'Law to prevent crime against women will be passed soon': Sonia Gandhi

(Presented by news today) Malda, Mar. 16 (ANI): UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said a law to prevent crime against women in the country will be passed soon.

Gandhi, who was speaking after the foundation stone laying ceremony of 'Ghani Khan Choudhury Institute of Engineering and Technology' in Malda, said the UPA Government at the Centre had taken various steps for the cause of women and establishing their rights.
Gandhi said the UPA Government has taken several steps for the betterment of women and to make them self-dependent.
"With a fund of around Rs. 1000 crores in the Union Budget, for the first time ever an all-women bank will be set up, which will be run by women and help women in their business ventures," Gandhi told the gathering.
"A Nirbhaya fund is also being constituted with a fund of Rs. 1000 crore. This fund will be used to protect the honour and dignity of our sisters s and daughters," she added.
Gandhi further said the government is trying to pass the 'Food Security Bill' so that the poor people of the country don't have to starve.
Gandhi, who is also the president of the ruling Congress Party at the Centre, also laid emphasis on education.
"Education is also an important sector in the growth of the nation. Our UPA Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has given special attention to technical education and education. We have also taken measures to provide proper education to kids of rural India," said Gandhi.
The UPA chairperson said the Centre has taken firm steps for the development of minorities.
Asserting that the Congress Party is fully prepared to protect the secular fabric of the country, Gandhi said 'we are a secular nation and this is our main strength and capital'.
Gandhi further said the UPA Government had adopted a slew of measures for minorities and backward classes and to protect the dignity of women.
"The UPA government is also looking at the backwards and minorities and steps are being taken to make them self-reliant. Sachar committee suggestions will be implemented and madrasas will extend special scholarships to women," said Gandhi.
"The Prime Minister's 15-point programme for minorities will be upgraded and this is being overlooked by the Prime Minister himself," she added.
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, and West Bengal Governor M.K. Narayanan were among those present on the occasion.

France: Why intervene in Mali and not Central African Republic?

PRESENTED BY(NEWS TODAY)

When France received requests from two of its former African colonies to intervene in their domestic conflicts these past couple of months, its replies could not have been more different.
Mali's calls were answered with a swift and affirmative response, and France found itself intervening in Africa once again, having been involved in conflicts in Libya and the Ivory Coast in 2011. France sent 2,500 troops who, together with the Malian army, have so far retaken several strategically important towns and are continuing to sweep north.
By contrast, when President François Bozizé of the Central African Republic (CAR) petitioned the country's former colonial ruler for assistance in fighting rebels, his calls were firmly rejected despite the fact the insurgency was gaining significant ground and looked like it could threaten the capital Bangui before too long. This seemed to be at odds with typical French post-colonial policy, especially given that the French have three military bases in the region.

Liberté, égalité, post-colonial legacé

Since independence in 1960, the Central African Republic has largely been an authoritarian state, with violence and coups an intrinsic part of its recent history. France continued to remain involved in CAR after independence, propping up dictatorships and supplying aid to the region. France even intervened in 1979 to remove Emperor Jean-Bedel Bokassa from power.
This was fairly typical of France's attitude towards Africa; since the 1960s, it has intervened over 50 times in former colonies.
In recent years, however, France's desire to remain involved in CAR appear to have waned. The threat to Bozizé's rule was certainly serious enough to warrant calls for external intervention; the insurgency and ensuing humanitarian crisis posed a threat to the long-term stability of the state. And President Bozizé's policy of keeping the army weak (to mitigate the likelihood of a military coup) meant there was a genuine fear that the rebels could overrun the capital.
Rather than being the exception, however, France's response to CAR could become the new norm in the stance towards Africa. Although France is intervening whole-heartedly in Mali, it may be the case that the country is, more broadly, trying to take more of a back seat in their former colonies.
François Hollande has emphasised that engaging in northern Mali is not a neo-colonial move, but rather the result of one sovereign nation asking another for help. He seems to see the battle against militant Islamists as entirely separate to the former policy of 'Françafrique'. And it is important to note that it is not just France, but a number of other western countries such as the US and UK that are concerned about the prospect of increasingly influential Islamist militias in west Africa.

