Saudi raises Haj quota by 10,000

jeddah (PTI): Saudi Arabia has agreed to increase the quota for Indians by 10,000 for this year’s Haj pilgrimage.

With this, a total of 1.47 lakh Indians will be able to perform the Haj, visiting minister of state for external affairs E. Ahamed said after meeting Saudi Haj minister Fouad bin Abdussalam al Farsi here.

Of this, one lakh will go through the Haj committee and the rest will use the services of private tour operators.

Ahamed said the marked improvement in arrangements for the Haj has enthused Muslims in India to undertake the pilgrimage in large numbers.

The Haj management agency has said that all possible assistance will be extended to Indian pilgrims, Ahamed added. He stressed that the Saudi authorities should ensure that Haj regulations are strictly adhered to by private operators.

Microsoft to train teachers

chennai: Microsoft will set up an information technology academy here to train state government teachers, reports our special correspondent.

The software giant signed a five-year agreement with the government here on Monday.

The initiative, called Partners in Learning Programme, will involve training in computer science to teachers free of cost in batches of 40. Each batch will receive 12 days of residential training.

Teachers in districts will also be trained at each of the five District Institutes of Educational Training.

The aim is to benefit around 20,000 teachers and indirectly reach out to over 10 lakh students.

Paan masala

B>lmumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has lodged a complaint with Thane police against paan masala maker Dharampal Satyapal for issuing “misleading advertisements”.

The company had advertised that Rajnigandha paan masala “does not contain magnesium carbonate and tobacco” but FDA found the chemical in samples collected from Thane.

Mishaps kill 8

new delhi (PTI): A speeding truck crushed to death seven people sleeping on a pavement in southwest Delhi, including three children, early on Monday. Another truck knocked down two constables on a motorcycle on Nizamuddin Bridge on Sunday night.

Twin blasts trial

B> mumbai (PTI): Trial in the 2003 Mumbai bomb-blasts case will begin on Tuesday at an anti-terror law court with the deposition of an approver. Five persons accused of the blasts near the Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazar that killed 50 people will also be produced.

Kulwinder Sanghera, a Canada-based video production studio owner, has secured a licence to run an FM radio station. It will go on air early next year with programmes for 15 ethnic groups.