Welcome to Hogan's Alley, a hotbed of 'terrorists' and home of the world's most robbed bank. Its only bank - the Bank of Hogan - is robbed at least twice a week. Mobsters and drug dealers lurk around every corner.
So be careful, a bullet may whiz past you if a 'robber' pulls out a gun or you are caught in the crossfire when a group of 'terrorists' lays siege to the neighbouring Dogwood's Inn as they did at a couple of Mumbai hotels back in November.
But don't worry, the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) always gets its man here. And if you do get hit, it may hurt a bit but would do no greater harm than leaving you marked with some orange paint, one learns during a visit to the mock town named after the "Hogan's Alley" comic strip of the late 1800s.
This is where FBI special agents hone their skills before they go off to protect the United States against terrorist threats and foreign spies, fight crime at home or go off to work as legal attaches, or "Legats" at FBI's 62 international offices, including one in New Delhi, and to work with international agencies and partners.
Steve Merrill, a special agent posted in New Delhi, was on his way to Jodhpur to play cricket on the US Embassy Team in the Maharajah's annual tournament when he learned of the attacks in Mumbai, as FBI director Robert Mueller, recalled in a recent speech at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Steve quickly changed his plans and made his way to Mumbai with just the clothes on his back, his Blackberry, and his cricket gear and immediately made contact with his Indian counterparts. He got to work with skills learned back at Hogan's Alley and friendships made though the agency's international training programmes.
Built in 1987 with the help of Hollywood set designers, Hogan's Alley spread over 10-plus acres is part of the FBI Training Academy, located on 385 wooded acres on a Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, about 60 km outside Washington.
Besides a bank and a hotel, it's also got a post office, a laundromat, a barber shop, a pool hall, homes, shops, and more. There's a constant flow of people and traffic. You can even get a bite to eat at the local deli.
But don't look too closely. The cars parked outside 'Honest Jim's' aren't really for sale. The 'Dogwood Inn Restaurant' is actually a classroom. The post office doesn't deliver and the town's two mailboxes have been welded shut as they kept filling up with real letters.
Newly minted agents learn the latest investigative techniques, firearms skills, and defensive tactics here. They investigate terrorist activities...plan and make arrests...process evidence at crime scenes...conduct interviews and searches...use ballistic shields as protection..."clear" areas so they're safe to enter... and get into paint-ball gun fights with "criminals." All with the help of local actors hired to play both "bad guys" and innocent bystanders.
But it's not all play at the FBI Academy. Through an intensive, 20-week training programme they learn all basic skills they will need to collect intelligence, conduct effective investigations and fire some 3,600 bullets before moving into one of five pre-designated career paths: intelligence, counter-terrorism, counterintelligence, cyber, or criminal investigations.
"The unique thing about the National Academy is that it teaches the best way of doing things, not the only way to do it," according to the Training Division's assistant director Brian Lamkin.
Apart from giving FBI's own agents an ability to collaborate globally, the academy also runs an international training and assistance programme involving officers from 25 countries including Pakistan, mostly funded by the State Department.
The division has run a few crime scene courses for police officers from India, "but for Pakistan we have a huge programme now focusing on investigation and counter-terrorism," said section head Frederick Schmied.
A super-speciality hospital here has redefined the approach to healthcare by providing world class treatment completely free.
Patients referred to Sri Satya Sai Institute for Higher Medical Sciences hospital do not have to come in with a credit card or a cheque book.
"Here we don't charge for anything, whether it is a heart bypass, lung operation, or a brain surgery," says Satyaranjandas Hegde, a top neurosurgeon and director of the 330-bed hospital. "In fact, we have no cashier or a billing section."
Treatments, tests, medicines, food and hospital stay are all free, "and if some tests cannot be done here, we get them done outside at our cost," says Hegde.
On an average day, surgeons here perform six neuro and seven heart surgeries. Together with laboratory tests, X-ray scans and outpatient procedures these are worth over Rs.5 million ($100,000) in commercial terms but done free, says Hegde, who quit his high paying job in another hospital because he did not like the "commercial culture" there.
He was not the only one to make the switch. Kolli Challam, head of anesthesia and critical care, left his flourishing practice in Abu Dhabi two years ago to join Hegde's team.
