These steps are being taken to bring an end to the number of deaths which are caused every year due to dowry. The National Commission for Women (NCW) had called for changes in the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The proposed amendments range from changing the definition of dowry to imposition of harsher penalty for dowry deaths.

The WCD is hoping to garner support from all other government sectors in order to bring this act into action as soon as possible. The anti-dowry legislation is often seen as “draconian” by its critics and the government hopes to get political view on the amendments before bringing it to the Union Cabinet. “We want suggestions and comments from political parties on the dowry legislation,” said Krishna Tirath, minister for women and child development.

The ministry has proposed that the definition of dowry should be changed to include both moveable and immovable property as well as asking for any favours from the woman’s parents. It also wants the punishment for dowry givers to be reduced on the ground that they are victims of coercion. The draft law has sought a mandatory provision for registration of lists of gifts received at the time of marriage and penalty for not maintaining such a list. There is also a proposal to empower protection officers appointed under the Domestic Violence Act, so that they can file complaints in case of dowry harassment. Advisory boards set up under the Dowry Act should assist the protection officers. The ministry also plans to discuss a new clause providing an opportunity to the woman to file a case at the place where the offence was committed or where she permanently or temporarily resides.

The recommendations were part of the national consultation in January with representatives of state governments, police and legal service authorities among others. Other issues that are likely to be part of the meeting will be protection of vulnerable groups like sex workers and transgender, and the ministry’s scheme for rehabilitation of rape victims.

Unfortunately, since the month of January, more than 358 deaths have been reported at this hospital alone. These happenings were highlighted in the local media a few weeks back which caught the attention of the national media and it became a scandal following which the hospital and state authorities did not have any answers. State minister for medical education, R S Chib, said that experts from Srinagar Medical College would conduct the probe and a report would be submitted within a week.

Chib, however, said that it the doctors should not be blamed without proof and until the actual investigation is over. “Some of the children have died of encephalitis, where the normal mortality rate is 98 per cent,” he said. “We also need to increase the number of ventilators and nursing staff.”

A source from the hospital speaking on the basis of anonymity, said that if the hospital rumours are to be believed, the huge number of deaths are due to a huge influx of ailing children – many of them newborns – at the hospital which lacks infrastructure.

Until recently, the only children’s hospital in the valley, Pant Hospital was recently designated as a general hospital. According to hospital employees, the institute has only five ventilators. “Two or three babies are treated on a single ventilator and the same is the case with incubators for newborns,” said an employee who asked not to be named.

In March this year, deaths of four infants were reported within 24 hours, allegedly due to non-availability of facilities. The hospital superintendent said that efforts were on to ramp up facilities. “We are trying our level best to upgrade infrastructure. The hospital was in a mess and we are now revamping things,” said Dr Javaid Chowdhary who recently took over as medical superintendent.

Atop government official, who did not wish to be identified, said that the state would take necessary measures once the inquiry report is out.

Looking stunning as ever Rekha was seen wearing a golden-brown sari for her swearing in ceremony. Rekha, who is 57, was surrounded by other MPs when she arrived in the Rajya Sabha. They thumped their desks in approval when her name was called to take the oath. Chairman of the House Hamid Ansari said “Welcome” as she walked up to him and greeted him with folded hands. “I Rekha Ganeshan” she said, swearing in the name of God in her brief oath in English.

After signing the members’ register, she greeted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley and other leaders before walking to her allotted seat, No. 99.

She was also seen exchanging notes with writer Javed Akhtar. According to the official records of the Rajya Sabha, Rekha attended about 19 minutes of the House proceedings before she made her quite exit.
Her Silsila rival, Jaya Bachchan (SP), who entered the House before her, occupied her new seat and was engrossed in the day’s agenda and the two ladies of Bollywood did not greet each other.

Rekha was one of the leading ladies of Bollywood in the ’70s and ’80s and has won several awards including the National Award for Umrao Jaan. Rekha, actor and now Rajya Sabha MP. Rekha, who was nominated to the Upper House on April 26 along with Sachin Tendulkar, met the Chairman and the Prime Minister in Parliament before taking oath.

