New Delhi, July 2
Just a day before the arrival of a high-level US congressional delegation in New Delhi, India has assured Iran that it is committed to the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline, ignoring the Bush administration’s vehement opposition to the project.

National security adviser M.K. Narayanan, who returned here today from a quiet visit to Iran, had held talks with Iranian President Ahmadinejad and other top leaders of the Islamic nation, allaying Tehran’s apprehension that New Delhi’s growing relationship with Washington could affect the fate of the much-talked about pipeline project.

The visit is being considered significant in diplomatic circles as external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee is scheduled to visit Tehran towards the end of July for a NAM ministerial meeting.

There is a possibility that the Indo-Iranian joint commission may meet in Tehran during Mukherjee’s visit when the two sides are likely to iron out their differences over the pipeline deal. Indian officials also do not rule out the possibility of Manmohan Singh visiting Tehran later this year.

Incidentally, Pakistan finance minister Naveed Qamar was also in Tehran when Narayanan was visiting the Iranian capital for the Iran-Pakistan joint commission meeting. He announced that a major part of the agreement among India, Pakistan and Iran had been finalised and the accord would be signed soon.

Narayanan unequivocally conveyed to his Iranian interlocutors the firm commitment of the Manmohan Singh government that India would fulfill the promise it had made with regard to the IPI pipeline, the pressure from Washington to go slow on the project notwithstanding.

Sources here said the Iranian leadership once again asked India not to delay the project, which, according to Tehran, was beneficial for all three countries concerned.

During his meeting with Iran’s supreme national council secretary Saeed Jalili, Narayanan underscored Tehran’s important role in regional and global affairs as the two sides drew up an action plan for enhancing security cooperation as well as creating new opportunities for the expansion of mutual and international exchanges.

Narayanan’s visit to Tehran will obviously not please the Americans as it virtually coincides with the visit of a six-member congressional delegation, led by Gary Ackerman, who lobbied intensely for the Indo-US nuclear deal but has openly voiced his opposition to the IPI project.

The delegation will tomorrow meet top Indian officials. The nuclear deal, over which the political stalemate now seems to be easing, will be the main item on the agenda between the two sides.

This is the second US delegation, headed by a top US legislator, coming to India. In February this year, influential US senator Joseph Biden, accompanied by senators John Kerry and Chuck Hagel, had met the Prime Minister, and indicated that July would be the possible deadline for the nuclear deal.

New Delhi, July 2
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) today underlined that the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement will neither compromise India’s independent foreign policy nor undermine its nuclear sovereignty. It was also clarified that the nuke deal will not impinge on India’s civilisational ties with Iran.

The PMO put out a detailed statement late tonight following a meeting national security adviser M.K. Narayanan had with leaders of Samajwadi Party Ram Gopal Yadav and Amar Singh who had sought a public statement from the Prime Minister for allaying their concerns over the deal.

The UPA government is desperately wooing the 39-member Samajwadi Party to make up the numbers as the Left parties have threatened to withdraw support to the ruling coalition if it moves ahead on the nuke deal. Since the Samajwadi Party had opposed the deal publicly, it had sought clarifications on the agreement from the UPA government, which were provided by Narayanan today.

Giving details about this meeting, the PMO said in its response to Amar Singh’s questions, Narayanan had clarified that the nuclear agreement did not and would not affect the autonomy of decision-making in regard to foreign affairs in any manner, adding that India had always regarded its strategic autonomy in these matters as sacrosanct.

India and Iran, it was pointed out, have recently taken several initiatives, including one relating to the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, which according to the UPA government “epitomises the nature and importance of the relationship and which was reinforced during the visit of Iranian President Ahmadinejad to Delhi last April. The NSA, it was said, had just returned after a very productive meeting with Iranian leadership and also had a meeting with President Ahmedinejad, at which apart from economic issues like the IPI pipeline, other related matters were also discussed.

