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Pawar doesn’t know of Punjab’s cancer belt!
Bt Brinjal Moratorium
Maoists planning strikes along AP-Orissa border |
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Naga Peace Talks
India short of 10 lakh nurses: Azad
Now, Big B off anti-booze campaign in Maharashtra
Hold caste-wise census, Madras HC tells Centre
No early move to remove Jairam
Relatives of Jaya’s close aide possessed panchami land illegally
Couple move SC for protection
Cleanest city Chandigarh has 50,000 urban poor
Boost for Research
Karuna rules out early assembly poll
Another honour killing, now in UP
Nirupama’s mother moves bail plea
Surya Pratap Shahi new UP BJP chief
Ketan Desai calls it quits
Ludhiana back on air map
NSG-IAF exercise ends
International honour for Sibal
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Pawar doesn’t know of Punjab’s cancer belt!
New Delhi, May 13 Apparently, successive state governments have not deemed it fit to pass on this crucial information to the Ministry. At least this is what Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar indicated today, when asked to comment on government’s opinion on promoting organic fertilizers, specifically quoting the example of pesticide-related cancer cases in Bathinda region. The story of Lalgarh-Bikaner passenger train, which also goes by the scary name of The Cancer Train, is well documented by newspapers and magazines. The train routinely carries cancer patients and their families to Bikaner for treatment at the government’s regional cancer centre there. While Pawar, during an interaction at the Indian Women Press Corps here, candidly replied that he was not aware of pesticide-related problems of Punjab, he did say the choice between organic and chemical fertilizers was governed by how productivity per hectare could be improved while protecting the health of people. Incidentally, as per executive director of Punjab-based NGO Kheti Virasat Mission, Umendra Dutt, the situation in Bathinda is well known for the past 10 years. “The PGI report, relating cancer incidence to high pesticide usage, came years back. The Congress government even constituted a high-power committee, headed by the Chief Minister, of which not even a single meeting was held. Despite promises to do so, the Akali Dal-BJP government has also not taken many concrete steps. They have distributed money to some cancer patients and a cancer-roko campaign was launched, which is confined only to breast cancer,” he said. Dutt says the state government has not taken any initiative to reduce pesticide load in the environment and food chain in the region. “It is surprising that they have not told Pawar, whom the Punjab Chief Minister meets quite often. Instead, they seem to have confided in Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh. I think they are just insulting the intelligence of people,” he added. Alarmed by preliminary findings of the first house-to-house survey of cancer cases in Punjab recently, the Centre decided to allow the state’s proposal to set up a Population Based Cancer Registry (PBCR) to monitor actual cancer burden over a period of time and between regions. The cancer survey has shown prevalence of the dreaded disease at 31 cases per lakh of population. Research by the PGI found that farming villages using large amounts of pesticides had significantly higher cancer prevalence.
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Disheartening for scientists: Pawar
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, May 13 The minister said it had to be seen how productivity could be increased and simultaneously ensured that whatever new technology was coming it did not affect animal health, soil, water and environment. “In the last 30-35 years, a lot of research has been done in our country. But the government has given approval to only one genetically modified crop — transgenic cotton,” he added. The Environment Ministry in February had imposed a moratorium on the introduction of Bt Brinjal in the country saying further studies were needed to know the impact of genetically modified (GM) crops on health and environment. Pawar had advocated the introduction of GM foods in India saying the moratorium was sending out wrong signals and was stopping investments in the agro-technology sector. Defends presence of politicians in sports bodies Agriculture Minister and president-elect of the International Cricket Council Sharad Pawar has defended the presence of politicians in sports organisations. “People like me who are associated with sports know how to improve infrastructure, increase support for players, especially retired players. We don’t take interest in day-to-day affairs,” Pawar said in an interaction with reporters at the Indian Women’s Press Corps here. He said the present BCCI president Shashank Manohar did not take decisions on selection of players. “They take basic decisions. But suppose (there are issues related to) construction of stadium or providing pensions, I think that people like us can do more than players,” he said.
