Yemen: Clashes in the north leave 17 dead
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Yemeni security officials say renewed clashes in the north between rebels belonging to a Shiite-branch of Islam and ultraconservative Salafis backed by allying tribes have killed 17.
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The officials say today’s clashes were in Amran province, one of three fronts where battles are raging between Hawthi rebels and Salafis.
Two other fronts with sporadic fighting are in the adjacent Saada and al-Jawf provinces, bordering Saudi Arabia.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the press. President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi is expected to send mediators.
The fight over the northern region is taking a sectarian undertone as Salafis are accused of trying to spread their school of thought in a stronghold of Hawthis, who belong to the Zaydi sect.
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Low turnout in Bangladesh elections
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Bangladesh’s violence-plagued general elections, being boycotted by opposition BNP-led alliance on Sunday witnessed low turn out in initial hours amid heavy security, as voters preferred to stay inside home fearing violence that has left six persons dead in last 12 hours.
Polling began at 8 a.m (0200 GMT) in 147 out of 300 constituencies in 59 districts of Bangladesh, officials said.Paramilitary Border Guards and elite Rapid Action Battalion forces were deployed along with police as 390 candidates of mostly ruling Awami League and its ally Jatiya Party were contesting for the 147 seats in the “one- sided” election, being closely watched by India and the world powers.
There is no election in remaining 153 constituencies which have returned winners without a contest, as opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led 18 party alliance is boycotting the polls.
The voting in 147 constituencies where the number of voters is nearly 44,000,00 is very low, with the turnout being almost zero per cent at several polling centres in initial hours, local media reports said.
A poor turnout would give the opposition the chance to question the legitimacy of today’s parliament elections.
A similar poll in 1996, boycotted by the opposition which was the Awami League, witnessed a mere 7 per cent turnout and forced Khaleda Zia-led BNP government to call for fresh polls within months under a neutral non-party caretaker system.
Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed has said the huge deployment of security forces will give confidence to the voters and enable them to go and vote.
Officials said over 375,000 security personnel were deployed across Bangladesh to maintain peace and nearly 50,000 army troops were kept on vigil as “striking force”.
But voting was suspended at 136 centres due to torching of polling booths and snatching of ballot boxes and papers.
Opposition activists are burning down polling stations and attacking public transport in a bid to keep voters away from the polls, which they called as “farcical”.
The BNP-led opposition had demanded postponement of the polls and setting up of a non-party caretaker government, but Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina rejected the demands.
Political violence during strikes enforced by the opposition since November have left nearly 140 people dead.
Hours before the start of voting, suspected opposition activists hacked to death an assistant presiding officer of a polling centre in north-western Thakurgaon while five others were killed in clashes with police across the country.
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No question of compromising on corruption: Kejriwal
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Making it clear that there will be no compromise on corruption, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said anyone embroiled in corrupt practices will not be spared be it Sheila Dikshit, any BJP member or even his own party member.
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Kejriwal, whose AAP is ruling Delhi with the outside support of eight Congress MLAs, said, “BJP leader Harsh Vardhan has asked me to take action against Sheila Dikshit. I asked him to provide evidence and I would take action.” “We will not spare anyone involved in corruption. There is no question of compromising with corruption. I will put my entire life on stake to fight it, whether it is Sheila Dikshit, any other minister, any bureaucrat, BJP or Congress member or even any of my own party member,” he told reporters before his party’s National Executive Meeting in New Delhi.
He said his government is overhauling the state vigilance department which was lying in the dumps and made “non-existent” by the previous government.
“Out of 30 inspectors only 11 are posted. There are vacancies at every level involving ACP, DCP and SI posts. The department needs overhauling, we are trying to strengthen the department and identifying the honest officers, ” he said.
Kejriwal charged that the cases raised by the Anti-corruption Department or the State Vigilance Commission were never taken up and brushed under the carpet.
On the CWG scam, the Chief Minister said, “In November 2010, I had prepared a 370-page report on CWG scam which contains evidence on corrupt practices during the Games. It doesn’t mention any names. The report was based on newspaper reports.”
He said he is working towards launching a helpline to register corruption-related complaints and will ensure swift action on the complaints received.
Kejriwal said his party will contest the maximum number of seats in Lok Sabha polls, but he will not contest the general elections.
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AAP to contest all Delhi, Haryana LS seats
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The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday ruled out contesting all 545 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, but will field candidates in maximum number of seats and announced a nationwide fortnight campaign for enrolling new members from January 10.
After the party’s two-day national executive meeting chaired by Arvind Kejriwal, senior AAP leader Yogendra Yadav said that the party will contest in at least 15 to 20 states and effort will be to put good candidates on maximum number of seats in Lok Sabha polls.