Government dispensaries do offer free treatment for minor ailments but tertiary care always involves money, says Hegde. "It is a disaster for a poor family if one of its members requires brain or heart surgery. It means selling family jewels to meet hospital costs or just pray to god and hope for the best."
For thousands of Indians - as well as patients from neighboring Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka - their god comes in the shape of the Sai hospital. Set up in 2001, it is run by a medical trust created by Sri Satya Sai Baba, a spiritual leader with a global following.
Built with trust funds, the Rs.200 million that the hospital spends annually on salaries, medicine, equipment and maintenance come entirely from unsolicited donations from his devotees.
"The state government gave us land and the power supply for hospital is free," Hegde said. "Companies give us medical equipments at discount and one computer firm installed Rs.10 million ($20,000)-worth hospital software at no cost."
The hospital does not advertise to fill non-clinical positions. Skilled workers queue up to volunteer their services because of their faith in Satya Sai Baba.
Those who man the gates, serve at the reception and counsel patients are all volunteers inspired by Baba's philosophy that "seva," or selfless service, is service to god. People wanting to offer 'seva' are so many that there is a waiting list for volunteers, says Hegde. "We keep rotating them to give everyone a chance."
Sai hospital is actually known as a "temple of healing" as it provides medicare in a spiritual ambiance devoid of commercialism, its employees say. "I can see god's mission being carried out here," said former president of India A.P.J. Abdul Kalam during a visit to the hospital in 2006. "The doctors and staff looked to me as angels."
Free service does not mean compromising on quality or standards, Hegde points out. "Ours is as well equipped as, or better equipped than, corporate hospitals."
The hospital, with highly qualified physicians and surgeons, attracts dozens of specialists from India and abroad because they are either devotees of Satya Sai Baba or "infected by the desire to do seva", says Hegde.
Sivaraman Yegyaraman, a practising cardiac electro physiologist in Stratford, New Jersey, is one such specialist who comes to Sai hospital twice a year at his own expense. "I had always wanted to place my medical training at the service of the under-privileged and Sai hospital presented me the opportunity," he told IANS during his recent visit.
Another regular visitor, Ravindra Goyal, chairman of neurosciences at McLaren Regional Medical Center in Flint, Michigan, is a Satya Sai Baba devotee. "Each trip to this facility charges and motivates me to apply the principle of 'selfless service' to my work back in the US on my return," he said.
What makes the Sai hospital unique? It is not just the state-of-the-art technology or high quality service but the spiritual ambiance pervading through the campus, says hospital manager Sri Krishna.
"It actually makes me feel I am entering a temple and not a hospital," said Akella Chendrasekhar, medical director of Wyckoff Medical Center in New York. He was one of three specialists who came from the US spending their own money to conduct a workshop on 'critical care medicine' at the Sai hospital last week.
By redefining medical care Sai hospital has clearly shown it is certainly possible to provide the best treatment absolutely free, says Hegde. "There is no reason why this model cannot be replicated in other places in India and even abroad."
Bollywood is divided over Australia following a spate of attacks on Indian students there. While many filmmakers say they will avoid Australia to shoot, some find the country still attractive.
Kalpana Lajmi: It is indeed extremely unfortunate. But I don't hold the the entire Australian nation responsible. If my film requires an Australian backdrop, I wouldn't hesitate to shoot there.
Anees Bazmi: Being a true Indian and a human being, I condemn these acts of violence. My conscience won't permit me to shoot in Australia.
Sajid Nadiadwala: No I won't shoot in Australia. And why only Australia? I won't have any relations with any country that disrespects Indians.
Ken Ghosh: I definitely won't shoot in Australia. These attacks are very surprising. I always found them (Australians) to be very friendly.
Subhash Ghai: Certainly (I won't shoot there) until Australia gives full respect and protection to Indian students.
Sujoy Ghosh: Yup I'd shoot. And maybe carry a couple of hockey sticks to beat those racists.
Siddharth Anand: My entire film "Salaam Namastey" and "Ta Ra Rum Pum" were shot in Australia. I strongly condemn what's happening there. As of now I'd still like to believe Australia is a very friendly nation. The people there have been very warm and hospitable. But something drastic has to be done to stop these attacks. Until then I'd definitely be in two minds about shooting in Australia.
Pritish Nandy: Yes I'd shoot in Australia. Just as I would shoot in Goa despite the murder of Scarlett Keeling and other foreign tourists. We shoot in locations that suit the script. We can't take patriotism to such absurd lengths.