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Maoists planning strikes along AP-Orissa border
Hyderabad, May 13 Security has also been beefed up for elected representatives in the region. Apart from stepping up combing operations in border areas, the police has advised ministers and other elected representatives not to move in interior areas without informing the police stations concerned.
“All police stations in Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts have been asked to step up vigil to thwart any attempts by Maoists to create trouble,” a top police official said here. “They (Naxalites) are planning to carry out a sensational attack to prove their presence. Unfortunately, the situation along the Andhra-Orissa border is favourable to them because of extreme backwardness, inaccessibility and other factors. It is similar to the one prevailing in Chhattisgarh,” police sources said. Chief Minister K Rosaiah met with officials and police top brass here to take stock of the situation in the wake of heightened threat perception.
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Home Secy meets rebel leader Muivah
Bijay Sankar Bora/Tribune News Service
Guwahati, May 13 A source in Kohima informed TNS that Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and Naga civil society representatives were also present in the meeting. The Government of India promised to continue dialogue with all concerned to break the impasse arising out of the Manipur government’s unrelenting opposition against Muivah’s proposed visit to Manipur and deployment of Manipur armed police at Mao gate along the inter-state boundary to prevent him from entering the state. The Centre told Muivah, who is covered under Z plus category security cover, that he should wait to visit Somdal till a congenial atmosphere was restored and pledged to continue efforts to bring normalcy back in the area through sustained discussion with parties concerned like the Nagaland government, the Manipur government, the civil societies of Nagaland and the NSCN-IM leadership. They apprised the NSCN-IM leader and representatives of the Naga civil society about certain decisions taken by the Manipur government such as lifting of curfew from the Mao gate area, replacing the Manipur police with Central paramilitary forces to instill confidence among local Naga villages on Manipur side of the boundary and announcement of ex-gratia for two Naga students killed in police firing on May 6 last. However, the NSCN-IM has asserted Muivah’s visit to Somdal will happen anyways and hoped that the Government of India would resolve the impasse over it soon. Senior NSCN -IM functionary VS Atem stated that the Government of India should have prevailed upon the Manipur government to break the impasse, which was created by it. “We will not wait long…, there is no reason to going back to Hebron (NSCN-IM headquarters near Dimapur),” he said.
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India short of 10 lakh nurses: Azad
New Delhi, May 13 Speaking on the occasion, Azad said the government was committed to upgrade nursing skills and improve the overall availability of nursing personnel. He was referring to the fact that there were 10.35 lakh nurses registered with the Nursing Council; of these, 40 per cent are in active service, with the rest having retired or gone abroad or given up nursing services after marriage. To meet the existing shortages, the government is planning to open 132 auxiliary nursing and midwifery schools at an estimated cost of Rs 5 crore per school and 137 general nursing and midwifery schools at an
estimated cost of Rs10 crore per school. “Care will be taken to open these schools in those districts, where there are no such schools at present, thereby ensuring that all the districts of the country will have at least one Nursing School in the next two years,” the minister said. Also in the pipeline is strengthening of 14 State Nursing Councils at a cost of Rs 1 crore each. In another 14 cases, nursing cells in Directorate of Health Services in the states are being strengthened at an estimated cost of Rs 1 crore per state and six more nursing colleges are being opened at estimated cost of Rs 20 crore per college. The Health Minister also enumerated measures such as liberalisation of the norms to encourage setting up of more nursing institutions. For example, the student patient ratio has been relaxed from 1:5 to 1:3. Similarly, 100 nursing seats would be allowed to parent hospitals without insisting on a medical college.
