THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Shops and markets remained closed and buses and taxis went off the road as a 12-hour bandh in Thiruvananthapuram district, called in protest against the desecration of the Ambedkar statue in Mumbai, got underway here this morning. The bandh has been called by the Dalit Avakasha Samrakshana Samithi comprising several Dalit organisations. The organisers of the bandh have also demanded the resignation of the Maharashtra Government, holding it responsible for the death of 16 Dalits in police firing. Newspapers, hospitals, milk supply and marriage ceremonies have been exempted from the bandh. Police bandobast has been stepped up in the city and rural areas.Tavleen Singh to host Star Plus serialNEW DELHI: Is a normal day in the life of Prime Minister I K Gujral, Dhak Dhak girl Madhuri Dixit and bare-foot painter M F Hussain any different from that of the common man? Columnist Tavleen Singh tries to seek these answers on behalf of the viewers of Star Plus channel in the form of Ek Din Ek Jeevan, a new weekly serial being launched from July 20. The programme, as the name suggests, will attempt to capture a day in the life of high profile men and women with Singh spending the time with the person being profiled to get an insight of the persona under focus, a Star TV release said today. The half-hour programme will be aired every Sunday at 9 pm hours and kick off with a day in the life of the Prime Minister, the release said.CMs, Panchayat Raj ministers meetVISAKHAPATNAM: Union Minister of State for Rural Development and Employment Yerram Naidu today said that a meeting of state chief ministers and Panchayat Raj ministers would be held in New Delhi on August 2, to discuss the process of implementation of the Panchayat Raj system in the country. The meeting would be presided over by Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral, he told reporters here. Naidu said that all states had conducted elections to the local bodies. However, it was not known how many states had delegated powers to these bodies. This would be discussed in the meeting, he added.World's largest weapon systemPUNE: Pune-based Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) has developed a weapon system, INSAS, whose acquisition by Indian Army has become the world's largest programme with a projected production run of more than one million weapons and matching ammunition of several hundred million. The estimated project cost is Rs 3000 crore. INSAS, which stands for a 5.56 mm Indian Small Arms System, has been developed by an ARDE crack-team to fulfill a user requirement of light weight, soldier-friendly, small arms for infantry.
