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Eid ul-Fitr celebrated amid tight security arrangements
New Delhi, Oct 14 (PTI) Muslims across the country today celebrated Eid ul-Fitr with religious fervour and gaiety amidst tight security.
Thousands of worshippers gathered at the Jama Masjid in the capital this morning to attend special congregational prayers, Ahmed Bukhari of the Masjid told PTI.
Eid is a day of forgiveness, moral victory, peace of congregation, fellowship, brotherhood and unity, he said.
For the first time this year, security tips were announced over microphone, he said. "Announcements were made on how the devouts should be careful and they should not touch any suspicious object".
Heavy security arrangements were made at the mosque on the occasion. Police was keeping a vigil on the movement of public from nearby high rise buildings. The mosque has already installed CCTVs to monitor the movement of public, he said.
Muslims in heavy numbers also offered prayers and greeted each other at the Fatehpruri Masjid, Shahi Imam of the masjid Mufti M Mukkaram Ahmed said.
"We also greeted our Hindu brothers and sisters for Dusherra and Diwali," he said, adding security was adequate for the occasion that marks the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting.
In Jammu and Kashmir, Eid prayers were offered at the Eidgah in Srinagar after a gap of nearly 20 years where one lakh Muslims had congregated.
However, the largest congregation of Eid prayers was held at Hazratbal Shrine along the banks of Dal lake where more than 1.5 lakh devouts offered prayers.
Barring an incident of stone pelting at Hazratbal, in which two police officers were injured, there were no reports of any untoward incident from across the valley. PTI
11 construction workers at POSCO plant site held captive
Bhubaneswar, Oct 14 (PTI) Eleven persons, hired to construct a wooden bridge in the proposed POSCO plant site, were being held captive for past five days, POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) claimed today.
"We have held ten workers and a driver, who were engaged by the rural development department for building a wooden bridge near the site for POSCO's proposed steel plant, as captive," near Paradip, PPSS President Abhaya Sahu told PTI over phone.
Though the police had no idea about the exact number of people detained by the activists, officials said negotiations were on with the captors to get them released.
"Efforts are on to ensure safe release of those held by PPSS activists... Talks are on. Though nobody approached us, we came to know of the detention of some people from certain sources," Superintendent of Police, Jagatsinghpur, Y K Jethwa told PTI. "We hope they will be freed soon".
Four senior officials of the steel company, including three South Koreans, were released yesterday following assurance by authorities not to allow POSCO officials to enter the area.
Sahu said the eleven persons, who belong to Salepur area in Cuttack district, had no links with POSCO and were engaged by the rural development department to build the bridge, aimed at providing easy access to officials of the steel giant to the proposed plant site. PTI
Newspaper used to pack explosives at Ajmer blast traced to MP
Bhopal, Oct 14 (PTI) With some newspapers used to pack the explosives in the Ajmer Sharif blast being traced to Indore and Ujjain, a police team from Rajasthan arrived here today to conduct a probe.
Besides, some newsapers used to cover the explosives were also traced to Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, State Director General of Police A R Pawar told PTI.
"Though we are yet to receive any written confirmation about it (findings at the shrine about newspapers), yet we will provide all kind of support to the investigating team," he said.
The three-member team carried out investigations at Ratlam and Ujjain districts, but details of its findings were awaited, police said.
A strict vigil was being maintained at Ujjain, especially at Unhel town where activities of banned Islamic organisation, Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) have been reported, Ujjain Superintendent of Police Jaideep Prasad said.
The team is also expected to visit Indore in connection with the blast, he said.
Two persons were killed and 17 others were injured in the blast that took place in the shrine of Moinnudin Chisti when pilgrims were breaking their Ramzaan fast at the shrine on October 11. PTI
RTI hits awareness roadblock in Meghalaya
Shillong, Oct 14 (PTI) The Centre might be stressing on taking recourse to the RTI for exposing corruption but lack of awareness coupled with lax initiatives for imparting training to public information officers have retarded the success of the act in Meghalaya.
"There has not been any awareness campaign conducted by the government and its departments in the districts especially in the rural areas. As a result, public participation in the implementation of the law has not been as expected," the Meghalaya State Information Commission (MSIC) annual report tabled in the ongoing assembly session said.
According to the MSIC, the nodal department is supposed to conduct such awareness campaigns at district headquarters, but nothing happened during 2006.