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UPA discriminating against UP: Maya
Lucknow May 13 Mayawati’s tirade against the Congress-led coalition came barely a fortnight after her party, having 21 MPs, bailed out the UPA by voting with the treasury benches on cut motions in the Lok
Sabha. Addressing a press conference to mark the completion of three years of her government, Mayawati said, “Congress-led UPA government’s attitude towards the state has been discriminatory in every sphere but we made improvement in all areas including law and order. “Had the Centre provided the state’s full share of Rs 17,000 crore timely, the results of these programmes would have been better,” she said adding this had hampered the development works and resulted in additional burden on the government due to rising prices. The chief minister rued that her demand for a special development package of Rs 80,000 crore had been turned down by the central government. She said the negative attitude adopted by the Centre showed that it was a conspiracy both against the
BSP-led government and the people of Uttar Pradesh to keep them
backward. Mayawati, who has been asking the Centre to bear the full expenditure incurred in implementation of schemes under the Right to Education Act, said the union government should bear the entire expense of the schemes launched by it under the central and concurrent list. “The Centre makes schemes after Gandhi and Nehru and forces them on the states,” she said. Giving detailed account of the schemes launched by her government during the past three years for the development of the state and welfare of the people, Mayawati said that unlike her predecessors, she did not believe in making tall claims but worked for benefit of the people. She claimed that her government has improved the power scenario in the state and hoped that by 2014, people would get reprieve from power crisis if there was no interference from the
Centre. On the law and order situation, she said that though there was “jungle
raj” before she took over, her government had carried out a drive against criminals and also managed to establish a society free of fear, crime, injustice and corruption.
— PTI |
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Now, Big B off anti-booze campaign in Maharashtra
Mumbai, May 13 Shortly after Moghe announced the proposal to rope in Bachchan at an event in Mumbai on Wednesday, his colleagues in the Congress sniggered and reminded the media how Chief Minister Ashok Chavan himself had to apologise for sharing the dais with the actor last month. Today, officials from the Social Justice ministry, which is working on the ad campaign, said nothing had been
finalised. “We have not finalised the names of the personalities who will feature in the ad campaign,” the official said. He said there was no official proposal to include Bachchan in advertisements
yet. Bachchan is among the few Bollywood personalities who openly confirm their teetotaler status. According to
Moghe, Maharashtra will undertake a major campaign against drinking following reports that teenagers and people below the age of 25 were taking to alcohol consumption in a big way in the state. The anti-drinking drive is to be carried out in schools and colleges in major cities, Moghe said. Incidentally, while the Social Justice and Health departments push for curbs on consumption and sale of alcohol, the Excise department of the Maharashtra government is pushing to increase revenues from the sale of liquor. Among the proposals mooted by the Excise department include permission to distill alcohol from food grains and millets. The state government is also working on a bailout package for wineries in the state that have been hit by the recession.
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Hold caste-wise census, Madras HC tells Centre
Chennai, May 13 Allowing a writ petition from advocate R Krishnamoorthy, a vacation bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Elipe Dharma Rao and Justice TS Sivagnanam said a similar petition filed in 2005 had been allowed by the same court and orders had been passed. Citing the earlier judgment, the judges said "when it is the position that after 1931, there had never been any caste-wise enumeration or tabulation and when there cannot be dispute that there is increase in the population of SC/ST, OBC manifold after 1931, the percentage of reservation fixed on the basis of the population in 1931 has to be proportionately increased by taking caste-wise census by the government". Quoting the earlier verdict, the court said "in the interest of weaker sections of society, we direct the Census department of the Government of India to take such measures towards conducting caste-wise census in the country at the earliest and in a time bound manner, so as to achieve the goal of social justice in its true sense, which is the need of the hour". The petitioner had said that not taking caste data during census enumeration was a blatant violation of the mandatory provisions of the Constitution and it affects the weaker sections, who were denied representation and opportunities proportional to their population.