The SP is particularly worried that its decision to endorse the nuclear deal could send out a negative signal to the minorities who constitute its key support base. Although the SP is keen on tying with the Congress in order to contain the BSP in Uttar Pradesh, it had to factor in the apprehensions expressed by its minority MPs who believe the US is pressurising India not to pursue the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project.

The SP’s task had been made doubly difficult after UP Chief Minister Mayawati publicly described the nuclear agreement as being “anti-Muslim”, a declaration that had been received very well by the minorities in the state.

Realising SP’s concerns in this regard, the PMO stressed “India is not under any pressure, nor can it be pressurised to follow a course of action that is not dictated by our enlightened self-interest, adding that outside influence or pressure could force India to break its civilisational ties with Iran.

Responding to the SP’s questions, Narayanan also explained that there is nothing in the nuclear agreement, which places an embargo on India’s right to carry out a nuclear test if it thinks it, is in India’s national interest. He also told the SP leaders that the 123 Agreement clearly overrides the Hyde Act. A careful reading of the 123 Agreement makes it clear that substantive rights and obligations under the agreement are not affected by the national laws of the parties, adding that the 123 Agreement with the US contains a specific mention that the agreement will not affect un-safeguarded nuclear activities like activities involving India’s strategic programme which are not under safeguards, the statement added.

New Delhi, July 2
The four-year old United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government moved closer to a realignment adding new partners to the UPA and shedding the old Left support.

But the contours of the new entity are yet to develop and till then neither the Left Front, nor the latest player Samajwadi Party (SP) is willing to open all its cards on the exact course of events.

Meanwhile, contrary to reports that the Left was going to pull support the moment the Prime Minster Manmohan Singh set sail for Tokyo, Bardhan said, "When did we link G8 to our withdrawal of support?

The SP, which is to meet its United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) partners, on Thursday, refused for the second day on Wednesday to commit itself to the crucial Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, which is the crux of tension between the government and the Left Front.

SP general secretary Amar Singh, who went to an undisclosed destination to meet national security adviser M. K. Narayanan, later reiterated his commitment to fight communalism. But on the deal he sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's explanation to the nation. That, sources say is because of rumblings within the SP against supporting the government on the deal.

Meanwhile, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu is arriving here on Thursday for the UNPA meeting and sources said the UNPA partners had decided not to rock their boat yet and instead publicly commit themselves to the cause of secularism. Again that is because there is no clarity as to when and how the SP will hop on to the UPA bandwagon and till then neither side wants to precipitate the situation.

"They SP and the TDP may eventually part company, but that has been put off for another day," said the TDP sources.

Meanwhile, the air has been cleared both by the ruling party as well as the Left on the Prime Minister's visit to Tokyo to attend the G-8 summit next week. Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natrajan too denied any link between the Prime Minister's Tokyo visit and the Indo-US nuclear deal. She said, "The Prime Minister or the PMO has made no statement linking G-8 to the nuclear deal. Any linking of G-8 and nuclear deal is incorrect and inaccurate,'' she said.

Mumbai, July 2
Will the Shiv Sena dump its ally, the BJP and save the ruling UPA government over the Indo-US nuclear deal? The question is being asked eagerly in Maharashtra’s political circles after the party’s MP in the Rajya Sabha Sanjay Raut stated that a final decision would be taken by Bal Thackeray in the coming days.

Raut’s statement caused panic in the BJP, which is hoping to embarrass the Central government over the numbers it has in Parliament should the Left parties withdraw support. After several rounds of parleys behind closed doors, Uddhav Thackeray, the Shiv Sena’s executive president and heir to the supremo, today clarified that the party’s 13 Lok Sabha MPs would vote with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the BJP.

However, the last word hasn’t been said on the subject and much will depend on what kind of bargains the Congress is able to hand out to the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.

Observers say Raut will not have made his statement without it being cleared from the party’s highest offices. The editor of Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna, Raut, is seen in political circles as an important strategist of the party and the voice of the elder Thackeray.