There was excitement outside Parliament House and in the corridors as the Bollywood star arrived.
Amid chaotic scenes at the entrance, Rekha was taken to the special entrance gate used by the Prime Minister. Accompanied by the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla, she met the Rajya Sabha Chairman. She was then taken to the office of the Prime Minister, who is the Leader of the Rajya Sabha.

Born on October 10, 1954, Rekha, whose original name is Bhanurekha Ganesan, began her film career aged all of 12 in the Telugu movie Rangula Ratnam.

If you talk about vigorous exercise it includes activities such as running and jumping rope. Whereas moderate exercise might consist of walking or going for a leisurely bike ride. People who suffer from metabolic syndrome usually are prone to have excess weight around the waist. They have difficulty controlling their blood sugar levels, high blood pressure and low levels of “good” cholesterol.

Having the condition puts people at heightened risk for heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

The research showed an association, not a cause-and-effect link, and more work is needed to confirm the results.

The findings suggest that vigorous physical activity should be emphasised as a component of public health guidelines regarding exercise. According to new guidelines which are followed by most for safety purpose, it is recommend doing at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise each week, based on the idea that vigorous exercise burns about twice as many calories per minute as moderate exercise, according to the study. Such recommendations imply that there are few health benefits of exercising vigorously, except that your workout may take less time, according to the researchers.

The researchers took into account other factors that could affect the results, such as participants’ sex, ethnicity, smoking and drinking. The researchers noted that the general public has an “apparent distaste” for doing intense exercise.

In the study, 70 per cent of participants did no intense exercise whatsoever, and even among those who followed current exercise guidelines, fewer than 20 per cent met the guideline by exercising intensely. The study was limited in that the accelerometer could not be worn in water, so participants who swam may not have their exercise accurately measured.

After Porsche, Ferrari and Maserati, it is now the turn of iconic British sports car maker Aston Martin to train its guns on India as the company looks at a bigger play here to make up for the slowdown in traditional strongholds.

Aston Martin, famous for its association with James Bond flicks, has said expansion in upcoming markets like India will be a key to its revival as it rides the shift in demand from the West to Asian and other developing markets like Brazil and Russia. While the company entered India in April last year, the continued gloom in the West is now prompting it to make the expansion here faster.

According to most luxury car companies, the US market is bouncy, where the result one quarter can be good and one quarter it can be down. The Euro market is definitely and there is a long way in its recover. There has been stagnation in the traditional luxury markets. And hence these companies have moved to emerging markets, where there is a smooth flow and steady growth in the demand for their cars.

Aston Martin, like other super premium brands, has been hit hard by the slowdown pangs in global economy and is still a far distance from the heydays of 2007 when it sold a little over 7,000 cars. Ashton Martin is definitely not yet back to its glory days as like many other luxury car makers, but with the economy stabilising a little in some parts of the world as well as the demand and production reaching upto its older days. The company finished 2011 with sales of about 4,000 units and expects a similar number this year. There is a tremendous pressure due to overdependence on the traditional markets.

Aston martin entered China two years back and India last year. The India presence has been low with just one dealer. It is now opening its second dealership at Delhi and plans expansion when volumes rise. India is an enormous economy, and is growing very fast. It has a very bright future and people here appreciate design, craftsmanship and performance, just as in other places.

The company is offering products from its entire range like the V12 Vantage, Vantage S (Coupe/Roadster), V8 Vantage Coupe, DB9 Coupe, DB9 Volante, and the four-door sports car Rapide. The prices range between Rs 1.8 crore to Rs 4 crore, ex-showroom Delhi. Gawthorpe said with the growing importance of developing markets, they are playing a key part in new product plans.

The global product plans are being influenced by emerging markets It is practical and the car makers know so that an SUV will have a greater resonance in markets like China, India, Russia and Brazil, rather than a two-door sports car.

