It was in 1998, when as minister of power in the E.K. Nayanar government, Vijayan first took over as the state secretary of the party.

He hails from Kannur district, considered the cradle of the Communist movement, and began his eventful political career through student union activities before joining the Communist party in 1964.

His legislative career began with a victory in the 1970 assembly polls and he got re-elected thrice in 1977, 1991 and 1996.

In 2002, he was elected to the politburo of his party, but on account of the open feud with his arch-rival and former chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan, both were suspended from the politburo in 2007 but later re-inducted. In 2009 Achuthanandan was demoted to the central committee as the two continued to spar.

But Vijayan later suffered a huge setback when he became the first politburo member of his party to be indicted in a corruption case. He was given bail.

He has been named as the seventh accused by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the Rs.374 crore SNC Lavalin case, when Vijayan as the state power minister had inked the final agreement in 1997 for renovating three power plants in the state. According to the accountant general, it was a failed project and caused a loss to the state exchequer.

But with his party strongly supporting him, he continues to be in full command and over the years is seen to have virtually decimated the Achuthanandan faction. Vijayan’s problems with a section of the church leadership have always evinced keen media interest.

Matt Michelsen, CEO and co-founder of Backplane, the company behind the website, said: “Backplane is about bringing together communities and Gaga’s community just so happens to be the community we’re using to learn about proper functionality. We think we can really change the world.”

During a joint media interaction with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, the prime minister said the two sides had agreed to find a practical solution to the issues that were holding back the deal.

“We seek solutions that are practical, mutually beneficial and acceptable to both sides,” he said.

India and European Union have been negotiating a broad-based trade and investment deal since 2007.

However, talks are stuck on issues like easing visa regulations for Indian professionals and reduction in tariffs on cars and spirits imported from the EU.

Rompuy also said the two sides had made substantial progress and hoped that an agreement would be reached soon.

None of the leaders gave any time-frame for conclusion of the deal.

The two sides are holding a summit here to strengthen bilateral trade. The EU is India’s largest trading partner, accounting for 14 percent of India’s foreign trade.

A veteran politician, Peerzada has been winning elections from Kokkernag in south Kashmir.

This is the second time in four years that Peerzada has resigned.

In 2008, he stepped down following charges that he demanded a bribe from a legislator.

This time, it was alleged that his son used unfair means in the Class 10 examination in 2009. The chief minister had ordered a probe.

The probe by the Crime Branch of the state police indicted the minister for allegedly helping his son. The report was submitted Wednesday.

Since Peerzada belongs to Congress, the chief minister was waiting for the green signal for action against the education minister.

In 2010, the chief minister sacked public works minister G.M. Saroori when it was discovered that his daughter had allegedly used an impersonator in an entrance test to secure admission into a medical college.

Researcher Joanne Kuzma from the University of Worcester, England, has analyzed photos that clearly show children’s faces on the photo sharing site Flickr, the International Journal of Electronic Security and Digital Forensics reported.

Kuzma found that a significant proportion of those analyzed were geotagged, a large number of those being linked with 50 of the more expensive residential zip codes in US, according to a university statement.

“Publishing geolocation data raises concerns about privacy and security of children when such personalized information is available to internet users who may have dubious reasons for accessing this data,” explained Kuzma.

The location information could possibly be used to locate a child’s home or other location based on information publicly available on Flickr, added Kuzma.

Flickr and many other photo-sharing and social networking sites can also utilize geotagging or allow users to add the appropriate geotags to their photos manually.

Kuzma found that all the zip code locations analyzed had geotagged images of children, new babies in and around the family homes, all searchable in the public areas of the site.

All of the geotagged images could easily be superimposed on a map of a given area, which Kuzma suggests might pose a significant security and privacy risk.

Another 40 percent said they did not have a bird bath, table or nest box.

As per the survey for pet food store and insurers Pets at Home, 47 percent of the children could name only three birds – most commonly the robin, blue tit and swan.

But despite their lack of knowledge, 70 percent of the children said they feed birds in winter.

A team of senior officials of the external affairs ministry led by M. Ganapathi, secretary (West), reached the capital Male Friday afternoon and are in the process of meeting key political figures across the spectrum, government sources said in New Delhi.

“I have sent an envoy to Maldives to assess the situation,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told reporters in New Delhi, adding that it was his sincere hope that the matter can be resolved through peaceful dialogue. “It will be our effort to use our influence in that direction,” he said.

The Indian team has already met Nasheed and conveyed that he should join in efforts to stabilise the situation. They are also expected to meet Maldives’s new president Mohammed Waheed Hassan and other important political leaders and impress upon them to expedite the process of a broad-based coalition government that could restore peace and stability to the island nation.

The Indian high commission in Male is also in constant situation with the rapidly evolving situation in the Maldives as Nasheed’s supporters took to the streets on the second consecutive day, demanding the restoration of democracy and calling for early elections.

In Male, Nasheed, surrounded by his supporters, also called for the immediate release of around 500 supporters arrested for allegedly burning down police stations and court houses during demonstrations on Wednesday, a day after he resigned amid a standoff between the executive and the judiciary and the police joining opposition protesters.

Nasheed has, however, claimed he was forced to resign “almost at gunpoint.” The new president has denied any coup attempt.

In talks with senior Maldives politicians, India’s effort will be to encourage a negotiated political settlement that helps the island country to return to stability as soon as possible. Instability is bad for everyone, specially for a country that depends on tourism as a key driver of its economy, sources said. Maldives, known for its luxury island resorts, depends on 1 million tourists who come annually and bring in $1 billion, contributing over 60 percent of the country’s GDP.