Acknowledging the Right to Information Movement, an NGO, for taking initiatives in holding awareness campaigns in Shillong and other district headquarters, the MISC report underlined the need for more such programmes to ensure that every citizen was made aware of his Right to Information provided under the law.
Pointing to another roadblock, the report blamed it on the nodal departments of the government for failing to impart any meaningful training to public information officers, assistant public information officers and designated appellate authorities.
"As a result many PIOs still fight shy of the implementation of the new law," it said, adding that neither the matter of management of records nor the requirement of suo moto disclosure of information was being attended to with the seriousness it deserved. PTI
Australia clinch series by taking 4-1 lead
S S Ramaswamy
Nagpur, Oct 14 (PTI) Australia today relied on an all-round display to clinch the one-day series with a 18-run victory over India in the sixth cricket one-dayer which saw the hosts frittering away a solid start and running out of steam in the slog overs.
After scoring a mammoth 317 for eight built around Andrew Symonds rollicking unbeaten 107, the Australians held their nerve to restrict the home team to 299 for seven and take an invincible 4-1 lead in the seven-match series.
The trusted opening pair of Sachin Tendulkar (72) and Sourav Ganguly (86) provided the foundation for the chase with a 140-run stand, but the Indians lost the plot in the middle overs to allow the asking rate to climb beyond manageable limits.
Robin Uthappa (44 off 28 balls) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (26 off 29 balls) made a last ditch effort to overhaul the target with some lusty hitting but both perished in quick succession in the 49th over to leave India stranded.
Left-arm spinner Brad Hogg was the pick of the Australian bowlers with impressive figures of four for 49 on a good batting strip at the VCA Stadium.
Mitchell Johnson, who bowled a maiden in the 49th over, chipped in with two for 39 while Man-of-the-Match Symonds followed up his batting exploits with an economic spell of 10-0-39-0.
The last day-night encounter in Mumbai on Wednesday has now been reduced to academic interest but the hosts will look for a consolation win to reduce the margin. PTI
Symonds warns Indians of backlash Down Under
Melbourne, Oct 14 (PTI) Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds has added fuel to his simmering duel with Indians by describing the ongoing tour as "hostile" and warning the team of a backlash when it tours Down Under this year.
Symonds, who is engaged in a war of words with the hosts since the seven-match series began, said he knew India was "never an easy place to tour, but I am surprised how hostile it has been".
The all rounder, on his fifth tour of India, said the 'World Twenty20 champions' still had a lot to prove and were set for a searing summer in Australia.
"They're saying they've built up this new Indian team, but we'll see how much they've changed at the end of our summer," he was quoted as saying by the 'Sunday Telegraph'.
"We have had the edge on them here and we will get them again in Australia this summer. They've beaten us in a Twenty20 game and one one-dayer in four years. You can't gauge much on that, but we'll see how this so-called new Indian team goes on our soil," he said.
On the crowd making 'monkey chants' at him during the fifth one-dayer in Vadodara, he said "I don't know what is going to transpire from what happened to me the other day.
"I am a pretty liberal sort of bloke. But racism is a big issue in world sport, not just cricket. It is a sensitive issue and guys have been made an example of in the past, but what do you do in this instance if it's coming from the crowd? "I'm not allowed to comment on exactly what went on, but I'm not the most deadly serious bloke. Life goes on." PTI
Armaan nails historic win in Japan
New Delhi, Oct 14 (PTI) Promising Indian driver Armaan Ebrahim today nailed a commanding win in the Grand Race of the Formula Renault V6 Asia Championship at the Autopolis circuit in Japan.
The circuit which had Formula 1 racing in it a decade ago is a drivers circuit with its fast and winding uphill and downhill corners.
The V6 Renault made its debut in Autopolis this year and Armaan goes down in the record books as the first winner of the Grand race in the V6 in Japan.
The 18-year-old Indian, who dominated the official practice session, started from 6th place and had his work cut out. A brilliant start saw him move into second place by lap one and Armaan started to close the gap on pole sitter James Winslow.
By lap 4 Armaan was on James's gearbox and by lap 5, he put the pressure on James to such an extent that the Englishman spun. Armaan took the lead and started to pull away with Karl Reindlinger from Australia behind him followed by Earl Bamber from New Zealand.
