Vision of Change

The people’s president. The missile man of India. The lynchpin of Pokhran-2. The bottom-up visionary. The accolades do not wholly define the versatile APJ Abdul Kalam, India’s 11th president. In an interview with DNA’s Josy Joseph, Kalam reiterates his vision for India, his route map for people’s involvement, the nation’s commitment and youth partnership. In essence, Kalam architects a launchpad for India:  

DNA: Dr Kalam, it is a decade since India 2020: A Vision For The New Millennium came out. Has your broad vision for the country changed since?

Bogota  - The latest fighting between Colombian military forces and guerillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) left 11 people dead, authorities said Saturday.

The death toll comprised 10 alleged members of FARC, a Marxist group that has been waging a civil war for 45 years, and one government soldier, the military said in a statement.

Doctors at SSKM Hospital removed the intact glass bulb from the stomach of the four year old Pratima Aleymagar successfully.

Had the torch bulb broken inside the girl’s stomach, the glass could have caused immense damage to her organs.

Confirming the development, surgeon Arunabha Sengupta, who operated on the girl said, “Aleymagar underwent a surgery Thursday morning. The width of the bulb was 2 mm and it was struck so tightly inside the left bronchia that the slightest pressure would have led to her death.”

On Feb 16, Aleymagar had swallowed a 2 mm X 1 mm bulb while playing at her residence in Narendrapur town in South 24 Parganas district.

The government of Maharashtra's Amnesty Scheme 2008 for stamp duty defaulters, which was in force from 9th June 2008 up to 8th September 2008 but was extended from time to time finally closed on 26th February 2009.

The amnesty scheme has generated revenue of approximately Rs190 crore, as per initial data available on 27th February. There were 91,237 applications, which is twice of what was expected.

To make it easy for the people, six registration offices were made operational in different part of the city, namely Mumbai, Kurla, Andheri, Borivili, Enforcement I and Enforcement II.

Special focus on housing project for MIG and LIG

The Pimpri-Chinchwad New Township Development Authority (PCNTDA) on Friday presented a Rs678.12 crore budget for 2009-10 to Pune divisional commissioner Dilip Band. PCNTDA chief executive officer Suhas Divase presented the budget.

A special focus of the budget is the proposed housing project for middle income group (MIG) and low income group (LIG) on a public- private-partnership (PPP) basis in sector 12 on 58 hectares of land. Transforming nallas into green zones, foot overbridge at Akurdi railway station, eco-friendly office for PCNTDA, sports training centres and theme parks for children are the other features of the budget.