With a Maldivian court issuing arrest warrant for Nasheed, which the new government has not acted on, India has urged the new president to ensure that Nasheed is not arrested or harmed in any way. “Nasshed is safe. We have been assured that he will not be harmed,” said sources.

India has, however, ruled out any military intervention in
the present situation which it sees as “primarily an internal affair of the Maldives”.

The sources pointed out that unlike in 1988, when the then Rajiv Gandhi government sent troops to the Maldives at the request of then president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom to prevent a coup externally induced by rogue elements from Sri Lanka, this time it’s an internal political affair and hence does not warrant military intervention.

Since the Feb 7 resignation of Nasheed, a former political prisoner and proactive human rights campaigner, India has taken the position that the present crisis in the island nation is an internal affair of the Maldives and should be resolved peacefully by the Maldivians themselves.

India is also of the view that the change of guard in the Maldives was not a “coup” but part of a constitutional transition of power.

With over 30,000 Indians residing in the Maldives, India is ready with a contingency plan to evacuate them if the violence on the streets spins out of control. “We are the nearest neighbour of Maldives. If there is any contingency, we are ready to help,” said the sources. India’s assessment is that the situation is relatively calm now and there does not seem to be any urgency for any contingency plan. “There is absolutely no basis for military intervention unless there is a legal basis for it,” said the sources.

On the diplomatic front, besides briefing the P5 ambassadors and Sri Lanka, India also plans to update SAARC countries on the situation in the Maldives and press for a democratic solution to the present impasse.

Zulu is spoken by more than three million pupils at home, while only seven percent of students — about 852,000 — speak English at home.

At the foundation phase in primary schools, most pupils would choose African languages.

As early as grade four, many would transfer to English or Afrikaans in their lessons, according to the survey.

The trend of the rising number of English-learning pupils is mainly due to social and cultural processes, it said.

English was the most common spoken language in official and public life in South Africa, it added.

“The rise in demand from suburban towns, apart from major cities, has spurred the prices of roses this Valentine. Price of export quality cut rose is likely to quadruple from its current price of about Rs.15 to over Rs.60 per stem,” said the study.

“Majority of flower growers are anticipating around 30 percent rise in revenue during February, with a turnover of about Rs.10 crore,” it added.

There is also a surge in demand for Indian roses in international markets of Australia, Germany, Greece, Italy and New Zealand, among other countries.

However, many rose cultivators said that crude handling of cut flowers during transportation leads to poor realisation for Indian roses in the international markets.

“The rose growers are experimenting with a new way to increase the shelf life of the flower – India is the largest grower of roses – by growing genetically modified versions,” said the study.

About 40 crore cut roses are grown across India every year. Karnataka alone accounts for about 75 percent, followed by Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and West Bengal.

All three – Cooperation and Agricultural Marketing Minister Laxman Savadi, Women and Child Development Minister C.C. Patil and Minister for Environment, Ecology and Ports Krishna Palemar – claimed they had quit “voluntarily” and were ready for a probe.

“We have resigned to avoid embarrassment to our party and not give the opposition a flimsy excuse to disrupt the assembly proceedings. We are ready to face an enquiry by the speaker (K.G. Bopaiah) as we did no wrong by watching a video clip of some rave incident in a foreign country to know what a rave party is,” a rattled Savadi told reporters at the party office here.

A communique from the Raj Bhavan said Governor H.R. Bhardwaj had accepted their resignations on the recommendation of Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda.

Terming the incident as unfortunate, Gadkari said in Allahabad that the party took action against the disgraced ministers.

“They said they are innocent, we said resign immediately. An inquiry will be done,” Gadkari said.

The scandal comes in the wake of a series of troubles for the BJP in Karnataka, the first state in south India where the party has taken power.

With local and national news channels beaming through the night the footage of Savadi and Patil animatedly viewing the sleaze on Palemar’s cell phone, the party’s embarassed leadership came under pressure to immediately sack the tainted trio.

With the state legislature in a 10-day session since Jan 30, the party’s central and state leadership prevailed on the ministers to quit.

The chief minister said the ministers resigned voluntarily.

The ministers were caught watching porn when the house was discussing a call-attention motion on a pro-Hindu group allegedly hoisting a Pakistani flag Jan 1 at Sindagi town in north Karnataka.

Savadi claimed that Palemar showed them a video clip of the rave party held late Saturday on St.Mary’s island off the western coast, about 400 km from here, late Saturday by foreign tourists.

“As there was a heated debate on the controversial rave party during the day, we were trying to understand how such parties are conducted in foreign countries. As the handset also had video clip on some rape and murder incident in a Muslim country, it was on the screen in motion,” an unfazed Patil tried to explain.

Seizing the opportunity, the Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) urged the speaker to expel the three legislators as they had brought down the dignity of the house by indulging in perverted conduct when even the use of mobiles are banned in the house, especially during the session.

“Resignation is not adequate. They should be expelled from the assembly. We will insist on their expulsion,” state Congress unit president G. Parameshwara told reporters.

The JD-S sought immediate disqualification of the trio.

The two parties have planned to protest in the assembly till the three are expelled.

Admitting that the incident was an embarrassment to the party, BJP’s state unit president K.S. Eshwarappa said it was unfortunate.

“I cannot say it has not caused embarrassment to the party,” Eshwarappa said.

Gadkari linked the incident to the larger deterioration in values. “Whether it is the media or administration or society, it is a matter of concern.”