But James's managed to get back on track and was politely let ahead by his team mate Earl Bamber. In the meantime Armaan steadily pulled away from Karl and opened up more than 10 seconds of a lead. Armaan settled down and conserved the car, not wanting a repeat of the sprint race while James managed to pass Karl who was suffering with lack of rear grip, to finish second. PTI
Differences emerge in DoT over additional spectrum allocation
New Delhi, Oct 14 (PTI) Sharp difference are believed to have emerged in the Department of Telecom over TRAI's proposal to change existing subscriber-linked criteria for allocating additional spectrum, with Communication Minister A Raja in favour while the Telecom Commission opposing it.
According to sources, Telecom Commission, headed by telecom secretary, has taken a final view on TRAI's recommendations with regard to spectrum allocation, number of players in each circle and other issues.
There is unanimity on most of issues especially on not capping the number of players, but on spectrum allocation, the minister, sources said, may overrule Telecom Commission which has rejected the telecom regulator's recommendation.
TRAI had suggested nearly five-fold increase in subscribers base to become eligible for additional spectrum.
If the regulator's proposal is accepted, none of the existing mobile operators, be it Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Essar or others, would be eligible for additional spectrum.
Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), a lobby group of private GSM mobile operators, has already rejected TRAI's suggestions and termed them as erroneous and legally untenable.
The Telecom Commission, which held a series of meeting during the last two weeks and also met cellular operators twice to take final view on TRAI's proposals, is likely to send its view to the minister in next two days.PTI
Dish TV remains unfazed by competition, to invest Rs 1100 cr
New Delhi, Oct 14 (PTI) Essel group-promoted Dish TV, which pioneered Direct-to-Home service in the country, today said growing competition was good for the industry and that it would spend Rs 1,100 crore by 2011 to expand market share.
DTH market would witness increased competition in the future as telecom majors Bharti and Reliance, besides consumer durables company Videocon are slated to enter the field.
"The increased competition in DTH space will have a positive effect... It will accelerate the growth of the market besides making it easy for people to change from traditional cable to digital DTH technology," Dish TV CEO Arun Kapoor told PTI.
Besides Dish TV, which has 2.3 million subscribers, the two other operational players are Prasar Bharati-owned 'DD Direct' with over two million users and private player Tata Sky with about one million subscribers.
Betting big on its new campaign with bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan in addition to its new offerings, DishTV is also expecting over three-fold increase in its subscriber base to eight million by 2011.
"We will invest Rs 1,100 crore in the next two years for expansion which includes introducing new services, advertising among other things," he said.
He said with 4-5 players operating in DTH segment, the investment would increase to Rs 1,500 crore per annum.
"With more players entering the DTH market, average revenue per user will not decline but prices might go down", Kapoor added. PTI
Flag and GlassHouse tie-up to provide remote storage services
Mumbai, Oct 14 (PTI) Flag Telecom, the undersea cable subsidiary of Reliance Communications, today said it has entered into a three-year agreement with US-based firm GlassHouse Technologies to provide fully-managed remote storage services.
"The collaboration will provide storage solutions to companies which do not have the skills or the budget to build and manage storage services," a Reliance Communications official told PTI here.
He said RCoM would offer these services across four continents where it has presence from its Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge Centre in Navi Mumbai, where GlassHouse has relocated its managed storages services to India.
GlassHouse is focused on transforming IT environment to a service provider model and has clients including Morgan Stanley, Allianz, AIG, Tel Aviv university and Virgin Atlantic among others.
"The bi-lateral agreement will bring together FLAG's next generation Internet Protocol-enabled connectivity infrastructure of 165,000 kilometre optical fibre cable and GlassHouse's expertise and infrastructure to offer world-class storage services," the official said.
Over 200 customers of Flag Telecom would benefit from the tie-up by getting their data being managed by the best-in-class storage solutions. Flag's customers include service providers, content providers and channel partners.
Flag Telecom had entered into a five-year agreement with UK-based Vanco, a global Virtual Network Operator last month. PTI
Bilcare to invest Rs 100 cr in clinical research training
New Delhi, Oct 14 (PTI) Pharmaceutical packaging solutions provider Bilcare Ltd is investing Rs 100 crore to mark its foray into medical education sector by setting up academies for clinical research spread across south east Asia.
The company would set up 25 academies to provide training in the field of clinical research, eight of which would come up in India.
"Our aim is to address the manpower needs of pharma and biotech firms in the country and we are in the process on investing Rs 100 crore in 25 academies for clinical research education," Bilcare Ltd Managing Director Mohan Bhandari said.