Moreover, the Shiv Sena has a history of making deals to its convenience even at the cost of its relationship with the BJP. Only last year, the Shiv Sena broke ranks with the NDA and backed the candidature of Pratibha Patil in the presidential elections against BJP’s Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. The ostensible reason for backing Patil was that she was a “Maharashtrian” and a woman.

However, sources say the real deal worked out by the Congress and the Sena was that the former would not induct Narayan Rane as Chief Minister of Maharashtra in exchange for support to Pratibha Patil.

But with Narayan Rane working up a lather in Maharashtra once again, the backroom boys of the Sena and the Congress are said to be burning the midnight oil. On the other hand, the BJP can do nothing but grin and bear it if the Shiv Sena decides to break ranks with it yet again. As Sainiks close to the Thackerays said last year, L.K. Advani’s road to the Prime Minister’s Office runs through the palatial Shiv Sena Bhawan.

Patna, July 2
The secretary of the Patna municipal corporation, Manzar Alam, and his wife were hacked to death at their residence early today in what the police suspected to be an insider’s job.

Alam (59), an officer of the Bihar Administrative Service and his wife Kausar Zaman, were butchered by unidentified assailants at their Haroon Colony residence where they lived with their daughter Saba Kausar, senior superintendent of police Amit Kumar told PTI.

The couple’s two other daughters were married and lived separately.

The bodies, bearing multiple injuries, were found in the bedroom this morning by Saba, who was sleeping in the adjoining room. Saba found the door bolted from inside.

“The inference we have drawn from the scene of occurrence is that murder was the chief motive behind the incident. It appears an insider’s job... A person with whom the family had some dealings, somebody known to the family,” the SSP said.

He ruled out the possibility of robbery as the prime motive, as jewellery and even the licenced gun of the officer were left untouched.

Earlier, SP (city) Anwar Hussain had said an almirah was found open and some valuables were reported missing, raising suspicion of burglary being the motive behind the killings. He had said the possibility of loot could be just a ploy to mislead the investigation.

Declining to divulge details about the suspects behind the twin-murder lest it should hamper the probe, the SSP said a special team headed by Dy SP Dilnawaz Ahmed had been constituted to investigate the case. — PTI

Dehra Dun, July 2
At least 14 persons were killed when the bus in which they were travelling fell into the Bhagirathi in Uttarkashi district today.

According to district officials, the bus, belonging to the Tehri Garhwal Motor Operators’ Union, was on its way to Hardwar from Gangotri when it skidded off the road and fell into the Bhagirathi near Nakura village, 10 km from Uttarkashi.

While some of the passengers managed to swim back to safety, 12 were killed on the spot. As many as 23 passengers who were injured in the accident were admitted to the hospital.

The passengers of the ill-fated bus were mainly locals and pilgrims from Karnataka.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri has announced an ex gratia amount of Rs 50,000 to the next of kin of those dead and Rs 25,000 to the injured.

The Chief Minister also ordered a magisterial inquiry into the accident.

Patna, July 2
In an early morning swoop, CPI (Maoist) guerrillas today blew up tracks in Bihar’s Saran and Muzaffarpur districts disrupting movement of trains on Patna-Guwahati and Muzaffarpur-Narkatiaganj routes during a 24-hour nationwide shutdown against cop atrocities on their cadre.

Activists of the proscribed outfit exploded a bomb on the down-line between Badagopal and Avtar Nagar stations in Sonepur division of East Central Railway around 6.30 am, hitting train services on Delhi-Guwahati route, railway sources said.

Naxalites also planted a bomb on the up-track at the same place, which was later defused, chief public relations officer of ECR A.K. Chandra told PTI.

The place falls in Chapra parliamentary constituency of railway minister Lalu Prasad.

Several trains including Muzaffarpur-Delhi Lichchwi Express, Darbhanga-Delhi Sadbhavna Express, New Delhi-Guwahati Avadh Assam Express and Gorakhpur-Muzaffarpur Inter-City Express were stranded at various stations.

