Nation remembers Indira on 29th death anniversary
New Delhi: The nation on Thursday remembered former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her 29th death anniversary, with President Pranab Mukherjee and other leaders paying tributes to her. Mukherjee paid floral tributes at Shakti Sthal, the memorial of Gandhi. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi were also present on the occasion. Union Ministers Sushilkumar Shinde, Kamal Nath, Oscar Fernandes, M Veerappa Moily and Krishna Tirath were also present. Devotional songs were played at the venue. A speech made by Gandhi was also played on the occasion. Gandhi was assassinated by her bodyguards on October 31, 1984. (PTI)
Kashmir Valley receives season’s first snowfall
Srinagar: Kashmir valley received its first snowfall of the season in the upper reaches of Leh and Gulmarg tourist resort and in some higher reaches of the valley. The minimum temperature in Leh area of Ladakh division fell to minus 1.8 degrees Celsius last night, while in Gulmarg the mercury dipped to minus 0.2 degrees Celsius, a MeT Department spokesperson said, adding the night temperature in remaining parts of the valley was above freezing point by three to five degrees. The higher reaches of Gulmarg received the first snowfall of this winter, resulting in slight drop in day temperature across the Valley. The MET Department spokesman forecast a dry and pleasant weather during the next few days across Kashmir. The cold wave in Kashmir and Ladakh regions of the state have set in earlier than expected due to intermittent downpour over the past few days. (PTI)
Karnataka govt to build 10,000 playgrounds in rural areas
Bangalore: The Karnataka government will start a programme to build 10,000 playgrounds in rural areas on November 14, Children’s Day, State Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister H K Patil said on Thursday. The project, under which two playgrounds will be built in each Panchayat limit, will be taken up with the cooperation of the Departments of Revenue, Education and Sports, he told reporters here and asked youth organisations at village levels to take interest in spearheading the initiative. The minister also announced the start of “Rajiv Gandhi Chaitanya Yojane” to provide skill training, loan, self-employment and placement opportunities for two lakh rural unemployed youth. The government, Patil said, has proposed upgradation of 2450 km of road under “Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojane-2”, adding, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has responded positively to the initiative and the Central government clearance is expected within a week. The minister said the government intends to use new technology such as those relating to jute, coir, cell-filled concrete, cold-mix and waste plastic in building of roads which would bring down the cost of such works. (PTI)
Man gets 5 years in jail for trying to rape three-yr-old girl
New Delhi: A man has been jailed for five years for attempting to rape a three-year-old girl by a Delhi court, which observed that moral values are vanishing day-by-day. The court awarded the jail term to 25-year-old Praveen, who had tried to rape his neighbour after taking her to a park on the pretext of giving her a chocolate. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on Inderpuri resident Praveen and said if the amount is realised, it should be given to the child as compensation. “The criminal act committed by convict (Praveen) depicts utmost depravity on his part. He has acted like a beast or a wild animal without thinking for a while that his prey is only a girl aged just three years. “Moral values are vanishing day-by-day and the so-called modern man of 21st century is far worse than the man of ‘stone age’ when it comes to moral values,” Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhat said. According to the prosecution, the incident took place in May last year when the child was playing outside her house with her younger brother and Praveen came to her and offered her a chocolate. He then took her to a nearby park and attempted to rape her, it said. (PTI)