Policemen chase a demonstrator near Ram Mohan Roy School, Patna, on Friday. He was demonstrating along with other students against the death of a student. Villagers of Molnomi come to take shelter at Sajik Tampak in Manipur on Friday after apprehensions of a shootout between the Army and militants. — PTI photos

37 injured in pre-poll violence
Kolkata, May 7
Thirtyseven persons were injured in pre-poll clashes in West Bengal, state Director-General of Police Shyamal Dutta said today. He said 72 persons had been arrested in this connection.

SC declines to entertain plea of liquor contractor
New Delhi, May 7
The Supreme Court today declined to entertain a plea for the vacation of its stay on further proceedings in liquor vend auction case in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

SC seeks report on Taj Corridor
New Delhi, May 7
The Supreme Court today directed the Khadakvasla-based Central Water Power Research Station (CWPRS) to file its report on the impact of Rs 175-crore Taj Corridor project on Taj Mahal and the Yamuna by July.

Home dialysis popular
New Delhi, May 7
The hassle free option of peritoneal dialysis (PD) for persons suffering from end stage renal disease is gaining acceptability in India slowly but surely.

‘Guinea pigs’ promised jobs
Hyderabad, May 7
A research laboratory here has been caught using humans as guinea pigs for its clinical trials, but the state authorities are clueless on how to proceed in the case.

Jogi in spinal injuries centre
New Delhi, May 7
Congress candidate from Mahasamund and former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi has been admitted to the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre (ISIC) in Vasant Kunj for intensive rehabilitation following a surgery at Bombay Hospital.

Videos

A fest to promote different folk forms of the country. (28k, 56k)

Nandakanan celebrates birth of four cubs. (28k, 56k)

Satish Kaushik for Hera Pheri sequel. (28k, 56k)

New Delhi, May 7
The Supreme Court today took suo motu notice of media reports that former MP Rajesh Ranjan, alias Pappu Yadav, was seen roaming in Bihar’s Madhepura constituency even when lodged in judicial custody in a murder case and issued notices to the state government and its IG Prison.

A Bench of Mr Justice N Saanthosh Heged and Mr Justice B.P. Singh, directed the Bihar Home Secretary and IG Prison to submit their replies as how Pappu Yadav managed to reach Madhepura three days back.

The court also sought details from the state government as for how long he had remained in jail and for how many days he was admitted to hospital under judicial custody.

The Apex Court had recently cancelled Pappu Yadav’s bail in a murder case of trade union leader, granted by the Patna High Court and ordered his remand to judicial custody.

Pappu Yadav is contesting election from Purnia in Bihar.

MADHEPURA (PTI): An FIR was lodged today against presiding officers of three polling booths in the Alamnagar Assembly segment of Madhepura Lok Sabha seat where BSF personnel and district armed police personnel were allegedly present in the voting enclosure and helped voters cast ballots violating the secrecy of vote, official sources said.

The FIR was lodged against the presiding officers of booth number 114, 115 and 116 with the Puraini police station on the order of District Magistrate-cum-Returning Officer, Chaitnaya Prasad, the sources said.

New Delhi, May 7
To mark the birth centenary of Bhagat Puran Singh and to pay homage to the man whose purpose was to help the needy and disabled, the All-India Pingalwara Charitable Trust will organise programmes from June 1 to June 4.

At a function organised to release a book on Bhagat Puran Singh here today, a documentary film capturing his life was screened.

Titled “His Sacred Burden, the Life of Bhagat Puran Singh”, the book and the documentary film have been created by Reema Anand, a journalist and filmmaker.

Releasing the book, the Union Minister for Disinvestment and Telecommunications, Mr Arun Shourie, said: “Bhagat Puran Singh’s incredible life consists of everything noble and lofty. He is an example of tenacity, love and hardness to pursue things...”

The book and film trace the life of Bhagat Puran Singh from his childhood. This includes the years he spent in trying to get a roof over the heads of the disabled and the needy, the arduous task of providing them meals when there was no money coming in and the zeal to carry forward his mission, the Pingalwara.

Bhagat Puran Singh, who passed away in 1992, started the Pingalwara, a house for the disabled, terminally ill, old and abandoned persons. At present, the Pingalwara is home to over 800 inmates. The Pingalwara runs three schools providing free education to students from economically weaker sections and is also a crusader for the cause of environment.

Recipient of the Padma Shri, which he returned as a mark of protest following Operation Blue Star, Bhagat Puran Singh, who was inspired by Florence Nightingale, is often referred to as the “Mother Teresa of Punjab”.

Chennai, May 7
Congress President Sonia Gandhi said here today that she was willing to make the supreme sacrifice like her husband and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi for the sake of the country.

Addressing an election rally at Island Ground here this evening, Mrs Gandhi said, “ As I stand on this soil tonight where my husband’s blood has mingled and he had made the supreme sacrifice for the country, I can tell you that I will not hesitate to make the same sacrifice for the country.” Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated 60 km from here at Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991.

