Pratibha Patil becomes India's first woman president
Pratibha Patil was
elected India's new president yesterday, the first woman to hold the office. "I ... hereby declare that Mrs Pratibha Devisingh Patil has been duly elected to the office of president of India," election returning officer P.D.T. Achary said.Patil, a native of western Maharashtra state, defeated Shekhawat by a large margin, securing 66 percent of the votes cast by an electoral college of federal and state lawmakers, Achary said.
Analysts say Patil has a tough act to follow in the form of India's popular outgoing President Abdul Kalam. Congress rebuffed his bid for a second five-year term because, analysts say, it wanted a party loyalist.
The silver-haired, shaggy-locked missile scientist, who became a national hero after overseeing successful tests in 1998 that turned India into a nuclear power, was dubbed "the people's president."
Patil's stint in Parliament began in 1985 when she was elected to the Rajya Sabha and became its Deputy Chairperson a little over a year later, a post in which she remained from November 18, 1986 to November 5 1988. During this period, she also headed the parliamentary committee on privileges.
She was the Maharashtra Congress chief from 1988 to 1990 before being elected to the Lok Sabha from Amravati in 1991.
Patil, who never lost an election, had gone into virtual political hibernation at the end of her tenure in the Lok Sabha and her only appearance in the political scene of Maharashtra was taking part in the party's campaign in polls. It was in November 2004 that the Congress leadership recalled her to become the Governor of Rajasthan.
Married to Devisingh Ramsingh Shekhawat, an educationist whose family had migrated from the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan to Jalgaon a few generations ago, Patil has one daughter Jyoti Rathore and a son Rajendra Singh. DR Shekhawat had been a mayor of Amravati.
A social worker by profession, Patil is associated with several cultural, educational and social welfare organisations.
Mr Noorani added that having a woman as president was "as significant as India having Indira Gandhi, Britain having Margaret Thatcher and Israel having Golda Meir as prime ministers. Symbols are important".
posted by Pradeep @ 7:00 AM,
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Monsoon Trecking at Lohgad
First rains of the season always bring with it a sense of entrapment. With man perennially trapped in an urban cage, watching the rain fall evokes a desire to escape into the arms of Mother Nature. The primal instincts of roaming wild in nature and a thirst to escape the daily humdrums of our busy city lives takes over. To quenched this thirst many head towards the mighty mountain top of Lohgad.
Lohgad is one of the two forts guarding the trade route between Kalyan and Nalasopara harbors & markets of Deccan plateau (other fort being Rajmachi). Today, most of the forts are in dilapidated states, however Lohgad is
still in much better condition. For trekker's Lohgad should be a real treat to visit giving a wonderful panoramic view from its top. Lohgad is situated about 5 Km. from Malavali station. First one should reach Lonavala by any Central-Southern mail/express, catch a local train from Lonavala to Malavali. From Malavali one can catch a rickshaw to Bhaje village. 1½ hours walk from Bhaje will lead to Lohgadwadi.15 min walk from Lohgadwadi will take you to the top.Being a well preserved fort the entrance to the fort is in good condition. The fortification are also quiet good. There are some stone-scripts(Shilalekh) in the den, the only place where night stay can be made on Lohgad. There is a mosque atop Lohgad. From Lohgad, Tung and Tikona hills are seen to the south, Dukes nose at west, Pavana dam offers a wonderful view in the south direction.