He said the first such academy has started operations in Pune, Maharashtra while the second would come up in Bangalore by the end of this calendar year.
"We would set up eight academies in India while the remaining would come up abroad. Our first academy outside India would be set up in Singapore by early next year," Bhandari said.
Bilcare has tied up with Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP) to provide diplomas and degrees in clinical research and is also looking at starting a full-fledged medical degree through tie-ups with universities.
The company's academies would have 200 seats each.
"In the near future, we are looking at a tie up with a university to offer a degree in medicine and are at the initial stage of discussions with a university," he said. PTI
SC dismisses pleas against levy of entry tax by UP govt
New Delhi, Oct 14 (PTI) The Supreme Court has dismissed petitions filed by major companies such as ITC Ltd, Birla Corp and public sector Oil India Corporation challenging imposition of entry tax on goods entering Uttar Pradesh.
A bench headed by Justice S H Kapadia while dismissing their pleas ordered that status quo should be maintained till next Friday. It also asked the petitioners to challenge the constitutional validity of the ordinance in the High Court.
"...It would be open to the petitioners to move the High Court challenging the UP Entry Tax of Goods into Local Area Ordinance 2007... We make it clear that this order of status quo will be there for one week. We do not wish to express any on the merits or on the question as to whether status quo should continue or not on expiry of one week," the court observed.
The petitioners had challenged the constitutional validity of the Ordinance 2007 on the ground that it was violative of their fundamental rights under Article 14 and 19 of the Constitution of India.
According to senior counsel Harish Salve, the levy of tax was a mere revenue raising measure and had nothing to do with the service or benefit provided to the traders paying the tax.
"The Ordinance is nothing but a colourable exercise of the powers under Article 213 of the Constitution of India and a blatant attempt to clothe with some respectability with retrospective effect to a tax already collected and spent by the state purely as a budgetary provision and which is not compensatory in any manner," the companies stated.
Only a few traders dealing in few goods have been selected randomly to bear the burden, the petitioners alleged, adding they have been discriminatingly picked and taxed to pay for all the infrastructural and developmental activities in the state. PTI
11 Tamil Tigers, one soldier killed in Lanka voilence
Army T V Sriram Colombo, Oct 14 (PTI) At least 11 Tamil Tigers and one soldier were killed in fresh violence in Sri Lanka's restive northern region, the military said here today.
In Jaffna's Muhamulai area troops killed two infiltrating Tamil Tigers yesterday evening, the defence ministry said, adding that the troops recovered several weapons in Chankani.
In sporadic clashes with the rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the LTTE dominated Wanni area yesterday, the Tigers lost at least nine of their cadres during day time, it said.
While troops in Villattikulam killed four LTTE cadres, the confrontations between Tigers and security forces at Mannar yesterday saw five militants and one soldier killed, the defence ministry said.
The confrontation erupted when government troops conducted a search and clear operation in the area, the ministry said. The damage to LTTE was yet to be ascertained, it said.
Meanwhile, troops in Kokkupadayan in Mannar recovered two out boat machines (OBM) belonging to the militants, the ministry said In another incident at Parappakandal in Mannar last evening, a soldier sustained injuries as an anti-personnel mine exploded when he was involved in clearing operation in the area, the army said.
In Saraweli of eastern Batticaloa, six hand grenades were recovered late last night, the army said.
Security forces recovered two skeletal remains from the Vavuniya jungles believed to be that of army personnel who went missing in action in the area on June 5. PTI
Australian PM calls elections for Nov 24
Melbourne, Oct 14 (PTI) Ending weeks of speculation, Australian Prime Minister John Howard today called a general election for November 24, claiming it's all about the "right leadership".
The 68-year-old, in power for 11 years but lagging well behind opposition Labour leader Kevin Rudd in opinion polls, said only he'd be able to lead Australia into future and continue the country's resource-driven economic boom.
"Love me or loath me the Australian people know where I stand on all the major issues of importance to their future," the conservative Howard told reporters after visiting the Governor-General in Canberra.
The Prime Minister said the country was enjoying a remarkable level of national prosperity, but promised the best years could lie ahead. "But that won't happen automatically. This country does not need new leadership, it does not need old leadership, it needs the right leadership." PTI
Pakistan: MMA on verge of split
Islamabad, Oct 14 (PTI) Pakistan's Islamic alliance Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) is on the verge of a split due to a deepening rift between leaders of its two key constituents.