Mrs Gandhi tried to emulate her mother-in-law and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who too before being killed on October 31, 1984, had said at a public meeting in Orissa that she was willing to shed every drop of her blood for the country.

Referring to personal attacks on her and her family she said, “The BJP and the AIADMK being bereft of any issue to take to the people are attacking me and my family which had made sacrifices for the country. I can only say it is mine and my family’s greatest honour to die for the country.”

Her sudden reference to the deaths of Rajiv and Indira Gandhi and her announcement that she too was willing to die took all even Congress leaders by surprise who had no inkling about it.

In a scathing attack on the BJP-led NDA government, she said, “During the past five years corruption has been at its height and rampant. Not a single day has passed without a scam. The coffin scam and the Tehelka tapes show how the BJP made money at the cost of our jawans and the national security.”

The Congress President’s anger was visible when she heard Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president M. Karunanidhi recalling the fact that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa had made personal attacks on Sonia Gandhi in the presence of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on May 5 and the latter remained silent.

Mrs Sonia Gandhi said, “My husband Rajiv Gandhi’s life, love for the people and his sacrifice for the country are my inspiration which I carry in my heart like a dream.”

“It is the trust of the people of Tamil Nadu and the country which sustains me to carry on my struggle and the BJP and the AIADMK cannot break my resolve for a strong, united, just and secular India,” she said amidst cheers from the large crowd.

New Delhi, May 7
Ignoring the top BJP leadership’s command of refraining from personal attacks on Sonia Gandhi, Gujarat Chief Minister Narender Modi today continued with his tirade against her. He said no one would rend out a house to her.

“Even before renting out a house, one asks the background of the tenant. I ask Congressmen, “Does anyone know about the life of Sonia Gandhi before she married Rajiv,” Mr Modi said addressing his first election rally in Delhi going to polls on May 10.

In the backdrop of Mr Modi’s statements earlier that Mrs Gandhi and her son Rahul would not get jobs even as clerks and drivers, senior BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and party President Venkaiah Naidu, had disapproved them.

Mr Modi described the Congress as a “burden on the country” and Gandhi as a “burden on the Congress.” “Gandhi can’t even recite Vande Mataram without reading from a paper. She hasn’t been able to learn this much in five years as Leader of the Opposition,” he said ridiculing her.

The Gujarat Chief Minister said the motto of the Congress had degenerated from ‘Vande Mataram’ to ‘Vande Mata-Rome’ after she became its President.

Singer Ravinder Jain, who joined BJP recently, regaled the crowd with parodies praising the Prime Minister and deriding Sonia Gandhi. BJP candidate from East Delhi Lal Bihari Tiwari was also present on the occasion.

Meanwhile in a desperate attempt to boost party’s poll prospects in Tamil Nadu, BJP today sought to drive a wedge in the DMK-Congress alliance by bringing forth a letter purportedly written by Congress leaders in 1998 alleging links between DMK and LTTE and demanding a probe against the party supremo M Karunanidhi.

Party General Secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi made light of the Congress claims that it had withdrawn allegations against DMK after the final report of the Jain Commission, which had probed Rajiv Gandhi assassination, and circulated a letter the Congress leaders had addressed to Home Minister L.K. Advani.

The Congress had claimed that there was nothing adverse against DMK in the final report.

He claimed that non-NDA parties were speaking in different tongues with regard to a post-poll alliance under the leadership of Mrs Gandhi.

Bhilwara, May 7
Seven persons died and 37 fell ill after consuming spurious liquor distributed allegedly by political parties in a village near here on the eve of Wednesday’s Lok Sabha elections, officials said today.

People in Kanwalias village fell ill after drinking the liquor given to them on Tuesday and seven of them died in hospital last night, they said.

Seven seriously ill persons were admitted to a hospital here while the others were undergoing treatment in other hospitals in the district.

The district administration has rushed parties to neighbouring villages to warn people against consuming liquor if the same had been distributed there on the eve of elections.

New Delhi, May 7
The Supreme Court today declined to entertain a plea for the vacation of its stay on further proceedings in liquor vend auction case in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

A Bench headed by the Chief Justice, Mr S. Rajendra Babu, declined to entertain the plea of contractor Mr Man Singh, saying that his application would be taken up for hearing in normal course along with the other related matters on reopening of the court after summer vacation.

Mr Man Singh’s counsel Rajiv Dhavan sought hearing of the application today, contending that it was urgent and the issues raised in it were different than the other petitions presented before the High Court.

Senior advocate P.P. Rao, appearing with Advocate-General Harbhagwan Singh for Punjab, opposed Mr Dhavan’s contention and said the apex court had passed an order for the transfer of all cases from the High Court to itself.

New Delhi, May 7
The Supreme Court today directed the Khadakvasla-based Central Water Power Research Station (CWPRS) to file its report on the impact of Rs 175-crore Taj Corridor project on Taj Mahal and the Yamuna by July.