Restoration work has started and it will take a few hours more for traffic to resume.

In another incident, the Naxalites blew up the track in a stretch of about 2 metres between Mehsi and Mahwal stations in Muzaffarpur district leading to derailment of the engine of Muzaffarpur-Narkatiaganj passenger train. No one was, however, reported killed or injured, railway sources said.

Exactly a month ago on June 2, the activists of the banned outfit, had blown up both tracks between Narganjo and Ghorparan stations in Jamui district during a bandh called in five east Bihar districts to protest the arrest of five of their comrades.

The passengers of Gorakhpur-Howrah Poorvanchal Express had a miraculous escape when the train ran on the breached track barely minutes after it was blown up.

In a daring attack on Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF) police stations at Jhajha railway station, also in Jamui district on April 13 this year, the Maoists had killed five policemen and looted 45 rifles and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition. — PTI

New Delhi, July 2
Multi functional displays (MFD) in combat jets will now be indigenously manufactured. Defence Research Development Organisation and Samtel, an Indian company in avionics, had got clearance for flight testing of indigenously manufactured MFD from RCMA (Regional Centre for Military Airworthiness), and has subsequently tested the equipment.

Prior to flying, extensive ground tests were undertaken on Sukhoi-30 integration platform. The tests were conducted both during daylight hours and in the night to evaluate the display characteristics of MFD under varying light conditions. Four test sorties were undertaken at an altitude of about 40,000 ft with MFD for its evaluation, and no failure of the MFDs was observed, said a spokesperson for Samtel.

MFD is a device that puts all aircraft systems monitoring and flight planning functions at the pilot's fingertips. MFD paints a composite view of the aircraft’s environment, providing the pilot with all necessary information to make safe decisions during every phase of the flight. Engine performance and situational data such as location, terrain, traffic, weather and airport information are all digitally depicted and can be quickly interpreted at a glance on the large format display.

Samtel has a joint venture with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) to produce indigenous next generation MFDs, head-up displays and helmet mounted displays for HALs.

New Delhi, July 2
Until four years ago, they were a bunch of nameless women, condemned and despised by all. As real players in the 4,000-year-old story of manual scavenging, still being told in India, they knew only one life -- that of drudgery.

“It was like an eternal curse we thought would never end. All we did was frequent dry privies, carry night soil, die every day,” said one of the 54 erstwhile women scavengers from Alwar, who today walked the ramp with top models in the UN General Assembly Hall at New York, where the international agency’s NGO section staged a unique fashion show to drive home the importance of sanitation.

Titled “Mission Sanitation”, the 45-minute-long fashion show featured liberated scavenger women from India as the main performers. They walked the ramp with world’s top models, wearing Indian garments designed by these women. In many ways then, the show was a tribute to the power of change, a living proof of the effect sanitation improvements can have on marginalised sections of society.

The man behind the liberation of these women can’t agree less. For years, Dr Bindeshwar Pathak has been the prime mover behind the social reform movement of manual scavengers in India, having freed 60,000 scavengers through his NGO Sulabh International. “We wanted to bring liberated scavengers to the world stage so that people can understand what it takes to initiate and sustain reform. Today, these women make pickles and other things for a living. More importantly, they motivate others to resign lives of indignation,” Pathak earlier told The Tribune.

Today, he was among top celebrities of the world who delivered special messages of 30 seconds each on themes of sanitation, water, toilets and hygiene. Others were actors Matt Damon, Hillary Swank and Leonardo de Caprio, Miss Universe spokeswoman Riyo Mori and Melinda Gates.

Famous names apart, heroes of the day were scavenger women from India, once shunned for cleaning the mess of others. No wonder the show was designed specially to track the transformation in their lives - from times when they engaged in the despicable task of scavenging to times when Sulabh’s cost effective sanitation technologies made scavenging redundant.