The differences between the leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam have been exacerbated by the stand of the two parties over the dissolution of the assembly in the MMA-governed North Western Frontier Province (NWFP) to discredit President Pervez Musharraf's re-election in the October six poll.
The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam and its leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman dragged their feet on the move, allowing the opposition PML-Q in the province to move a no-confidence motion against Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani and effectively stalling the dissolution of assembly till the presidential poll was held.
The MMA's supreme council or top decision-making body has called a meeting here on October 22 in a last-ditch effort to keep the coalition together for the upcoming general election due by mid-January.
During the meeting, the Jamaat-e-Islami and its partners will ask Rehman to either leave the alliance or stop supporting Musharraf, the Daily Times reported today, quoting sources in the MMA.
The meeting, which is expected to be stormy, will discuss the dissolution of NWFP assembly after the Presidential election despite the Jamaat-e-Islami's demand that it be dissolved prior to the poll, the sources said.
On the other hand, Rehman, who is perceived as being close to Musharraf, and his party expected "unilateral" decisions by Jamaat chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed on important political issues, the sources said. PTI
Benazir thanks UAE for helping in deal with Musharraf
Dubai, Oct 13 (PTI) Former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhuto has thanked the UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan for his efforts to bring conciliation between PPP and President Pervez Musharraf.
The official Emirates news agency said Benazir met the UAE president in Abu Dhabi today and thanked the UAE leader for his reconciliation efforts.
She also expressed gratitude to the UAE for its role in helping Pakistani people and in the development projects there.
Sheikh Khalifa reiterated UAE's strongest keenness on the stability of Pakistan and its economic development. PTI
Resurgent India to figure high at CPC Party Congress session
Anil K Joseph Beijing,
Oct 14 (PTI) A resurgent India will have a prominent place in China's foreign policy calculus when over 2,000 delegates to the 17th National Congress of the ruling Communist Party meet here from tomorrow to deliberate on the nation's major policy initiatives for the next five years, party sources said.
While China's foreign policy is not expected to undergo major changes at the 17th Party Congress, party elders are likely to propose new steps to ensure that the policies are in line with the concept of "harmonious world" enunciated by the top Chinese leadership, including President and Communist Party of China (CPC) General Secretary, Hu Jintao, who is set to be re-elected to the top Party post till 2012.
"There won't be any deviation (from the past) I would say. But certainly there would be some further development," Director General of the International Department of the Central Committee of the CPC, Ai Ping, said.
"Last year, Chinese leaders put forward the concept of a 'harmonious world' and we are making efforts in this aspect. First we have to build Asia as a 'harmonious region'. In this, China's relation with India is very important," Ai told PTI in an interview.
While the Congress is not expected to deal with concrete policy to any particular country, it will lay out the general strategic ideas that would become the guiding policies for the Party and the government for the next five years up to 2012.
"In that sense, it will affect China's relations with India, in a positive way, I am sure," Ai said ahead of the National Congress of the CPC, held once in five years. PTI
Now, a dictionary of demons!
New Delhi, Oct 14 (PTI) Intersted in knowing about the grandfather of the demon King Ravana? Or may be his children? Ravana, the archetypical 'Rakshasa,' was a gentleman yet ogre and son of a Brahmin, a great scholar of Sanskrit and devout worshipper of Shiva and if author Nandita Krishna, a Chennai-based historian and environmentalist is to be believed, Rama and Ravana did exist.
"The story 'Ramayana' is graphically very correct besides which there are any number of local traditions and temples all along Rama's route.It is unlikely that 3000 years ago somebody could have traveled around the country inventing local traditions regarding Rama's visit," Krishna says in her book 'The Book of Demons, Including a dictionary of demons and Sanskrit Literature.' "The discovery of a man-made shoal bridge in the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka is also significant," the author says.
Sri Lanka also has local traditions such as the cave at Ravana Ella falls where Ravana is believed to have hidden Sita from and the garden of Asoka trees where Ravana once kept Sita prisoner. There is a record in an early issue of the Bellary District Gazetteer of a Vanara tribe in the region, she says.
From the Rig Veda to myriad of folk narratives, the belief in demons prevails all over India, says Krishna, who is also Director of C.P.Ramaswami Institute of Indological Research, Chennai. "Male or female, human, animal, plant or simply a concept, demons play a pivotal role in the country's mythical traditions" she says.