Satish Kaushik: Shoot in Australia? Not at all. Why should we celebrate the beauty of a country when the heart of certain people in that country is not beautiful? They should learn from us. Atithi devo bhava.
Kabir Khan: It's very important to make a distinction between prejudices practiced by a government and racist attacks by some disgruntled lunatics. However to show our disapproval of the attacks, it'd better not to shoot in Australia at the moment.
Ravi Chopra: No, definitely not. If our kids are not welcome, I don't want to be any part of Australia.
Jagmohan Mundhra: Even though I think most Australians are not racists, the frequency of attacks on Indian students is a matter of concern. As a mark of protest I won't shoot in Australia until the government takes a firm stand against racial violence and sets an example by giving severe punishments to the perpetrators of these attacks.
Tarun Mansukhani: No, considering the inaction by the Australian government against racial abuse, I wouldn't shoot in Australia. I don't think we should consider any joint venture with Australia until we get the same protection provided to their citizens. Indian students in Australia are a source of revenue for the Australian government. In exchange, the least we expect them to do is safeguard our lives.
Sajid Khan: I feel an entire nation can't be tarred because of a handful of extremists. We'll only make these elements stronger by being scared. At the same time we want to see Australia take action against hate attacks. Until then I won't shoot in Australia to show my solidarity with Indians who are attacked anywhere in the world.
Vipul Shah: Shoot in Australia? Not at all. I'm shocked by their hatred. That their so-called progressive culture can be so bigoted is unbelievable. Australia must know we are united in fighting those who attack one of us. We'll make them change their attitude.
Zoya Akhtar: I won't visit Australia till the government takes drastic steps to stop the violence.
Vikram Bhatt: I'm deeply angered. In fact, I was planning a film in Australia, no more.
Kunal Kohli: (Amitabh) Bachchan's refusal to accept the doctorate should be the starting point for us all to take similar action. I definitely will not shoot in Australia till the attacks are stopped and definite laws are implemented to prevent such attacks.
Madhu Mantena: I've been encouraging friends abroad to shoot in Mumbai after 26/11. By the same yardstick we can't give up Australia because of a few demented individuals.
Abbas-Mustan: It would be a risk for the entire cast to shoot in Australia given the present circumstances.
Bunty Walia: Nope. A country that doesn't look after my countrymen will never figure in my work and leisure scheme
Priyadarshan: No I wouldn't shoot in Australia even if my script required.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali: What is happening to our children in Australia is unforgivable and goes beyond the interests of art and culture. I wouldn't want to shoot in Australia until they sort this matter out. And why go to a hostile country when our country is so beautiful?
Madhur Bhandarkar: First ensure the safety of our boys, then we'll see about shooting in Australia. What guarantee is there for anyone's life in a country where a handful of people are terrorizing foreigners? Given the circumstances I don't want to risk my cast and crew's life in Australia.
Aparna Sen: No I wouldn't shoot in Australia. What's happening there is deplorable.
Winds of change have already started blowing at Rail Bhavan here just 10 days after Mamata Banerjee took charge of the railways portfolio. Passenger amenities are her first priority, as opposed to generating revenue surplus that was the mantra of her predecessor Lalu Prasad.
Even as security guards at her ministry are getting used to the cabinet-rank minister driving in almost unnoticed in a small Maruti Zen, rather than a white Ambassador car with a beacon that is so much part of a minister's life, senior officers are wary of any move that could clash with Banerjee's own frugal lifestyle.
"Her priorities are very clear," said Ratan Mukherjee, special officer to the minister, who not only owns the Maruti Zen in which Banerjee travels in the national capital but also drives it himself.
"Her focus is on improving passenger amenities at every level. Potable water and clean toilets inside trains and stations are some of the issues she has taken up. She also wants passengers to feel satisfied and safe," Mukherjee told IANS.
In fact, all these and more are reflected in the letter that has been circulated to all the 1.4-million employees of Indian Railways who run the world's second largest railroad network under a single management.
"I will urge all of you to provide service with a smile," said her letter where she made it clear that none of the 14 million passengers who travel on 7,000 trains daily should go home disappointed.
"Railways are committed to protect and nurture the commercial interest, but it has to be done with a human face," her letter said.