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No early move to remove Jairam
New Delhi, May 13 During a visit to Beijing last week-end, Ramesh had described the Home Ministry as being “alarmist and paranoid” about Chinese investments in India. Finding himself at the receiving end, the Environment Minister has been on a damage-control mission ever since. Soon after his return from Beijing, Ramesh wrote to the PM and Congress president Sonia Gandhi clarifying the context of his statement. This failed to convince the leadership. Ramesh was instead directed to meet Home Minister P Chidambaram, who had dashed off an angry letter to the PM complaining about Ramesh’s remarks about his ministry. Subsequently, Ramesh called on Chidambaram at his North Block office on Wednesday to offer his explanation. The Environment Minister may have bought temporary peace but his worries are far from over. Ramesh’s Rajya Sabha term expires next month.. He was last elected from Andhra Pradesh but an angry state Congress unit is building up a case against his renomination on the ground that he belongs to Karnataka. Besides, the PM is slated to reshuffle his council of ministers on completion of the first anniversary of the UPA government this month-end that could spell trouble for Ramesh. In his conversation with Ramesh, the Prime Minister had told the minister to refrain from commenting on the functioning of other ministries. He further told him “There is no confusion in our policies towards China and we continue to strive for constructive engagement with Beijing."
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Relatives of Jaya’s close aide possessed panchami land illegally
“There has been a glaring abuse of power in providing patta to Bharani Resorts, in which two relatives of Sasikala were partners,” the former judge noted. This was achieved by posting one M
Thiagarajan, Tahsildar, who was prepared to oblige Bharani Resorts out of the way. He was transferred for this purpose from Tuticorin to Kanchipuram district, which was effected “in a most glaringly and extraordinary manner”, the commission said. “As far as Sasikala is concerned, the title of the assigned land is not in her name and she is not shown as a partner in Bharani Resorts. Though she filed counter plea denying her own involvement in any manner, she did not offer herself as a witness and did not deny the allegation that her family members were involved”, the commission
noted. VN Sudhakaran and lIavarasi, relatives of Sasikala are partners of Bharani Resorts which had acquired the major extent of the assigned land (at Siruthavur village near
Chennai). “The possession can be nothing more or less than a highhanded and illegal possession, without any rights”. The assignment of government
(panchami) land was subject to the conditions of assignment and any alienation in violation of the conditions was illegal and void and the government was within its power under the Government Grants Act to reclaim the land, the commission stated.
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New Delhi, May 13 Praveen Kumar and his wife Meenakshi, who were earlier staying in Australia, have approached the Supreme Court seeking police protection as they fear threat to their lives from the girl's family. “There will be a stay on further proceedings in Transfer Case 17 of 2010,(State Vs. Praveen) pending in the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kurukshetra (Haryana),” an SC Bench said in an order while issuing a notice to the Haryana Government. The couple had sought transfer of the trial relating to a criminal case allegedly foisted by the girl's father against Praveen as the two had married against the latter's wishes. According to the petition, the girl's family members were opposed to the marriage as Praveen was the son of Meenakshi's cousin. They had also threatened to kill him if they went ahead with the marriage. Despite the threat, the couple got married and settled in Australia. But Meenakshi's father withdrew the "guarantee" given in her passport which forced the couple to return to India, the petition claimed. Thereafter, it was alleged that Meenakshi's father got a criminal case registered against Praveen accusing him of indulging in illegal immigration after which the police had filed chargesheet in a court at Kurukshetra. — PTI
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Cleanest city Chandigarh has 50,000 urban poor
New Delhi, May 13 A survey of slums in cities and towns with a population of over one lakh as per the 2001 Census, says there are 189 cities and towns in India with big slums. Andhra tops the list - it has 36 cities and towns with a slum population of 50,000 and above. It is followed by Maharashtra with 26, Uttar Pradesh (25), West Bengal (21) and Madhya Pradesh (15). Other states with a sizable slum population in its cities are Haryana (8), Chhattisgarh (6) and Gujarat and Rajasthan (5 each). The data shows that almost all states have cities with over 50,000 people living in slums. Even Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Meghalaya have two, two and one such cities, respectively. The National Capital also has one huge slum. Goa and Kerala and northeastern states, barring Meghalaya, are the only states where slums are non-existent. The Centre has launched two programmes to improve the living conditions of slum-dwellers across the country. Its Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) provides funds to states for creating housing and infrastructural facilities for the urban poor in 65 cities, including Mumbai, under the Basic Services to Urban Poor Programme (BSUP). For the remaining 124 towns, the Integrated Housing and Slum development Programme (IHSDP) has been introduced. The components for assistance include provision of basic services to the slum dwellers, whom the government prefers to call urban poor. Ministry officials say though JNNURM began in right earnest in some parts of the country, there are many states that are not availing funds from the scheme.