The author thus tells about Gajamukha, the elephant-faced demon who was transformed into a mouse by Ganesha and then converted into his vehicle. PTI
In-flight retailing takes off
Kamal Narayan
New Delhi, Oct 14 (PTI) As protests dodge the organised retail industry in the country, in-flight retailing is picking up with no air pockets so far.
As government mulls addition of more domestic carriers and expansion of the aviation sector, this nascent retail sector is set to touch new heights.
"There is phenomenal growth in the retail market as now every company plans to jump into this sector. But we have brought in a novel concept of in-flight retailing which has shown a emphatic growth rate of 50-60 per cent," says Anil Sharma, Managing Director, AVA Merchandising.
AVA, which pioneered its in-flight retail venture in domestic aviation last year with the help of Air Deccan and Go Air, is now targeting 200 crore worth business in the coming fiscal.
Skymall and UK's Alpha group, a premier company active in in-flight catering and airport shopping, are among numerous others expected to enter this lucrative business, says Sharma.
AVA merchandising has already set up outlets at 25 airports across the country and Jetlite, formerly owned by Sahara group, is also slated to introduce in-flight retailing in their carriers shortly.
"The practice of shopping during flights has seen an exciting response from customers as it offers them a new experience of buying products at very low prices." "The whole idea is to offer the customer the best products in most competitive and affordable rates," adds Sharma whose company has recently launched 'In-flight-bidding,' a concept comparable to an auction in which the customers are given a chance to buy products cheaper. PTI
Now, mobile chip piracy!
Anurag Sharma
New Delhi, Oct 14 (PTI) With India crossing two hundred million mobile subscribers and approximately 25-30 per cent of the phone models in the market capable of music transfer, music piracy has assumed a new avatar- Mobile Piracy.
"The total loss to music industry due to piracy is around 600-700 crores per year. The size of the music market on mobile phones is estimated to be Rs 400 crore that includes products like ringtones, full song mobile downloads, music videos," says Savio DSouza, Secretary-General, Indian Music Industry (IMI).
He adds, "At present, there are more than 150 million mobile users in the country and the figure is increasing by 10 per cent annually. If 10 per cent users download one song per year for Rs 10, the size of the market is more than Rs 15 crore," he adds.
Experts point out that the Mobile chip piracy is a technique by which digitised music anc be easily copied from any storage device like computer hard disc or USB drive, a mobile phone into the built in memory of another mobile phone or on memory cards or chips.
Vijay Lazarus, President, IMI, says that the total loss to music industry due to mobile chip piracy is around 35-40 crore.
"Currently only Tamil Nadu and Kerala have an anti-piracy wing. It is time the government, both the centre and the state introduce necessary reforms and set up a audio-video anti-piracy wing. We want govt to levy heavy fines and increase the minimum prison sentence of six months to one year to the music pirates and bring the crime under Goonda Act," he adds. PTI
Indian prince invited for tete-e-tete with Oprah Winfrey
Anil Nair Rajpipla
(Gujarat), Oct 14 (PTI) From obscurity to a chance to have a tete-e-tete with none other than chat show queen Oprah Winfrey -- that is the bizzare life of Manvendra Singh Gohil, the prince of erstwhile state of Rajpipla in Gujarat and inarguably one of the most prominent gay personalities in India today.
Gohil is scheduled to sit across the celebrity chat show host on October 26 for an episode to discuss issues regarding gay rights, the role of his NGO `Lakshya trust' and the plight of HIV positive people in India.
"It is a fantastic feeling to be invited to talk to Oprah Winfrey in her show. I just received a communication on October 6 inviting me to be present in her New York studio", Gohil told PTI at his palace estate in the tribal district of Narmada.
The gay prince is the first male personality from India to be invited for such a globally viewed chat show. Beauty queen Ashwariya Rai was the first woman to be interviewed.
The 42-year-old is the only person of royal lineage who has openly proclaimed to being a gay and, after creating an initial stir in his native town as well as family, is now being looked upon as a champion for gay rights and an activist for HIV derelicts via his NGO 'Lakshya Trust'.
"I came out in the open in 2005 by giving an interview to a trusted reporter of a local daily. I did it because I was tired of concealing my real identity before my own people. I did not expect the news to go beyond Gujarat but it grabbed national and global news space", says the prince. PTI
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