Even at the top level, Banerjee - who has preferred to stay in a small apartment rather than the ministerial bungalow she is entitled to - has conveyed in no uncertain terms that the focus should be on the average citizen and that she will also not fail to praise deserving officials.
According to her aides, in one of her first observations after taking charge, she told Railway Board Chairman S.S. Khurana that she had found the potable water dispensing system at the Sealdah station in Kolkata efficient and good and wanted it replicated all over the country.
"Quality of food, cleanliness, punctuality - the minister wants proper attention to be paid to all these issues that are often taken for granted," said a close aide, adding top officials are now raising these issues at appropriate levels.
"She (Banerjee) has stressed that the quality of linen given in trains has deteriorated and there is an immediate need to bring about some perceptible improvements," said one such follow-up letter from Khurana to a senior colleague.
Among the minister's first decisions are reinstating the full menu on Rajdhani trains, with an added offer of regional cuisine. So a passenger to Kolkata will have the choice of fish and rice, while another to Chennai can savour idlis or upma.
Banerjee, who insists on paying for her afternoon cuppa and snack in her office, has also met the top brass of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp (IRCTC) and has told them that the quality of food served in trains must improve, while also calling for surprise checks and joint inspections to bring about necessary improvements.
With a cushion of the Rs.900 billion surplus that Lalu Prasad has left behind after his five-year tenure as railway minister, Banerjee has promised cheap passes for students and the elderly, double-decker air-conditioned coaches and higher wages to staff as recommended by an official panel.
Now, as she prepares to present the regular railway budget next month, Banerjee has also called for the views of every member of the vast Indian Railway family - a move that has gone down well with the staff.
"I would welcome suggestions on how to improve our own performance in different spheres of activities of the railways. I believe that every suggestion is important and useful."
Industrialised countries are nowhere near meeting their legal obligations to combat climate change and are trying to muddy the waters by saying the global problem cannot be tackled unless developing countries do more, says Shyam Saran, India's chief negotiator at the climate treaty talks.
As the world stumbles towards a climate treaty scheduled to be inked this December in Copenhagen, a key preparatory meet is on in Bonn (June 1-12). Negotiators from around the world are poring over the "negotiating text" expected to lead to the treaty.
Saran, who is the Prime Minister's Special Envoy on Climate Change, said as the negotiating text stands now, "some parts of it do not correspond to the parameters laid down by the Bali Action Plan and several elements go beyond the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It should not include such formulations".
"The current exercise is not to renegotiate the UNFCCC but to see how we can enhance it" to tackle climate change more effectively, Saran told IANS in an interview.
Climate change - caused by an excess of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere - is already affecting farm output, leading to more frequent and more damaging droughts, floods and storms and raising of the sea level, with India among the worst-hit countries.
Saran said, "When the UNFCCC talks of sustainable development (SD), it does so because SD includes adaptation to climate change. If you try to change that to a 'low-carbon development path', you reduce SD to mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. You cannot have mitigation as the predominant element" in a treaty.
"The Copenhagen package must be comprehensive and balanced, where mitigation and adaptation is supported by finance and technology transfer to developing countries," Saran said. "So anything that strays from this is of concern to us."
Saran said there were many suggestions from industrialised countries that diverged from the UNFCCC, "giving the impression that we are negotiating a new treaty. Any country which wants to do that should use the procedure laid down in the convention. This is very important for us because UNFCCC is the only agreed legal text to address global climate change".
According to India's chief negotiator, any quantitative term in the proposed treaty, such as keeping global warming within two degrees Celsius or limiting the concentration of the main GHG carbon dioxide to 450 parts per million, "should be accompanied by clear detailing of equitable burden sharing.
"You cannot just do the arithmetic and say developing countries must play their part. Science cannot trump equity."
Saran hoped that by the end of the Bonn meeting the negotiating text would be "far more balanced" than it was now.
Talking about the 1997 Kyoto Protocol by which all industrialised countries except the US are legally bound to reduce their GHG emissions by five percent during 2008-12, compared to 1990, Saran said: "Most developed countries are nowhere near meeting their targets."
"That is why they are trying to muddy the waters," Saran told IANS. "The latest is Japan saying the baseline should be shifted from 1990 to the current date. All these are efforts to get away from the legal document and to gloss over the fact that they are not meeting their legal targets.