Coupled with their real-life stories was a film on the work of Sulabh, which won the UN award for best practices in sanitation last year. And then there was the keynote speech by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and a welcome address by Willem Alexander, the Prince of Orange of Netherlands, who also is the chairperson of the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation. Interesting, it was that Sulabh bore the entire cost of staging the show today, just to introduce an obscure but determined lot of Indian women to the world.

For the women, the task was tough, but they succeeded well in using culture to accelerate progress towards the MDG of reducing by half the proportion of people lacking access to sanitation by 2015.

And as they contributed to a mighty goal, the world stood listened. The show was slotted during the high-level segment of UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) meet that is concluding tomorrow. In this International Year of Sanitation, the theme of ECOSOC’s annual ministerial review is “Sanitation and Sustainable Development.” And the 54 liberated scavenger women from India are the living examples of how times change.

New Delhi, July 2
Men who buy sex from women are the single most powerful driving forces in Asia’s HIV epidemics. They constitute the largest infected population group in the continent.

Startling new findings of the Commission on AIDS in Asia, constituted in June 2006 to assess the developmental consequences of the AIDS epidemic in the region, suggest that a high proportion of Asian men are buying sex. After every sex worker in Asia, there are 10 male clients.

Most of these are from “mainstream” society and capable of creating a critical mass of infection, as they are either married or will get married, infecting low-risk women. Already, although three out of four adults living with HIV in Asia are men, the number of infected women is rising. It has gone up from 19 per cent in 2000 to 24 per cent in 2007.

The commission, which reviewed 5,000 papers and commissioned 30 new studies to achieve its task, further found that up to 10 million Asian women sell sex and at least 75-million men regularly buy sex, making unprotected paid sex the most powerful determinant of HIV rates in the future. Next in the category of determinants of HIV in future is - sharing of infected needles among injecting drug users and unsafe sex between men.

“The role of sex trade is the most crucial,” states the report, adding that turnover of male clients, coupled with low condom use, is spreading HIV in Asia, which has lost 2.6 million men, over 950, 000 women and 330,000 children to AIDS since the epidemic surfaced 20 years ago. Nine million Asians were infected in this period.

The most disturbing revelation of the commission headed by Chakravarthi Rangarajan relates to how AIDS is emerging as the single-largest disease-related cause of death among working age adults in Asia, especially among 15-44 year-olds. Between 2002 and 2020, AIDS will cause a loss of 180 million person-years of healthy and productive life in Asia, estimates the commission. By 2015 - the deadline for achieving MDGs - the number of deaths attributed to AIDS will match those caused by cancer, it adds.

Besides, AIDS is pushing poor households deeper into poverty. Projections suggest that by 2015, AIDS will have pushed another 6 million households in Asia below poverty line at the current rate of response to the epidemic.

“Each AIDS death represents a loss of income of $5,000 - the equivalent of nearly 14 years of income for people earning $ 1 per day at current prices. The economic costs associated with AIDS over the next two decades will be equal to the cost of fighting a SARS epidemic every five years,” states the report, released in India yesterday by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Significantly, the epidemic is having its most dramatic impact at the household level, where it is costing $ 2 billion annually. “Comprehensive response to AIDS in Asia will cost about $6.4 billion annually,” the commission recommends, warning governments against relaxing fund raising efforts.

New Delhi, July 2
The Standing Committee of the Central Advisory Board on Education (CABE) has asked the states to streamline the system of identification of students with special needs. In its report on “Inclusive education for children and youth with special needs”, submitted yesterday to union human resource development minister Arjun Singh, the committee has urged for effective monitoring of both the quantitative and qualitative progress and issues in inclusive education.

The report emphasises that action is required to be taken to revise pre-service and in-service teachers’ training curriculum at all levels to produce teachers who are fully aware of their responsibilities in the inclusive set-up. The report has further suggested modification in the B Ed special education curriculum. The committee also noted that data on identification of CWSN (children with special need) had only been reported by 17 states and few among them had compiled it for 6-14 age group. Also, the percentage of identified CWSN seemed low.

