UK visa offices closed for upgrade,

If you're travelling to the UK in the first week of April from India, you must read this. The British high commission offices in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kochi will be closed between March-end and first week of April for an IT system upgrade. While the Hyderabad, Kochi and Bangalore offices are closed between March 31 and April 5, the Chennai office will be closed from April 1 to 5. The last date on which Visa Facilitation Service (VFS) will accept new applications in Hyderabad, Kochi and Bangalore is March 30. In Chennai, the last date is March 31. These centres will reopen on April 6. During the closure, applicants can collect their passports from the centres between 9 am and 10 am only.
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Andhra Pradesh Tourism Bags 6 National Awards,

The National Tourism Awards for 2008-2009 were presented at a function held on Saturday at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi by Hamid Ansari, the Vice President of India.

The Minister of Tourism & Housing & Poverty Alleviation, Kumari Selja, presided over the function, and Sultan Ahmed, Minister of State for Tourism was the Guest of Honour. This year, Andhra Pradesh Tourism bagged 6 National Tourism Awards for the year 2008-09, in the categories of Best State For Development Of Tourism Infrastructure, Special Award For Best Civic Management, Most Innovative Adventure Activity, Best Tourism Friendly Golf Course, Best Tourism Film Award and Best Convention Centre.The awards were received by J Geeta Reddy, Minister for I&PR, Cinematography, FDC & Tourism, Culture, Archealogy & Museums, Archives; Jayesh Ranjan, Secretary Tourism; Sridhar, Vice Chairman, VUDA; Swarnjeet Sen, Chairman, APTDC; B Venkatesham, MD., APTDC.
The Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority received a special award for Best Civic Management. The Innovative Adventure Activity special award was received for the tourism department's promotion of adventures sports, including rock climbing, rappelling, zorb ball, bungee, trampoline and archery. The award for the Best Tourism Friendly Golf Course was for the one being developed by Andhra Pradesh Tourism in partnership with Golf Association - a golf course with 18 holes in 200 acres of land near the Golconda and Qutub Shahi Tombs in Hyderabad.
The Best Tourism Film Award was received for a 30 second promotional films produced by the Department and developed by Mani Shankar for PATA, an event held in 2008 September at Hyderabad. Lastly, HICC received the award for the Best Convention Centre Category. (thanks to fullhyderabad)=========================================================================

National Consultation on Access to Justice,Relief and Rehabilitation of Rape Victims

(PIB NEWS) A National Consultation on Access to Justice, Relief and Rehabilitation of Rape Victims was convened on 7th March 2010 in Vigyan Bhavan by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. This was part of a series of events held by the Ministry on the occasion of centenary of International Women’s Day on 8th March. The event was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, Shri K.G. Balakrishnan in the presence of Hon’ble Minister of Law and Justice, Dr. Veerappa Moily, the Hon’ble Minister of State (IC), Smt. Krishna Tirath, and the Home Secretary, Shri G.K. Pillai. It was attended by Hon’ble Chief Justices and Judges of High Court, members of National and State Legal Services Authorities, State Ministers of WCD, senior Government officials and representatives of NGOs. In her opening address, Smt. Krishna Tirath reiterated the Ministry’s commitment to ensure effective delivery of justice to women, in all spheres. She also referred to the need for fast track courts for women, effective legal aid, and better representation of women in the judiciary. Addressing this august gathering, the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India emphasised on the need for decisive steps to deter sex offenders by investigating and prosecuting cases of sexual violence expeditiously. He welcomed the initiative taken by the Ministry of Women & Child Development in developing a comprehensive Scheme for relief and rehabilitation of rape victims. Dr. Veerappa Moily in his Special Plenary address, stated that victims of rape are given a secondary status in our criminal justice system as the entire focus of the law is on the offender. He therefore, appreciated the Ministry’s effort in drafting this scheme which achieves this goal of shifting the focus from the offender to the victim. Two panel discussions were also held on the proposed Sexual Assault Bill and the Draft Scheme for Relief and Rehabilitation of Victims of Rape as part of this Consultation. In the first Session, the Sexual Assault Bill was discussed. There was a consensus that the definition of ‘rape’ needs to be expanded to take into account forms of sexual assaults not covered in the existing definition under the IPC. It was felt that there is a need for a paradigm shift in the approach to this issue by looking at sexual assault from the women’s perspective and as a violation of her dignity, physical integrity and sexual autonomy. The proposed Bill recognises ‘marital’ rape as an offence and also incorporates a specific provision on sexual assault by a relative or a person in position of trust or authority or in a position of social, economic or political dominance. During the discussions on the proposed Scheme for rape victims, the delegates expressed the view that the Scheme needs to be made more contemporary and responsive to needs of women. There was also a view that the scheme needs to emphasise more on restoration rather than ‘compensation’. Despite the fact that the proposed amendments seek to redefine rape as sexual assault, the draft Scheme for Relief to and Rehabilitation of Rape Victims would confine itself to the present definition of rape. It was also emphasised that the proposed Scheme should have a legislative backing for better enforcement. This National Consultation was attended by more than a thousand delegates, and witnessed active participation from the members of the judiciary and civil society.
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Indian military doctrine dangerous, ours defensive: Pakistan

Pakistan has said its military doctrine was “purely defensive in nature” and termed India’s “massive militarisation as dangerous” for peace and stability of South Asia.Brushing aside India’s criticism of Pakistan for acquiring modern weapons from the US, foreign office spokesperson Abdul Basit Saturday said: “Our military doctrine is purely defensive in nature”.“It is India’s dangerous military doctrines and massive militarisation that are matters of huge concern for regional stability whereas Pakistan has always acted to protect its legitimate security interests,” The News quoted Basit as saying.He was responding to Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony’s remarks that New Delhi was not convinced with the US explanation that it was supplying sophisticated arms to Pakistan army to take on the Taliban and Al Qaeda.According to reports, the US has cleared the supply of sophisticated laser-guided bomb kits, 12 surveillance drones and 18 F-16 fighters to enhance Pakistan military’s capability against Taliban and Al Qaeda in restive tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.  (thanks to way2online)

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