"And when that happens, what is our confidence in the commitments you make for a period 10 years from now? Then you can very well turn around and say the original target was unrealistic."
What was the status of the commitments made by industrialised countries for the 2008-12 period, Saran wanted to know. "This is the issue being repeatedly brushed under the carpet, the one that the western media ignores," he said.
India's chief negotiator was unhappy that there had been no progress in Bonn "in terms of indicating (GHG emission reduction) targets for 2015 or 2020, nor any clarity on having 1990 as the base year, except from the EU (European Union)".
Saran, who will be in Bonn next week to lead the Indian delegation, emphasised that these points of view were not of India alone, but of all developing countries, which negotiate climate treaties jointly under the umbrella called G77 plus China. The Group of 77 (G77) countries actually has over 130 countries as members.
For 25 years, Raj Kumari has brought home abandoned children and showered them with love, care and education. Never mind that the eunuch community, to which she belongs, finds itself at the receiving end of Indian society's prejudices.
The 49-year-old has picked up female and male infants from the roadside over the years and given them shelter in her house in a neighbourhood for eunuchs in the Ritudih area on the outskirts of the steel city of Bokaro.
"These children are my family. People call them abandoned and I call them my children. I have picked up infants left in the bushes or garbage boxes and have been looking after them," Raj Kumari told IANS.
Originally a resident of Siwan district in Bihar, she arrived in Bokaro in 1984 for the work traditionally performed by eunuchs in India - singing and dancing at social celebrations.
That's when she found a blind couple begging and brought them home. Soon after, she found a female infant, who had been abandoned next to some roadside bushes. She took the baby in and that was when she began giving shelter to abandoned children.
Three of the girls brought up by Raj Kumari are now married. Of course, she ensured that these girls were educated up to secondary school level before being married. Raj Kumari even chose the grooms herself and helped them monetarily to set up home.
"I do not know who gave birth to us. We know that Raj Kumari is everything to us. She not only provided shelter but also ensured a life of dignity for us. She is like god for discarded children like us," said Rinku Devi.
Rinku Devi was the first baby girl whom Raj Kumari brought home. The two other girls who are married are Kaushallya Devi and Sarshwati Devi.
Seven boys stay with Raj Kumari today and all of them go to school. She wants Shubham, the youngest boy residing with her, to become an engineer. She also offers help to leprosy-affected people and distributes blankets and clothes to them.
On how she earns a living, Raj Kumari said: "I am still involved in my traditional profession. I earn enough to take care of the children."
Raj Kumari dances at celebrations for weddings or the birth of a child, but she does not want any of her children to join her profession.
"It's the children's plight that inspires and compels me to work even at this age," she said. Raj Kumari wants to adopt more abandoned or orphaned children, but financial constraints prevent her from doing so.
Committed to women's empowerment and rooting out corruption from society, Raj Kumari has also set up a Self-Help Group with housewives in her neighbourhood and named it "New Jan Kalyan Mahila Samiti". On a few occasions, she has cremated the unclaimed bodies of children.
And, of course, the blind couple still stays with her.
"Apna liye to sabhi jeeta hai, lekin doosron ke liye jeene me kuchh alag hi mazza hai, (All live for themselves, but there is a unique pleasure in living for others)," Raj Kumari said.
An adventure sojourn during the day and the evenings filled with luxury and indulgence. Yes, that's the new mantra travel operators across the country are offering to woo domestic as well as international travellers.
The trend which has become much sought after by the jet-set corporate honchos is now becoming common with adventure seekers looking for that adrenalin rush with some pampering thrown in.
"From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. we give our guests the spice of adventure that they want - while from 5 p.m. to 9 a.m. we pamper them with the finest high-end luxury products and services," Sanjay Basu, from The Far Horizons, an international tour operator, told IANS.
"An average man is looking to be pampered with tailor-made holidays with high attention on details along with unparalleled and memorable soft adventure activities," said Basu, whose group charges $200-300 for a two night-three day package per person.
The Far Horizons has its own super luxury Dera resorts in Rajasthan and its clients comprise Indians as well as foreigners.
According to Mandip Singh Soin, vice president, Adventure Tour Operators Association of India: "The amalgamation of luxury with soft adventure owes its existence to two reasons."
He said: "One reason is that those who love to indulge in luxury are now beginning to enjoy an occasional trek, jeep safari through the woods and mountains that adds to their experience. Secondly, those who are pure adventure fanatics now have the opportunity to upscale their comfort level. Overall it is a better and healthy experience."
