Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Assam package has apparently put the greatest importance on developing education in the state. This northeastern state of India clearly needed a package like this. The package promises a world-class university, a petroleum technology institute and a national design institute for the state. The package also assures of the Central government’s support to the state in skill development among the youth of Assam. The plan includes setting up a model school in every development block of the state. In addition to these, the package pledges to help the state government to set up a science and technology university, a law school and a judicial academy.

            Now, a fast implementation of the projects is required to meet the objectives of the package.

Cricket to get more exciting in Chennai!! The city will soon have a new ultra modern cricket stadium for the 2011 World Cup. The new stadium will be bigger than even the Melbourne Cricket Ground and will accommodate around 50,000 to 60,000 spectators. While announcing the move, Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) Secretary Kasi Viswanathan said that the cricket stadium will not only make the world cup more exciting but will also be a milestone in the future development of cricket. He said that in addition to the new stadium, some more grounds with advanced facilities will come up for the league and first class matches.

The construction of the new stadium is expected to start soon after the final agreement between the state government and the TNCA. The government has already allotted a 50 acre plot to the TNCA for the stadium. It will be built at Karunkuzhipallam, which is around 25 kms from Chennai. Apart from having state-of-the-art turf and ground facilities, the new stadium will also be weatherproof. It is expected to cost around Rs 100 crore and will be borne jointly by the TNCA and BCCI.

The new stadium in Chennai will indeed prove to be a big step in developing cricket and will be a great thing for cricket lovers.
 

The World Bank report released last Tuesday comes as a shock to Indians. The survey, based on the new benchmark of poverty line of a daily income of $1.25, claims that the number of poor people in India has gone up from 421 million in 1981 to 456 million in 2005. India, however, measures its poverty as per its national poverty line, which is $1.02 per day. Hence there is a difference between the two estimates. At the rate of $1 a day (as per 2005 prices) poverty has reduced from 42 per cent in 1981 to 24 percent in 2005. But, according to the World Bank report, percentage of people living below $1.25 a day dwindled from 60 in 1981 to 42 in 2005.

            The report has clearly stated that in order to achieve higher growth all inequalities in opportunities should be removed fast and the poor people should be involved in the growth process. It’s a wake-up call for all of us.

The Kosi river has flooded 15 districts of Bihar. Supaul, Araria, Saharsa and Madhepura districts are severely affected. At least 46 persons were reportedly killed by the flood. Nearly 13 lakh people in more than 550 villages have been affected by the flood. Indian Army has started relief operations in the affected areas. Indian Air Force personnel are also engaged in relief operations.

            Though too much rain did not occur in the flooded areas in the past few days, Kosi’s changing course has compounded the problem. It is taking a channel it had abandoned nearly 200 years ago. Ganga, Kosi, Punpun and Burhi Gandak are all reportedly flowing above the danger level at various places.

Relief camps and veterinary centers in the state are reportedly working round-the-clock. Anti-venom serum and diarrhea drugs have been dispatched to primary health centers in the flood affected areas.

Indian IT major Infosys is set to acquire British consultancy Axon Group Plc. Infosys had been observed to be slow on acquisitions. The current acquisition is its third deal of the kind in three decades. But, with this deal it has been proved again that the IT majors of India are continuing to put a lot of emphasis on oversees acquisitions. TCS and Wipro are already on a similar spree. IT multinationals like IBM, Accenture and HP get an edge over their competitors because of their global delivery models. This helps in clinching major deals. So, an overseas acquisition generally helps an IT company to increase its consulting capability.

            The analysts feel that the Axon deal is “right-sized” and “right priced” for Infosys. They predict that the deal will strengthen the consulting business of Infosys, even amid global slowdown.

Curfew was imposed in Orissa’s Kandhamal district after violent protests against the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad  (VHP) leader .

Police and paramilitary forces flag marched the troubled areas. Rapid Action Force personnel were deployed in sensitive areas of the district. Schools and other educational institutions remained closed.

Road and Rail traffic was affected and shops and business units were closed through out the state during the bandh.

According to reports the protestes burnt alive a woman in an orphanage in Khuntapalli village in Bargarh district.

Churches and other Christian institutions were attached in Kandhamal, Bargarh, Poraput, Rayagada, Gajapati, Boudh, Sundargarh and Jajpur district of Orissa.

In the capital Bhubaneshwar, at least 2 prayer houses were damaged.

Yet another boost for the Indian tourism industry! NDTV, in association with the Union Tourism Ministry, launched a program on Monday to showcase new landmarks and historical monuments all over the country. This initiative is a part of the ‘Incredible India’ campaign. The campaign, titled ‘7 Wonders of India’, aims to explore the seven best man-made and natural wonders in a bid to tap their tourism potential. The year-long campaign is expected to cover all the states. The Tourism Ministry of the Government of India feels that the campaign will be useful in view of the necessity for safeguarding the heritage properties of the country.

            This is surely good news for the rapidly growing Indian tourism industry.

Dhoni and his boys made India proud again! The men in blue beat Sri Lanka by 33 runs to clinch a victory in the third ODI match of the five-match cricket series on Sunday at the Premadasa Stadium. With this win, India has secured a 2-1 lead in the series.

            Captain Dhoni led from the front, making 76 out of 80 balls. He won the man-of-the-match award. Suresh Raina (53) and  Rohit Sharma (32) supported him well. India scored 237 for 9 in 50 overs, while Sri Lanka was humbled at 204 in 49 overs. Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel took three wickets each, while Praveen took two and Harbhajan and Yuvraj, one each. Jayawardene (94) was the highest scorer for Sri Lanka. Mendis took three wickets and Thusara and Kulasekara two each, for the team.

            This victory has added excitement to the Indian team’s tour of Sri Lanka. Now, the Indian team should make every effort to win the series, as it has already secured a lead.

The Sixth Central Pay Commission of India has assigned XLRI Jamshedpur to do a study titled “Estimating the Compensation Package for Government Employees and the Cost to the Government”. The object of the study is to compute in monetary terms all the benefits government employees get – both tangible and intangible.

            This certainly seems to be a good move, as very frequently the government employees are seen comparing their own salaries with the compensation package of private sector employees and pointing at variances. However, in private sector the overall package is calculated on a cost to company basis, where almost all benefits to the employees are taken into consideration. However, the government employees get a number of additional benefits which are generally not taken into consideration while drawing such a comparison. These may include pension, job security and other benefits.

            Hope, the XLRI study report will put to rest all such misconceptions.

The New Delhi airport is coming up with Asia’s longest runway after conducting a successful test take-off and landing. It will not only ease huge congestion, but also will double the airport’s peak-hour capacity from 35-40 aircraft landings and take-offs to about 75. The 4.43-kilometre (2.7-mile) strip will be the longest runway in Asia. Not only this, the runway will be equipped with a state-of-the art instrument landing system at both ends.