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Boost for Research
New Delhi, May 13 An overarching commission will decide on induction of new technology, while the top brass of the DRDO will be held accountable to ensure timely delivery of the products. The thrust on home-manufactured products will continue as second generation of Arjun Tanks and Akash air defense missiles, both indigenous products, will be developed locally. The ministry today ordered that a new Defence Technology Commission, a kind of monitoring body, headed by Defence Minister AK Antony, would oversee new research works and induction of technology. It would have representation of the services, engineers, designers and scientists among others. It would also assess if the technology could be developed within India or procured from aboard. It would set up timelines and decide on products that would be needed in the future and would also finalise the needs of the forces, called the “general staff qualitative requirements” in military parlance. Defence Ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar clarified, “The new commission will have separate secretariat located at the DRDO Headquarters.” The Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) will continue to work on the development of a combat aircraft. The Light Combat Aircraft is to be inducted next year and the IAF has ordered some 40 of these and the ADA has been looking to upgrade its skills. The Kaveri aero-engine programme that was an attempt to make world-class engines would continue. The revamp was part of the recommendations of a committee under former Science and Technology Secretary P Rama Rao. The committee had submitted its report to Antony in 2008. The team headed by Defence Secretary was formed to study the report and submit recommendations for implementation. The DRDO would now have the power to choose partners from the private industry. It would also have a commercial arm to market items in the civil market. This would be private limited company owned by the DRDO with a seed capital of about Rs two crore, dealing with only the spin-off products and technologies. It would not take up any manufacturing activity. Some of the DRDO laboratories would be merged with other public-funded institutions with similar discipline, interest and administrative systems.
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Karuna rules out early assembly poll
Chennai, May 13 When asked about his retirement plans, he said, “My wish is to retire from power politics and dedicate myself to social work. But, others want me to reconsider this. Time alone will answer.” On the possibility of his daughter Kanimozhi replacing Union Minister MK Alagiri, the DMK leader dismissed them as mere media reports. He also asserted that the relationship between the DMK and the Congress were strong and it would continue for the next Assembly elections. To a query on the restriction on the DMK leaders not to speak to the press and whether it was targeted on his elder son and Union Minister MK Alagiri, he said several persons airing their views to the media would create chaos. The media gag was only to maintain discipline in the party and did not have any motive, he asserted. Replying to a question on rise of Naxalism, he said, “It should be understood as a socio-economic problem. The root cause of the problem should be analysed and corrective action should be taken.”
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Another honour killing, now in UP
Allahabad, May 13 Body of 18-year-old Rajni Sahu was found hanging from a ceiling of her room yesterday, they said. A note purportedly written by Sahu stating that she was committing suicide due to “a failed love affair” was also found. The postmortem report, however, said Sahu, who was one-month pregnant, died of head injury and her body was later hanged to make it appear as a suicide case, Kydganj police station in charge Satyapal Singh said. Sahu's father and brother are being interrogated, while the alleged suicide note has been sent for examination by handwriting experts, he said. Meanwhile, the police is also trying to identify the alleged lover of Sahu.