The preferred sectors in India for a 'luxurious adventure' are Rajasthan, Kerala and Uttarakhand, Soin said.
However, some of the most preferred destinations are Velavadar black buck national park and Gir national park, both in Gujarat.
The other draw is Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh, Dera Sanddune resort in Thar and luxury camps in Sunderbans in West Bengal.
According to many travel planners, such packages are specially favoured by corporates and are now being followed by others too.
"There is a growing interest amongst the corporates about the dual package of high-end vacations with adventure activities. They use this concept to promote team building amongst their employees," an official from the Corbett Foundation told IANS.
"Our clients can experience the typical jungle ambiance but with a panache. Multi-cuisine restaurants, fully stocked bar, hot and cold swimming pools, spacious cozy rooms along with visits to the wildlife centres, tiger safaris and river rafting in the river Kosi are big on demand," he added.
The Neemrana Group of Hotels in Rajasthan offers an aerial zip-line experience - an airborne adventure, that flies you high in the sky along super-strong steel cables suspended between hills-tops which costs Rs.1,500 for an individual.
What adds to the thrill of the zip is its location - in the midst of a mountainous landscape etched with royal fortresses.
Another fairly new concept is hot air ballooning.
Skywaltz is India's first commercial and only licensed hot air balloon company and offers tie-ups with hotels for passenger rides in Jaipur, Pushkar, Udaipur, Ranthambore in Rajasthan and in Delhi on special requests.
The ride can cost Indians Rs.8,000 to 12,000, while the same would cost foreign tourists $200-300.
"We offer our guests the opportunity of flying in man's first flight while experiencing leisure and comfort," Gagan Kapoor, business development manager Skywaltz, told IANS.
But, apart from these adrenaline-rush adventures, resorts are also promoting soft adventures.
Ooty-based Kurumba Village Resort offers soft adventures and treks with local tribals along with the high-end stay.
"In the past few years we have had the opportunity of making our guests appreciate nature's infinite sounds and sights while piecing together various resorts which would retain the glory of the nature and provide ultra modern amenities to our guests," Sanjay Awatramani, the resort's spokesperson said.
History was made in India Wednesday when diplomat-turned-politician Meira Kumar, 64, became the first woman speaker of the Lok Sabha - the lower house of parliament - with MPs cutting across party lines to elect the Dalit leader.
The newly elected members of the 15th Lok Sabha watched in rapt attention as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani, who were engaged in a bitter war of words until a month ago, together led Meira Kumar to the podium.
Political leaders from various parties paid rich tributes to Meira Kumar, who had quit the prestigious Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 1985 to join the Congress, a party of which her father, the late Jagjivan Ram, was a revered leader.
"In many ways it is a historic event as it is for the first time that a Congress woman member of house has been unanimously elected as speaker," Manmohan Singh said, evoking thunderous applause in the splintered 545-member Lok Sabha.
Party president Sonia Gandhi proposed Meira Kumar's name for the post. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee seconded it.
Member after member welcomed the speaker. She returned the compliments, saying it was "a "historic decision" to elect a woman to the coveted post and thanked everyone for being chosen for the honour.
She assured the house that she would be judicious and give all members equal opportunity to speak.
Meira Kumar told a press conference later: "It was a historic decision to elect a woman speaker. I am deeply honoured that I have been elected the first woman speaker of the great and vibrant democracy that we have."
Later, when journalists asked her if men should be scared now that India has a woman president and a speaker, she laughed: "Well, I think so."
The prime minister said he hoped the "charm" and "grace" of the new speaker would "calm frayed tempers that sometimes happen in the house", evoking widespread laughter from MPs.
The Lok Sabha speaker's status in the Warrant of Precedence is next only to the president, vice president and prime minister. Meira Kumar is the 16th speaker of the Lok Sabha.
Advani said he did not have any idea that Meira Kumar would be elected the speaker when she was sworn in May 22 with 18 other cabinet ministers of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
"I read (in newspapers) that your voters are disappointed with your election as speaker but I feel you will be able to serve the people better in this position than as a minister," he said.
Finance Minister Mukherjee, leader of the lower house, said: "Your experience as a diplomat, political organiser, administrator in government and long standing in parliament and association with this house will help you render your responsibility as best as possible... in the real temple of democracy."