Sightseeing at Lohgad :
Vinchu Kata :
The fort houses many old constructions and much of its fortification is very intact. This becomes clear as we move. The entrances and the ramparts are as they were 200 years ago. As we enter the Ganesh Darwaaja, we come across an inscription on a rectangular stone. If it is not stone, one has to check every stone there. The words on it tell that the construction was initiated and done by Dhondopant under Nana Phadnis. Here are the
galleries for guards.Between Narayan & Hanuman Darwaaja there are two go downs. These were used for storage of granary.After entering the Maha Darwaaja we come across an old 'Dargah'. Besides the Dargah we come across the remnants of the court. Going towards right we come across 'Laxmi Kothi'. It is a big cave where 50 people can stay. The Kothi has many rooms. On Lohgad Laxmi Kothi is the only place for us to stay. The treasury of Nana Phadnis was kept here. In front of this place are two cannons. Besides the cave are many other caves. On the northern side of the fort is a newly built Dargah. This is the tomb of Sheikh Umar. The history is interesting. Three Arabs named Sheikh Umar, Sheikh Salla and Sheikh Malang invaded Pune. Salla resided in Pune city and destroyed the temples. Malang went and stayed on what is known as Malanggad, near Kalyan. Umar seized Lohgad. A sage was meditating here. Umar threw him off the cliff and became the ruler here. Today his Dargah has gained importance as pilgrimage.
Bhaje Caves :
The fort is not so big as the main forts, but it acquired significance due to its geographical location and the
dominance of Buddhists and later the Satvaahans here. Building forts strengthened the peaks of Sahyadri, and the marvelous caves and sculptures beautified their faces. The artistic works not only reveal the cultural development, but also show an advanced architecture that is not achievable today. The caves of Ajantha and Verul are the best works, so are the caves of Karla and Bhaje. Karla caves are little farther from here, but Bhaje caves are near Malavali. The ancient Viharas and Stupas of Buddhists indicate that they were Heenyana Buddhists, who do not believe in idol worship. Mahayana Buddhists carved idols of Buddha. Here we can find 8 more Stupas. There is a temple, which is Surya-Mandir or Temple of Sun. the chariot of Sun God is carved hereFor more images, click here
For a 360 degree view of Lohgad click here (the view would take 2 minutes to load)
Labels: Forts, Trecking, Western India
posted by Rishil Babu @ 9:06 PM,
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India trust on fresh legs to perform well in Twenty20 World Cup
Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly have been left out of the 30 probables that India's selectors picked for the Twenty20 World Championship to be held in South Africa in September.
"I got a call in the morning from Rahul (Dravid), and he said they (Sachin, Sourav and Rahul) will be opting out of this Twenty20 World Cup," said Dilip Vengsarkar, who is the chairman of the selection committee.
Vengsarkar said the decision of the three senior players was in the spirit of providing opportunity to youngsters.
"... No there is no reason as such... think they want to give a chance to youngsters too... That is why we have chosen a young team also...," he said.
Karan was the leading run scorer in the first National Twenty20 Championship held in April this year. He scored at a phenomenal average of 39.12 making his run tally at 313 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 107.93 id is definately one of the top contenders to get in the final squad of Twenty20 World Championship.
The probables not only include Irfan Pathan but also his elder brother Yusuf. Yusuf Pathan has consistently performed with both bat and ball for Baroda, and his ability to hit the ball hard might have convinced the selectors to include him in the list.
Anirudha Srikkanth, the son of India's dashing opener Kris Srikkanth, also finds a place in the list. Srikkanth did well in Tamil Nadu's triumph in the domestic tournament though V Devendran, who had an identical aggregate and average, did have a marginally higher strike-rate.
The selectors have included many players who have been dropped from the Indian team in the last one year. Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Irfan Pathan and Robin Uthappa will be in the reckoning to play in South Africa.
Twenty20 probables:
Virender Sehwag, Robin Uthappa, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Mohammad Kaif, Dinesh Karthick, Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir, Yousuf Pathan, Suresh Raina, Manoj Tiwary, Neeraj Patel, Karan Goel, Cheteshwar Pujara, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Rudra Pratap Singh, Ishant Sharma, Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Joginder Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Harbhajan Singh, Ramesh Powar, Rajesh Pawar, Niranjan Behera, Anirudha Srikkanth, Praveen Kumar.
posted by Pradeep @ 7:52 AM,
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