When asked whether they will contest from all 545 seats in Lok Sabha elections, Yadav said they are still not decided on how many seats the party will contest. “Though it is sure that we will contest election from a large number of seats, at present we are not sure that we will contest from all 545 seats. We hope to contest from at least 15-20 states,” Yadav said.
“AAP will contest the Lok Sabha elections under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal. It is still to early to discuss about the party’s prime ministerial candidate,” he said.
Yadav also announced that AAP will contest from all the 90 constituencies in the upcoming assembly elections in Haryana as well as all the 10 Lok Sabha seats of the state.
“The assembly elections in Haryana is due in October, but there are speculations that it might be held earlier or along with the Lok Sabha elections. The party has decided to contest all the Lok Sabha and assembly seats there,” he added.
Yadav said that keeping in mind the unprecedented interest and excitement among people to join AAP, the party has decided to launch national membership drive – Main Bhi Aam Aadmi – between January 10 and January 26.
“We have got immense support from people, whether it is villages or urban areas. In view of this support, during this campaign we will invite people to join the party and encourage them to take out time for nation building,” he said.
The AAP leader said that there was no membership fee for the nationwide campaign and the party has discontinued its initiative to take Rs 10 as token money for membership.
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GSLV D5 successfully places GSAT-14 on orbit
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IISRO on Sunday successfully launched a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV D5) with an indigenous cryogenic engine from the spaceport of Satish Dhawan Space Centre Sriharikota, entering a select club of nations.
ISRO said, ‘India’s tryst with Cryogenic propulsion bears fruit. Flight-testing of Indian cryogenic engine/GSLV D5 is successful’.With this launch, ISRO became the sixth space agency in the world after US, Russia, Japan, China and France to have tasted success with an indigenous cryogenic engine.
“I am extremely happy and proud to say team ISRO has done it. The Indian cryogenic engine and stage performed as predicted, as expected for this mission and injected precisely the GSAT-14 communication satellite into intended orbit,” a jubilant K Radhakrishnan, ISRO chairman said from the Mission Control Room soon after the launch vehicle placed the 1,982 kg GSAT 14 satellite into the intended orbit.
Launching a GSLV with an indigenous cryogenic engine has been a major challenge for ISRO since 2001 after multiple unsuccessful attempts. Only four of earlier seven attempts have succeeded.
GSLV D5′s scheduled launch on August 19 last year was called off in the eleventh hour after a fuel leak, following which ISRO moved the vehicle back to the Vehicle Assembly Building and rectified the defect.
Today’s launch is India’s eighth flight of GSLV and also the fourth developmental flight of GSLV.
During this flight, the indigenously developed Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) was flight tested for the second time. GSAT-14 is India’s 23rd geostationary communication satellite, as four of GSAT-14s predecessors were launched by GSLV during 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2007, respectively.
GSAT-14 would join the group of India’s nine operational geostationary satellites. The primary objective of this mission is to augment the in-orbit capacity of extended C and Ku-band transponders and provide a platform for new experiments.
The GSAT-14 will be positioned at 74 degree East longitude and co-located with INSAT-3C, INSAT-4CR and KALPANA-1 satellites.
The 12 communication transponders onboard GSAT-14 will further augment the capacity in the INSAT/GSAT system.
ISRO’s Cryogenic Upper Stage Project envisaged the design and development of the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage to replace the stage procured from Russia and used in GSLV flights, according to ISRO.
ISRO officials had been extremely vigilant in tightening loose ends this time around to avoid an unsuccessful attempt.
Design modifications were implemented wherever required in the launch vehicle along with thorough ground testing and improvements.
The modifications included redesigning of Lower Shroud, which protects the cryogenic engine during atmospheric flight of GSLV-D5 and redesigning of the wire tunnel of the cryo stage to withstand larger forces in flight.
The national space agency also performed two ‘Acceptance Tests for flight unit of Fuel Booster Turbo Pump (FBTP), High altitude tests to confirm the ignition sequence in flight under vacuum, to validate design improvements and Cryogenic Main Engine (200 sec) and Steering Engine (100 sec) acceptance tests at Main Engine Test and High Altitude Test.
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International Drama Festival-16thBharat Rang Mahotsav 2014 kicks off in the capital
Posted on January 5, 2014 by sagarmedia
International Drama Festival-16thBharat Rang Mahotsav 2014 kicks off in the capital amidst fanfare and critical acclaim
16th Bharat Rang Mahotsav to highlight various faces of Indian Theatre
16th Bharat Rang Mahotsav travels to Imphal and Guwahati
New Delhi, 4th January, 2014: National School of DramaⳠInternational Drama Festival-16th Bharat Rang Mahotsav 2014 kicks off in the capital today, amidst much fanfare and critical acclaim from theatre lovers which is set to enthrall all theatre connoisseurs till 19th January.