Communist Party of India's Gurudas Dasgupta said Meira Kumar's election marked a new chapter in India's parliament.
Meira Kumar belongs to the Dalit - formerly untouchable - community, one reason why political parties across the spectrum in the hung house rushed to support her.
The new speaker got down to her new job even as senior leaders of various parties were busy singing paeans to her and wishing her success. This was when two leaders from her home state of Bihar exchanged heated arguments in the house.
In her mild-mannered but firm way, Meira Kumar expunged the remarks made by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and Janata Dal-United (JD-U) president Sharad Yadav, who had a spat when the former was giving his congratulatory speech to the new speaker.
"Nothing of this will go on record," the speaker said.
A double graduate of Delhi University, Meira Kumar joined the IFS in 1973 and served in the Indian missions in Spain, Britain and Mauritius.
She took to politics in 1985 when Congress leader Rajiv Gandhi was prime minister. She was elected to the Lok Sabha twice from Karol Bagh constituency in the national capital.
After one defeat, she shifted to Sasaram in Bihar -- a constituency that her father Jagjivan Ram, a long-time confidant of Indira Gandhi, represented for years in the Lok Sabha.
Meira Kumar, while taking the compliments of one and all, exhorted the Lok Sabha MPs to put the elections behind them and address the social and economic problems facing the country.
United News of India reports:
Sixty four-year-old Meira Kumar is the first woman Speaker of the Lok Sabha in the world's largest democracy.
She is also the second Dalit to hold this position, the first being the late G M C Balayogi.
By opting for a woman as a Speaker for the first time, the Congress hopes to take the message of social and woman empowerment into the rival camp.
The Congress decision to have a woman Speaker is a clear signal that the 124-year-old party is bent on getting passed the long pending bill seeking to give 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and state Assemblies.
The women's quota bill was one of the major electoral promises in the Congress manifesto for the 2009 general elections. The bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha by the first UPA government towards the fag end of its term early this year.
The election of Ms Kumar was unanimous with the Opposition also supporting her candidature.
She was elected to the Lok Sabha in the 2009 general elections from the Sasaram seat in Bihar, where the Congress could manage to get only two out of the 40 seats. She has earlier represented Uttar Pradesh and Delhi in the Lok Sabha.
Ms Kumar is soft-spoken but a firm pursuer of her social missions.
Daughter of late Deputy Prime Minister and prominent dalit leader Babu Jagjivan Ram and Indrani Devi, Meira Kumar gave up a career in the Indian Foreign Service which she had joined in 1973 on the request of the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, to enter politics and claim her father's legacy.
She was born in Patna on March 31,1945. Her husband, Manjul Kumar is a Supreme Court lawyer and they have three children, Anshul, Swati and Devangna, all married.
Poet, painter, sportsperson and a social activist, Ms Kumar was educated at Indraprastha College and Miranda House, University of Delhi. She is a graduate in law and holds a Masters in English.
Ms Kumar successfully contested for the Lok Sabha seat from Bijnore in Uttar Pradesh in 1985. She was a member of the 11th and 12th Lok Sabha, re-elected with a record margin from her father's former constituency of Sasaram in Bihar.
She was inducted into the Manmohan Singh Cabinet as Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment in 2004.
Ms Kumar has actively participated in a number of movements for social reforms and protection of human rights.
Besides being a Minister, she has served on various important posts in Parliament including as Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of External Affairs, General-Secretary, All India Congress Committee (AICC), Member, Congress Working Committee (CWC) and Public Accounts Committee.
Ms Kumar has also been closely asociated with a number of social and cultural organisations. She is President and Founder of the All India Samta Movement (also its founder). She has been on the Governing Body, Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) in 1987-92, and on the Central Advisory Board of Education, 1977-90 and 2004 onwards.
She has served on the National Commission on Population, and the National Integration Council.
She was Chairperson, National Drought Relief Committee of the Congress party during the century's worst drought in 1967. She had launched a Family Adoption Scheme under which drought-affected families were adopted by affluent families.
Ms Kumar has been committed to human rights and abolition of the caste system. She has visited a number of places where atrocities were committed against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Ms Kumar's hobbies include painting and writing poems some of which have been published. She was the editor of Pavan Prasad--a monthly magazine (1980-92).