The decision to set up the standing committee was taken at the 53rd meeting of CABE on February 14 and 15 last year. It was also told to make recommendations for effective implementation of the action plan.

New Delhi, July 2
Muslim girls of Bihar are all set to benefit from a collaborative project to be implemented in the state through Madrassas, Maktabs and Darul-uloom. The project, titled “Hunur”, will provide free-of-cost skills training to Muslim girls in schools across Bihar and is a joint project between the HRD ministry and the Government of Bihar. It will be inaugurated tomorrow by HRD minister Arjun Singh at the India Islamic Cultural Centre.

The minister will also inaugurate another scheme for providing free education to SC/ST learners through the National Institute of Open Schools. The function will be attended among others by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, M.A.A. Fatmi, minister of state, school education and literacy, and Hari Narayan Singh, Bihar education minister. The Imarat-e-Sharia and Rahmani Foundation will also be represented at the function, in their capacity as grassroots organisations.

Under the skills training project for girls, NIOS will offer seven courses to 12,000 girls in Bihar. These include jute production, cutting and tailoring, early childhood care and education, basic technology and beauty culture. Under this scheme, NIOS will also provide concessions related to infrastructure, fee and number of students at the study centres. The most significant aspect of the scheme relates to the relaxation of norms for accreditation of traditional educationally backward institutions, especially Madarsas and Maktabs, which are sought to be empowered under the project.

The other scheme provides free education to those SC/ST students of Bihar, who have taken admission with NIOS. NIOS has already been giving fee concession to SC/St learners. Now Bihar has decided to give total free scholarship to SC/ST learners of Bihar, both girls and boys.

The Government of India (through SSA) and Bihar government will both contribute to the funding of the scheme.

Malkangiri (Orissa), July 2
After three days of search operations, the Naval divers today located the boat that went missing with the Greyhound commandos following a Maoist ambush on Sunday and extracted two bodies.

"The boat has been traced deep inside Balimela reservoir in Malkangiri district," said DIG, South-Western Range, Sanjeev Panda, adding that the body of two missing commandos had been extracted from the waters.

"Heavy machinery has been ordered from Vishakhapatanam to retrieve the boat by cutting it into pieces," the DIG said.

The vessel is buried in the soil at the bottom of the reservoir at a depth of about 43 m.

With some missing jawans feared trapped inside the boat, the search-and-rescue operation was further intensified by raising the number of Naval divers to 30 and other security personnel to 1,000, said S K Gajbhiye, SP, Malkangiri, adding four choppers were assisting the effort.

Home Secretary T K Mishra said more lighting arrangements were being provided for smooth conduct of the operation.

Meanwhile, the Orissa government today asked Additional Director General of Police (ADGP-Operation) and Revenue Divisional Commissioner of Southern Division to submit a report on the situation.

More than 200 personnel of the elite Greyhound of Andhra Pradesh and the Orissa police carried out intensive combing in the entire Naxalite-infested belt, where a high alert had already been sounded, sources said.

The Orissa government has sought about 600 additional CRPF personnel from the Centre to further intensify the operation, he said.

Besides some weapons, including three rifles and a light machine gun, the search teams recovered a few uniforms, caps and shoes from the reservoir, Gajbhiye said. — PTI

Dehra Dun, July 2
A total of 15 bodies have been recovered from the debris of an avalanche that hit Sikh pilgrims en route Hemkund Sahib shrine in Chamoli district of Garhwal on June 23.

The state police force along with jawans of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and volunteers from Sikh organisations had been working tirelessly to sift the avalanche debris for dead bodies.

According to district officials, while seven bodies were recovered on the day of the accident, three were found today and three were recovered yesterday. Two bodies were taken out five days ago. A total of 15 dead bodies have been recovered so far.