Joshi has been reinstated into the party recently and he played a very pivotal role in the UP elections and boosted the party’s winning chances higher than before.

Narendra Modi was not at all happy about the involvement of Joshi in the UP elections and despite of him making it clear to the BJP leadership, Joshi was given important responsibilities and also pushed in the limelight. Due to this reason, Modi refused to campaign in UP, saying he had his own yatras to finish in election-bound Gujarat. Even when those finished, Modi did not head to UP. The BJP placed a poor third.

But, sources say, there are other more core issues. According to inside sources, one of the other issues that is troubling Modi is a second term for Nitin Gadkari as BJP president and staying away from the party meet would record his displeasure at RSS moves in this direction. Modi’s own ambition to move to a national role in the party could be tied in with this, the party sources say. However, Narendra Modi is not the only one to oppose a second term for Gadkari, if sources are to be believed, other senior party leaders like LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Murli Manohar Joshi are also displeased with the repetition reasoning that some state BJP units like those in Bihar, Jharkhand and Rajasthan, too have voiced concern at Mr Gadkari’s style of functioning. The joke in BJP circles now is that to get Modi to attend a party national executive meeting, it will have to be held in Gandhinagar, the seat of government in Gujarat. But the latest Modi threat is no laughing matter for the BJP, which can ill-afford another headache and sources say senior party leader Arun Jaitley has been designated to persuade Modi to change his mind about attending the national meet.

The party is battling a big crisis in Karnataka, the only southern state it rules; a sulking BS Yeddyurappa is threatening to split the party and the top leadership is in a huddle trying to prevent that.

The BCCI brass held a consultation over teleconference on Tuesday afternoon and discussed the specific provisions of IPL’s anti-corruption rules that allow for action to be taken on the basis of compelling proof or reasonable doubt. While the players denied the charges, it was felt the provisional ban could be invoked.

Cricket bosses also felt that the suspension should be under BCCI rules after a reference by the IPL Board. “Invoking IPL rules would mean the players would still be eligible to play in other tournaments. Even if they are claiming to have made tall promises, a tough message is needed,” sources said.
The suspended players are TP Sudhindra (Team Hyderabad), Mohnish Mishra (Team Pune), Amit Yadav (Team Punjab), Shalabh Srivastava (Team Punjab) and Abhinav Bali who doesn’t have an IPL contract. All of them said the channel misrepresented meetings with an “agent” in a Delhi hotel.

A TV channel on Monday had claimed it had blown the lid off “murky deals” in IPL among players and organizers and showed the players apparently confessing on hidden camera their readiness for under-the-table payoffs. “If the players are found to be guilty, they will be punished. Bad conduct is not acceptable,” said IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla.

“Out of the 2, 93, 112 students who appeared for the examination 2, 58, 179 students qualified for higher studies in which 3, 334 students got A+ grade in all subjects,” the minister said.

Kozhikode district became the district with highest pass percentage (90.96) while Pathanamthitta registered the lowest pass percentage (81.20). Thrissur district figures the highest number of ‘A+’ grade students in all subjects with 383 students. According to reports, St Mary’s Higher Secondary School, Thiruvananthapuram, from which around 704 students attempted the higher secondary examinations, became the school from where highest number of students registered for the exam. The school also registered a pass percentage of 95.60. This is followed by SV HSS, Palemde, Malappuram with 600 students registering for the exam and a pass percentage of 94.33 and Government HSS for Girls, Cotton hill, Thiruvananthapuram with 591students and a pass percentage of 96.28.

Out of 1, 56, 499 girl students who appeared for the exams, 1, 43, 620 qualified for higher studies (91.77%) and out of 1, 36, 613 boys, 1, 14, 559 (83.86%) qualified for higher studies.

Subject-wise analysis shows that out of 1, 50, 478 science students, 1, 30, 910 became eligible for higher studies (87.00%). Out of 61, 374 humanities students, 54, 245 became eligible for higher studies (88.38%) and among 81, 260 commerce students 73, 024 became eligible for higher studies (89.86%).