A Bench of Ms Justice Ruma Pal, Mr Justice S.B. Sinha and Mr Justice S.H. Kapadia issued the direction, while Uttar Pradesh Government submitted that two officers allegedly involved in the case had proceeded on leave after their reinstatement and the third officer, former Chief Secretary D.S. Bagga had retired.

The UP Government said Mr P.L. Punia, former Principal Secretary to the then Chief Minister, Ms Mayawati, and former Environment Secretary V.K. Gupta would not be given any assignment till the CBI completed its investigation.

New Delhi, May 7
The hassle free option of peritoneal dialysis (PD) for persons suffering from end stage renal disease is gaining acceptability in India slowly but surely.

Dr Dimitros G. Oreopoulos, Professor of medicine and chief, Renal Division, Toronto General Hospital, who popularised the concept of Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD) also called the machine free dialysis, says that it is important for nephrologists to tell patients about peritoneal dialysis as an option to hemodialysis.

The concept of PD was developed by two physicians, Dr Moncrief and Dr Popovich in Texas in 1976.

India feared to be the diabetes capital of the world runs the risk of additional burden of end stage renal disease. The main causes of this disease are diabetes and high blood pressure. Kidney transplant and maintenance dialysis are the two treatment options for persons with this disease. Since there is an acute dearth of donors of kidneys, most persons opt for dialysis. While hemodialysis is done at hospitals, the CAPD can be done by the patient at home. A patient on hemodialysis is required to visit the dialysis centre two to three times in a week. In hemodialysis the patient’s blood is cleansed outside the body with the help of a machine. In the PD, a catheter or tube is inserted into the patient’s abdominal cavity with a minor surgical procedure. The self dialysis is required to be done four to five times everyday. The waste products from the blood diffuse out from the peritoneal membrane into the dialysis solution which is then drained out of the body.

Hemodialysis costs a patients Rs 9,000 to 14,000 per month (minus the cost of the visiting the hospital). Peritoneal dialysis costs Rs 15,000 every month.

Dr Oreopoulos is visiting India at the invitation of Baxter India, which provides therapies for persons with life threatening conditions and manufactures CAPD kits.

The visiting nephrologists, who is here to spread awareness about the CAPD, told mediapersons here yesterday that India had only 700 nephrologists for a population of over one billion. The extent of awareness about the CAPD could be gauged by the fact that although 100,000 fresh cases of end stage renal disease were reported in India every year, only 3,500 patients were on Peritoneal Dialysis.

Despite a rise in the number of cases of this disease globally, only 15 per cent of the total number of such patients the world over are on the PD. The Toronto-based nephrologist said 95 per cent of patients in Mexico had opted for the CAPD. In Hongkong, the acceptance to CAPD was very encouraging and 80 per cent of such patients were on the CAPD. In UK only 25 to 30 per cent of the total number of patients were on CAPD. In the USA where 350 persons in every million persons suffer from this disease, only 9 per cent were the CAPD.

Dr Oreopoulos has been associated with Baxter for 30 years and is the president of the International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis. He has trained several Indian nephrologists, including Dr George Abraham from Sri Ramchandra Medical College and Hospital, Chennai, Dr Kamal Sud from the PGI, Chandigarh, and Dr Amit Gupta from Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute, Lucknow.

Mr Sanjiv Verma, Managing Director, Baxter told mediapersons that only 20 per cent of the 100,000 patients of this disease got treatment. Of the 20,000 who get treatment, only 3,500 opted for the CAPD treatment. Another 3000 patients opted for transplant. The remaining 14,000 opted for hemodialysis.

Hyderabad, May 7
A research laboratory here has been caught using humans as guinea pigs for its clinical trials, but the state authorities are clueless on how to proceed in the case.

Following a complaint filed by victims that they were made to give blood samples and consume some tablets in return for an offer of a job, the local police has registered a case against GVK Biosciences, a contract research organisation, which claims to provide services that enable clients to bring a drug to the market in a “rapid and cost-effective manner.

Drug control authorities raided the premises of the company and seized records pertaining to the clinical tests, which were under way. However, with the Drug Control Administration (DCA) director, Mr R. Ranga Rao stating that it was “not technically possible to say whether the company violated any law.”

GVK Biosciences, based in Boston, USA, with research facilities in Hyderabad, however, claimed that it was conducting only “bioequivalence tests” for drugs already in the market and not clinical trials for any new drug.

New Delhi, May 7
Congress candidate from Mahasamund and former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi has been admitted to the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre (ISIC) in Vasant Kunj for intensive rehabilitation following a surgery at Bombay Hospital.

Dr H.S. Chabbra, Additional Medical Director of the ISIC and Chief of Spine Service, told TNS here yesterday that Mr Jogi was stable but would need intensive rehabilitation for prevention of complications. Mr Jogi, who suffered a spinal injury at the level of sixth and seventh cervical vertebra in a road accident near Raipur last month, is wheel chair bound due to incomplete tetraplegia (partial paralysis).