khan the secretary of the Muslim League. Thus in the 1940s, Khan was heavily involved in convincing the British of the need for a separate Muslim homeland in India. His primary emphasis was on separation from "Hindu" India, rather than on freedom from British colonialism. This work helped lead to the formation of Pakistan in 1947, and Liaquat Ali Khan was made the first Prime Minister. Liaquat Ali Khan was given the title of "Qaid-i Millat" (Leader of the Nation) by Muslim League for his great leadership and contribution to the cause of Pakistan. Khan's time as Prime Minister was cut short by an assassin's bullet. On October 16, 1951, he had been scheduled to make an important announcement in a public meeting of Muslim City League at Municipal Park, Rawalpindi. Khan was shot twice in the chest during that meeting by a man sitting in the audience's only fifteen yards away, and the security forces immediately shot the assassin, who was later identified as Saad Akbar. Killing the assassin erased all clues to the identity of the real culprit behind the murder. Upon his death, Liaquat Ali Khan was given the honorific title of "Shahid-i Millat", or "Martyr of the Nation".

Feroze Gandhi

Feroze Gandhi

Date of Birth : Aug 12, 1912
Date of Death : Sep 8, 1960
Place of Birth     : India  Feroze Gandhi (12 August 1912 - 8 September 1960) was an Indian politician and journalist of Parsi descent. He was the husband of Indira Gandhi, the former Prime Minister of India and daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Indian Prime Minister. He was educated at the City Anglo-Vernacular High School and Ewing Christian College, followed by the London School of Economics. He abandoned his studies in 1930 to join the struggle for Indian independence. Feroze grew close to the Nehru family, especially Indira's mother Kamala Nehru and Indira herself. Feroze helped nurse the ailing Kamala, and briefly traveled with Nehru, Kamala and Indira to Europe. Even before Kamala's death, Indira and Feroze had begun falling in love. Indira and Feroze grew more close to each other in England. They married in 1942.

Arrested and jailed during the Quit India Movement less than six months after their marriage, he was imprisoned for a year in Allahabad's Naini Central Prison. Indira was also imprisoned. In 1944, she gave birth to Rajiv Gandhi, a future Prime Minister. In 1946, Sanjay Gandhi, a major political influence on his mother when she was PM, was born. Indira and Feroze settled in Allahabad with their two young children, and Feroze became editor of The National Herald, a newspaper founded by his father-in-law. Feroze Gandhi contested elections to the Parliament of India in 1952, independent India's first general elections. His wife served as his campaign organizer, and Gandhi won. But Feroze soon became a prominent force in his own right, criticizing the Government of his father-in-law and beginning a tirade against corruption. His exposure of a scandal involving major insurance companies and the Finance Minister T.T. Krishnamachari caused the latter to resign, and Nehru major embarrassment. Feroze began building his own reputation and small coterie of supporters and advisors, and continued challenging the government. He was re-elected in 1957. The marriage of Feroze and Indira was tumultuous, as Indira began living with her father, who was alone, and cared for him personally and often acted as his private secretary. When he became an MP, Feroze started living in his own house in Delhi, away from his father-in-law and wife. Indira and Feroze were re-united in 1958, when Feroze suffered his first heart attack. Indira took him to recuperate in Kashmir, where with their young boys, they were together again. However, Feroze died in 1960 of a second heart attack.
 

Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya

Dec 25, 1861

Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya
Date of Birth :
Date of Death : 1946
Place of Birth    : Allahabad       




Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya was a national leader and a freedom fighter of India. Born to an educated orthodox Hindu family at Prayag (Allahabad) on December 25, 1861, Malviya is known for achievements such as founding a university (Banaras Hindu University) in Benaras, India. A postage stamp has been printed in India in his honor.

Hakim Ajmal Khan

1863

Hakim Ajmal Khan
Date of Birth :
Date of Death : 1927
Place of Birth   Dr. Hakim Ajmal Khan was a noted Indian freedom fighter, renowned physician and educationalist. He was the founder of the Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi. Hakim Ajmal Khan was born in 1863 in Delhi. His family, a distinguished line of physicians descended from the army of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire in India. Khan studied the Qur'an and traditional Islamic knowledge, before studying medicine at home, under the tutelage of his relatives. After launching himself in practise, Khan was appointed chief physician to the Nawab of Rampur from 1892 to 1902. In Rampur he met Syed Ahmed Khan and was appointed a trustee of the Aligarh college, now the Aligarh Muslim University.


Hakim Ajmal Khan took much interest in the expansion and development of the indigenous system of medicine, Tibb-i-Yunani, or Unani. Khan's family established the Tibbiya school in Delhi, in order to expand the research and practise of Unani. In recognition of his services in this field the Government of India conferred on him, in 1907 the title of 'Haziq-ul-Mulk'. But in 1910, Dr. Khan was organizing Indian physicians in protest of a Government decision to revoke official recongition for the practioners of Indian systems of medicine, of Unani and Ayurveda. Dr. Khan's involvement in politics began with writing for the Urdu weekly 'Akmal-ul-Akhbar', which was founded in 1865-70 and was run by his family. Dr. Khan was in the deputation of Muslims that met the Viceroy of India in Shimla in 1906, presenting him a memorandum on behalf of the community, and in 1907 was present in Dhaka where the All India Muslim League was created. Dr. Khan also backed the British during World War I, encouraging Indians to support the government, but the situation changed with the entry of Turkey. Upon the arrest of many Muslim leaders, Dr. Khan came to Mahatma Gandhi for support, who joined Khan and other Muslim leaders like Maulana Azad, Maulana Mohammad Ali and Maulana Shaukat Ali in the Khilafat movement. Dr. Khan resigned from the AMU when the authorities refused to endorse or participate in the Non-Cooperation Movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress. He was elected the President of the Congress in 1921, and fiercely condemned the Amritsar Massacre and the British response to the Khilafat. He was imprisoned for many months by police authorities. Dr. Khan had left the AMU owing to its historic resistance to the Indian National Congress. Along with many prominent Muslim nationalists like Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, he laid the foundations of the Jamia Millia Islamia (Islamic National University) in Aligarh in 1920, in response to Mahatma Gandhi's call for Indians to boycott government institutions. The JMI grew into a prominent and prestigious university, and was moved to Delhi, where it stands today. Dr. Khan served as its first Chancellor, and was a key patron of the institution.

Dr. Khan died of heart problems on December 29, 1927. Dr. Khan had renounced his government title, and many of his Indian fans awarded him the title of 'Masih-ul-Mulk' (Healer of the Nation). He was succeeded in the position of JMI Chancellor by Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari
: Delhi