In an elegant function, the 16th Bharat Rang Mahotsav was inaugurated at the Kamani Auditorium in the capital, today. Present on the occasion were Shri Manoj Mitra, Eminent Theatre Personality was the Chief Guest, Prof. Kamlesh Dutt Tripathi, Eminent Scholar & Theatre Personality, Guest of Honor & the inauguration was presided over by Shri Ratan Thiyam Chairman, National School of Drama Society and Prof Waman Kendre, Director, National School of Drama, among others. The inauguration was followed by a theatre performance in Sanskrit Chhaya Shakuntalam based on KalidasaⳠAbhijnana Shakuntalam directed by celebrated Theatre personality KN Panikkar.
The National School of Drama rings in 2014 with its annual drama extravaganza in the form of International Festival of Drama – the 16th Bharat Rang Mahotsav. Commencing from the 4th of January and culminating on 19th January, 2014, this yearⳠInternational Drama Festival highlights the various faces of Indian theatre and brings to the capital 71 performances by renowned theater groups from different parts of India and the world on same platform so that theater aficionados as well as common men can watch and be entertained and enriched by their performances.
This year, theatre groups from 17 states, representing all the four regions of the nation East, West, North South will stage their performances on this international platform. Even countries like Sri Lanka, Japan, Israel, China, Poland and Germany which are steeped in theatre culture, brings in seven performances in this yearⳠinternational festival. The festival will feature a complete kaleidoscope of various theatre styles starting from Classical, including Modern, Western and finishing in Folk Theatre; thus showing all the different faces of Indian Theatre to the audience. If this was not all, Bharat Rang Mahotsav this time highlights traditional folk theatre from about every part of the country bringing 11 performances from folk & traditional theatre, making it the ultimate platform of interaction and education of theatre.
Prof. Waman Kendre, NSD Director, says, ㎓D aims to bring together all the theatre peopleࠠof India and abroad through Bharat Rang Mahotsav . Next time whole selection criteria will be changed in the manner of visiting personally to city to town to witness the best of the performances & select among them.
Bharat Rang Mahotsav is not only about urban theatre but it also focuses on the rural and traditional theatre. Hence, NSD being the apex theatre institution of the country is reaching out to every nook and corner of the country where drama and theatre exists and survives. With such exchange of knowledge and culture NSD aims to be the ultimate platform of theatre and cultural exchanges in theatre not only in India but with other countries as well where theatre is alive.
As a parallel festival, Bharat Rang Mahotsav this year goes out to the exotic North East with 6 plays this year.NSD this year touches the hearts of Imphal and Guwahati with 3 international plays (from Israel, Japan and Sri Lanka) and 3 Indian plays which includes a Tamasha. This parallel festival will be on from 9th January, 2014 to the 16th January, 2014.
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Play: Chhaya Shakuntalam
The Play & DirectorⳠNote:-
Chhaya Shakuntalam is a retelling of KalidasaⳠAbhijnana Shakuntalam by the famous Hindi poet Udayan Vajpeyi. The original provides an intuitive shade of ingenuity and stimulates a sensitive semblance in this recreation. The masterpiece work is decoded and further encoded into the new text, which in turn provides the input for the subtext. The title of the play contains the word ぢhijnana䠷hich is indicative of oblivion and remembrance, two psychogenic functions of the mind experienced by Dushyanta, the protagonist of the play.
It is evident from the text that the word mrigaya connotes the hunt for a prey as well as the quest of a desirous mind. Dushyanta, pursuing his recreational sport comes across a deer, which turns out to be Shakuntala, a naﶥ girl who represents the charm of the woods.ࠓhe has been brought up by the shakunta birds in the company of the flora and the fauna. The mischievous arrows of DushyantaⳠinfatuation strike this embodiment of innocence and purity. The textual epithets 㡮aghraatam pushpam䬓kisalayam anoonam䠨the flower un-smelt and the fresh sprout untouched) lead to the contextual acting by which Shakuntala represents nothing but the Nature.
The idea of an individual vis-୶is the society is subtly presented in the play wherein Dushyanta in his lovelorn state faces the social questioning about the meaning of mrigaya. Unmindful of this note of caution, he dabbles in his own amorous fancies. The loss of memory about his commitment to Shakuntala is attributed to the curse of sage Durvasa. However, when calmed down the angry sage takes back his words of fury and offers a device for redemption from his own curse, where the signet ring plays an important role.ࠉn the final scene of reunion, people kindle the kingⳠmemory by handing over the ring to him.
The theme of the play suggests that the limit of oneⳊown rights irrespective of whether one is the ruler or the ruled has to be prescribed by some superimposed sanction, lest the social equilibrium would be disturbed. Whichever age we belong to, the problem repeats itself in different contemporary dimensions.
Warm regards,
Santosh Kumar
M 9990937676
68509492
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Boletín informativo. Sábado 4 de Enero 2014.
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