CAR stuck in reverse

So where does this leave CAR? When France refused to intervene, Bozizé had little option but to enter into peace negotiations with the Seleka rebels. But even with a tentative peace deal having been signed, it remains uncertain whether CAR can move forward, or whether the political situation will degenerate once more in the run up to presidential elections in 2016.
Now he knows France will not bail him out, Bozizé is being forced to take a more conciliatory stances towards the opposition. However, given his track record of maintaining his grip on power by any means – including trying to amend the constitution – it remains to be seen if his opponents will accept his compromises. Indeed, Bozizé's acceptance of peace talks was understandably seen by many as an act of self-preservation, and the former rebels remain opposed to his continued hold on power. Although it was a positive move, it is unlikely Bozizé's appointment of opposition representative Nicholas Tiangaye as prime minister will have done too much to change that attitude.
More broadly, CAR's weak institutions and history of coups and violence does not bode well. The International Crisis Group has described CAR as a "phantom state" and the prospect of democracy prevailing in 2016, let alone the maintenance of peace until then, seems uncertain.
As Bozizé found out recently, France today is less willing to prop up leaders in its former colonies. This will potentially leave the burden of future interventions on coalitions of African troops. Indeed, African troops were on hand to prop up Bozizé's government when western forces were found wanting.
What appears to be emerging under Hollande is a shift in French foreign policy goals in Africa. La Françafrique used to be France's foreign policy goal in itself. Now, France's stated policy is to enter into the African political sphere only when it directly relates to broader French foreign policy goals.
Hollande's predecessor, Nicholas Sarkozy, ran for office in 2007 arguing for an end to La Françafrique, before performing a swift about turn. The intervention in the Ivory Coast proved that old habits die hard. Hollande passed the first test for his new policy in CAR. Whether it can survive the desert sands of northern Mali, the next challenge to French interests or next crisis in a former French colony remains to be seen.

HCL launches three new budget Android tablets at Rs 5,999 onwards

PROSENTED BY(NEWS TODAY)HCL has announced the launch of a slew of HCL ME tablets which are available at competitive prices. These budget tablets include - HCL ME U2, HCL ME V1, HCL ME Y3.

Priced at Rs 5,999, the HCL ME U2 runs Android 4.0 OS, and is powered by a 1GHz Cortex A9 processor. It has a 7-inch multi-capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 800x480 pixels. The tablet has an internal memory of 4GB, which can be expanded up to 32GB. It has 1GB RAM. The tablet lets you access Google Play. It comes engineered with a 3000 mAh battery. The HCL ME U2 has a 0.3 megapixel front camera. It allows you to enjoy full HD video playback at 1080p.
The HCL ME V1, which is available for Rs 7,999, is also a 7-inch tablet, but it is powered by a Cortex A8 processor clocked at 1GHz. The tablet includes a 2 megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 0.3 megapixel front camera. Other features include 4GB internal memory (expandable up to 32GB), full HD video playback at 1080p and a 3200 mAh battery. The tablet does not let users access Google Play. It instead allows them to download apps from the ME App store.

Iran to send astronauts into space by 2018: reports

PROSENTED BY(NEWS TODAY)An Iranian semi-official news agency says the country plans to send its first astronauts into space by 2018.

Tuesday's report by Mehr quotes Mohammad Ebrahimi, a senior official in Iran's space agency, as saying the flight of two trained Iranian astronauts has been slated for

2 hours ago

2 hours ago

between 2016 and 2018. Ebrahimi says Iran will first attempt to send the astronauts into sub-orbital space, up to a distance of 200 kilometers (125 miles), for about 30 minutes.
The announcement is the latest in a series of statements from Iranian officials on the government's ambitious space program. Last week, Iran said it sent a monkey into space successfully.
Tehran's nuclear and space programs have raised concerns in the West, which suspects they could be used for military purposes. Iran denies the charges.

17 hours ago

17 hours ago

Protesters stand united and demand justice for Delhi gang-rape victim

PROSENTED BY(NEWS TODAY) New Delhi/Panaji, Jan1: Protesters across India stand united today in demanding deliverance of justice in the Delhi gang-rape case, saying the need of the hour is to change the public conscience. Scores of persons gathered at the Jantar Mantar in Delhi are demanding speedy justice for the Delhi gang-rape victim. The agitators, who prayed here for the victim's soul, carried placards and slogans in their hands that read: "I am Shakti don't mess with me; I am woman, Let me live; Empower women, Respect women; Teach sons and men to respect every girl and woman. "People do not know how to treat each other. Parents today do tell their daughters to be bold and get educated, get a job, go out see the world. However, on the contrary they do not tell their sons how to behave with women, even their own sisters and take them for granted," said Archita, a female protester here. "How will a boy then respect any other woman?" she asked. Similar scenes were witnessed in Goa's Panaji city last night as people from all walks of life came forward and offered their condolences to the victim. Holding placards that read 'How safe are the children of today, hang the rapists and we elect politicians, not to be protected by police', the protesters in Panaji demanded speedy justice for the 23-year-old brave heart. "We want justice and the politicians should take fast action, speedy trial and the accused should be brought to justice and they should be hanged," said Joseph, one of the protesters. Delhi Police had earlier on Saturday invoked murder charges against the six men allegedly involved in the gang-rape of the girl in a moving bus after she died in a Singapore hospital and decided to file the charge sheet in court on January 3. Amid outpouring of anger and grief in the country, the body of the gang-rape victim was flown to New Delhi from Singapore early on Sunday morning and cremated within hours. The girl was gang-raped and brutally assaulted allegedly by six men in a moving bus in south Delhi on December 16 night.