The vocational higher secondary examinations registered a pass percentage of 91.97 for part-I and II, and 84.73 percentage for part-I, II and III. By securing pass grades for part- I and II makes the candidate eligible for public service, apprenticeship, training and self-employment, while securing pass grades in part-I, II and III would make the candidate eligible for higher studies as well.

According to a written reply drafted by minister of state for petroleum, RPN Singh, “The target fixed for import of crude oil from Iran for 2012-13 is approximately 15.5 million tonne. Usually, Indian refiners imported 18.5 million tonne crude from Iran in 2010-11 and 17.44 million tonne in 2011-12.

India imports 80% of its oil requirement and about 12% of this comes from Iran. But refiners have been tying up alternative supplies ever since the RBI scrapped a regional arrangement in December, 2010, that made it difficult to route payments for Iranian oil.

The Indian market is one of the biggest one for Iranian oil industry almost in competition with China. However, over the past few months, the US government and European Union have been trying their best to pressure Indian agencies to cave into their demand of reducing India’s oil import from Iran. This is an indirect way in which US and EU are trying to arm-twist Iranian government into abandoning its nuclear programme. The Indian government has steadfastly denied any pressure. But it has also been quietly tying up additional quantities from West Asian oil producers, including Saudi Arabia and looking at other types of crude that are similar to Iranian crude and suit present refinery configurations.

If sources are to be believed, during her visit to India last week, US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton had said India needed to do more on cutting Iranian oil purchase and Washington would send a special envoy to help New Delhi along. On Tuesday, Carlos Pascual, special envoy and coordinator for international energy affairs in the US State Department, held discussions with key Indian officials. Officially, he briefed the Indian officials about the emerging trends in global energy market, especially due to the advent of shale gas.

At home, state-run gas utility GAIL has been first to catch the trend by taking stake in a US shale gas firm and tying up shale-LNG at Henry Hub price. This has made it difficult for Petronet, India’s biggest LNG player, to tie up additional supplies from Qatar which has indexed its price to crude.

Private sector Reliance Industries, the first Indian firm to acquire US shale gas equity, is also eventually likely to bring shale-LNG to India for marketing through its joint venture with BP.

Francois Hollande was left speechless after this incident, as this start of his reign can be called startling if anything else. It was a startling beginning for a man who promised to be a more “normal” President, and less flashy than his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy, who was ousted by voters after a single term for his handling of a stagnant economy plagued by joblessness.

After a succession of rain-drenched and pomp-filled ceremonial inauguration events, Hollande took off in a Falcon 7X aircraft for Berlin. The plane was hit by lightning shortly afterward, and returned to the Villacoublay air base outside Paris as a precaution for inspection, Defense Ministry spokesman Gerard Gachet told the international and local press. Defense officials say the President and his entourage were transferred to another aircraft, a Falcon 900, and left shortly thereafter. That made Hollande about an hour and a half late for his first meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Hollande was following a postwar custom for new French leaders to reach out to their German counterparts to solidify European unity. Right before leaving for Berlin, Hollande named a moderate, German-friendly member of his Socialist party, Jean-Marc Ayrault, as his prime minster. The new French President and Merkel are in different camps when it comes to solving Europe’s debt crisis. While new figures Tuesday showed the 17-nation eurozone has avoided a new recession, thanks largely to Germany, political turmoil in Greece was reviving fears about the fate of their shared euro currency.

Arriving on Tuesday morning at the 18th-century Elysee Palace, the traditional residence of French Presidents, Hollande was greeted by Sarkozy on the red-carpeted steps. The two held a 40-minute private meeting that is traditionally the moment when the outgoing president hands over the codes to France’s nuclear arsenal. Hollande was declared President after the head of the constitutional court read out the final results of the May 6 election.

The new President immediately acknowledged the challenges he inherits: “a massive debt, weak growth, high unemployment, degraded competitiveness, and a Europe that is struggling to come out of crisis.”