“We are continuing our effort to look for more bodies,” Davinder Singh, a police official involved in the operations told The Tribune. Out of the eight bodies found recently, four are women, two men and two children.

Behror (Rajasthan), July 2
It seems luck is still not ready to smile on 74-year-old Shiv Charan, who has been appearing in the Class X board examinations for the past 38 years. He has failed once again, marring his chances of getting married!

The results of the Rajasthan board’s secondary examination announced yesterday shattered the dream of the septuagenarian, lovingly called Pappu, to get married only after clearing the test.

Also known as Sheojiram, he lives in Kohari village near Behror town, over 140 km from state capital Jaipur. In the early years of his life, he vowed to marry only after getting through his Class 10 exam.

He has consistently failed and this year was no different. But he is not giving up hope. “Till the time I am alive I will go on giving examinations in order to get a wife,” Shiv Charan told IANS.

Having failed in the Rajasthan board, he was asked whether he would like to appear in the Open School boards, but replied: “Pran jaye par vachan na jaye (better to die than go back on your word). Shiv Charan took his first board exams in 1969 and since then clearing it has been the only goal of his life. When asked which girl he would like to marry, if he clears the examination next year, Shiv Charan said: “Only a girl below 30 will be my wife.” He is a little hard of hearing and age has slowed him down. While he is too weak to continue farming, he has enough stamina to take another exam. — IANS

BRIEFLY

Five PULF ultras lay down arms
IMPHAL: Five People’s United Liberation Front (PULF) cadres on Wednesday laid down arms before Manipur Chief Minister O. Ibobi Singh. Welcoming the move, Singh said the state government was ready for talks with all militant outfits operating in the state. — UNI

Baby declared still-born alive
Kolkata: A baby boy wrongly declared still-born at a premier nursing home here and on the verge of being taken for burial was alive several hours later but his life was not out of danger. The infant born prematurely was battling for life at a hospital where he was shifted after the apparent mistake was discovered at the nursing home. The CEO of the nursing home, Belle Vue Clinic, P. Tandon, who first refused to describe the baby’s case as medical negligence, later said an internal inquiry had been ordered. — PTI

‘Why I am not a Hindu’ bags LISA award
HYDERABAD: The book ‘Why I am not a Hindu’, written by former Osmania University professor Kancha Ilaiah, has bagged the London Institute of South Asia (LISA) award for the year 2008. Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Ilaiah said LISA gave an award every year to an author from South Asia for a ''book that made a difference''. The award, including an amount of £ 2,000, would be presented to the author on July 17 in London. — UNI

Darjeeling tea for guests at Olympics
KOLKATA: The VVIP guests at the Beijing Olympics would get to savour Darjeeling tea sent by a city-based company, Makaibari Tea Estate. Manager of the estate, P K Chakrabarti, said that a Chinese collaborator had sought tea from its Makaibari tea garden located in Darjeeling. Accordingly, the company had sent a consignment of 333 kg of the tea to China. He said that the tea would be exclusively sampled and distributed to the guests. — PTI

Women confine drunkards
SILIGURI: In a move to establish social discipline and teach inebriated men loitering on roads a lesson, a group of women along Peshok road under the banner of the Gorkha Janamukti Nari Morcha, a frontal organisation of the GJM, have been confining drunkards in a shed for seven hours. Suchitra Rai, a woman activist of the Morcha, said on Wednesday that women face problems stemming from the drinking habit of male members of their families. — PTI

Bio-toilets for rail coaches
Tiruchirapalli: The Railways has decided to convert the traditional toilets in 34,000 railway coaches into control-discharged and bio-toilets during the 11th Five Year Plan at an estimated cost of Rs 4000 crore, according to union minister of state for Railways R. Velu. Addressing a press conference after inspecting the Golden Rock railway workshop here on Wednesday, he said to provide environment-friendly atmosphere on the railway premises and in rail coaches, the ministry had taken this decision. — UNI