— PTI
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Nirupama’s mother moves bail plea Koderma (Jharkhand): Sudha Pathak, mother of Nirupama who was killed in an alleged case of honour killing, on Thursday moved bail application in a local court. The case would come up for hearing tomorrow. Sudha was arrested and remanded in judicial custody in connection with her daughter's killing on May 3. Nirupama (22) was found dead in her house in Koderma district on April 29. Her mother was arrested in this connection while the police have also filed a case of rape and abatement to suicide against her boyfriend Priyabhanshu Ranjan on the direction of the local court. Nirupama and Ranjan were batchmates in Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi, and were planning to marry. Nirupama's parents reportedly objected to the idea of her marrying Ranjan as he belonged to a lower caste. — PTI
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Surya Pratap Shahi new UP BJP chief
New Delhi, May 13 Sources said the party choice fell on him because he was considered to have a very comfortable equation with RSS bosses in the state. However, immediately after the announcement there was a general murmur of disapproval in the party circles over the choice of Shahi. However, party insiders felt Shahi, who has been Kalyan Singh’s minister, does not enjoy wide mass support.
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Ketan Desai calls it quits
New Delhi, May 13 He, however, said he had “never done anything wrong in the discharge of his responsibilities and was a target of the malicious campaign that had caused irreversible harm to him”. He termed the allegations against him in the media as false. In his resignation, addressed to MCI’s Vice-President, the Desai further blamed the ongoing “adverse publicity and campaign against him on vested interests”. A copy of the letter in possession of the Tribune reads: “Many eminent medical professionals, representatives from the states, which are members of the MCI, have served and given their best to the council, despite enormous adversity and efforts of vested interests, whose only objective is to malign the institute.” “To avoid further harm to the MCI, I am tendering my resignation,” Desai wrote.
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Ludhiana back on air map
Ludhiana, May 13 There was passenger service in the sector until 1999, when it was stopped due to revenue deficit. Now, the service is resumed in both commercial and passenger service domains The flight, on a daily service, would take off from Delhi at 11.10 am to land at Ludhiana at 12.25 pm. The fare would be Rs 2,430. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday the aircraft will depart from Ludhiana at 2:35pm reaching Delhi at 3:55pm with the one-way fare at Rs 2,230. On these days, the flight will be extended to Pathankot, leaving Ludhiana at 12:45pm to reach its destination at 1:20pm with fare for this section at Rs 1,229. The flight will return to Ludhiana for its onwards journey to Delhi leaving Pathankot at 1:40pm and arriving Ludhiana at 2:15pm. On Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday the aircraft will fly only between Ludhiana to Delhi.
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NSG-IAF exercise ends
New Delhi, May 13 A large component of the NSG is drawn from the Indian Army and is detailed at specialised operations like the one conducted to counter the November 2008 Mumbai attack. The exercise named “Black Eagle” was the first such exercise since 2008. It covered various skills of shooting and techniques to enable precision surgical strikes against terrorists, hostile elements and to carry out rescue missions. The emphasis was on ‘swift deployment’ for which choppers where used, like the one used in Mumbai to send in commandoes atop the Nariman house. The IAF pilots performed difficult manoeuvres, which aided the NSG commandos to practise new tactics.
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International honour for Sibal
New Delhi, May 13 The award recognises Sibal’s “resolute support of global collaboration in education”, as stated in the letter addressed to the minister by CEO of IIE Allan Goodman. Presentation of the award will take place at the Institute’s 2010 International Awards Gala to be held this September in New York. Founded in 1919, the IIE is among the world’s largest and most experienced international education and training organisations. More than 26,000 individuals from 175 countries participate in the IIE programs each year. These include the Fulbright programme, which the IIE has been administering on behalf of the US Department of State, as well as the Scholar Rescue Fund.
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Mumbai, May 13
Intelligence reports suggest that Maoist action teams headed by a commander of the Andhra-Orissa Border Central Regional Committee of CPI (Maoist), Ch Narayana Rao alias Suresh, have entered the state from Orissa on a macabre mission to eliminate some prominent political leaders. Two ministers from the region -- B Satyanarayana and P Balaraju -- are believed to be on the Naxal “hit list”.
Chennai, May 13