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PM: Food prices will be kept under check
H1N1 more virulent than thought |
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Gorkha council to be abolished; interlocutor to carry forward talks
SC shows concern over price rise, scanty rains
Anti-Raje campaign gathers steam
Sonia to look into NREGA execution
Cong workers wave black flags at
Buddhadeb
Bengal bars industrial townships on fertile land
IAF wants a plane that will last 3 decades
Tackling Naxals
Gujarat to pay Rs 10 lakh to kin of
Sohrabuddin
MF Husain’s painting kicks up row
Chiru’s son’s film in song row
Celestial treat for star-gazers
New US envoy presents credentials
Govt slams report on China
‘breaking up’ India
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PM: Food prices will be kept under check
New Delhi, August 11 Recommendations made by the commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) to the Agriculture Ministry have been forwarded to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). States like Punjab and Haryana have been demanding a substantial hike in the paddy MSP. With the fear of drought looming large over the key crop producing regions in the country, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assured that the government would do everything possible to keep food inflation under control. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has also asserted that there was no need to press the panic button as the country was well equipped to deal with the situation. Deficient rainfall will result in a 20 per cent decline in sowing of kharif crops and the threat of a drought is affecting the country’s 161 districts. “So far as kharif is concerned.... sowing will be down by about 20 per cent…161 districts have been declared as drought-prone,” Mukherjee said, adding that there was no need to press the panic button. “This country managed the century's worst drought in 1987. We transported drinking water through railways. We organised fodder for the cattle. This country has the experience of handling the situation and I will advice not to press the panic button,” Mukherjee said at the annual conference of Chief Commissioners and DGs of Income Tax. On impact of weak monsoon on the economic growth, Mukherjee said he was sticking to RBI’s projection of six per cent-plus growth for the current fiscal. Interacting with a FICCI-led delegation, the Prime Minister said the government would do “everything possible” to control the food inflation. The Met Department has forecast this season's monsoon to bring only 87 per cent of the usual rains. The government is keeping track of the situation and on Monday the Prime Minister had a meeting with Finance Commission Chairman Vijay Kelkar and Planning Commission Secretary Sudha Pillai and is believed to have discussed the drought situation. The meeting assumes significant as the government is planning to give more resources to states to battle impact of poor monsoon on kharif and rising prices of essential food items. The Prime Minister also met CACP Chairman Mahendra Dev, who apprised him about measures required to tackle the situation arising out of deficient and delayed monsoon. The government will announce substantial boost in the procurement price for paddy through announcement of a bonus of Rs 100 over the support price recommended by the CACP, sources say. The CACP is believed to have recommended support price of Rs 950 per quintal for common paddy and Rs 980 per quintal for Grade “A” paddy for the 2009-10 season. MSP for these grades were Rs 900 and Rs 930 per quintal, respectively, in 2008-09, which included Rs 50 per quintal bonus. While farmers have been demanding a much higher MSP, agriculture experts say that rice MSP should match that of the wheat. The Agriculture Ministry has also forwarded the suggestion made by Punjab and Haryana governments that a bonus of at least Rs 100 per quintal be announced this year to paddy farmers. The government is also likely announce a bonus for sugarcane to ensure optimum production for the 2009-10 season.
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H1N1 more virulent than thought PM’s personal doctor to head expert panel Dr K. Srinath Reddy, head of the Public Health Institute of India, is expected to constitute and head the panel of expert doctors, who would create swine flu awareness in the country. The need to have such a panel was stressed this Sunday by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, when he met Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in the wake of the spreading virus. New Delhi, August 11 On top of that, while most seasonal flu viruses infect the upper respiratory airways in humans, H1N1 strain is going deep into lungs, causing scars and pneumonia- something that explains why doctors are now grappling with patients with severe viral pneumonias that eventually incapacitate their lungs. Studies conducted recently by Eramus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands and the combined CDC-MIT team have concluded that the new virus is missing a key feature called PB2 in its internal gene- a feature that relates to transmission and earlier helped all three pandemic viruses to move from other species to humans. Also, there are concerns of the virus mutating in future to spread faster among humans. The Eramus study found a 100 per cent transmission rate of the swine flu when it placed healthy ferrets in the company of those infected with H1N1. Another study at the CDC, however, suggested that the virus had not yet completely adapted to humans but had room for improvement. “If it mutates to bind with the invaded cells more efficiently, it could spread faster and cause severer infections,” the CDC-MIT study published recently said. It adds that the virus is currently mild as it is still adapting to the new host. But one thing bothering all experts was the incoming winter, which will offer perfect setting for the spread of H1N1, which is already infecting humans without even having the tools required to do so.
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Tourism hit in M’rashtra Mumbai, August 11 Even travel between the cities of Mumbai and Pune haven’t been spared. According to travel operators, the number of people visiting Pune from Mumbai has fallen sharply. Travel operators based at Dadar in Central Mumbai say buses to Pune have begun to leave empty as people stay away from the town. Scores of travel companies operate buses to Pune from Mumbai at 15-minute intervals. Also affected have been neighboring areas. The town of Shirdi in Aurangabad district which is home to the shrine of Sai Baba has also reported a steep fall in the number of pilgrims arriving here. Thursdays and weekends when crowds swell to record numbers are seeing scantier crowds. However, travel operators are still keeping their fingers crossed over the forthcoming weekend.
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First case in Meghalaya Guwahati, August 11 Director of Health Service, Meghalaya, KH Lakiang told The Tribune over phone from Shillong that football player Salwit Tongper (17) was in England to participate in club soccer league there and landed up in Shillong on August 3 last. He developed flu symptoms and admitted to the isolation was of Shillong Civil hospital on August 8 last. His blood sample was sent to NIECD, Kolkata on August 9 and the report that came today confirmed that he has been infected by H1N1 virus. The director further said the health authority today called an emergency meeting of all health officials from district to sensitise them about the steps to be taken in the wake of detection of swine flu cases. “We have opened isolation wards in civil hospitals at Shillong, Jawai and Tura. Special out patient departs (OPDs) have been opened in those hospitals to treat people with influenza symptoms so that they don’t have to mingle with patients coming to general OPD in the hospital,” Lakiang said.
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‘Making vaccine a complex process’
New Delhi, August 11 “Influenza viruses change frequently and hence a vaccine made against a specific strain is useful only for vaccination during a single season”, said Rajeev M Dhere, senior director with the Serum Institute. The seasonal vaccine production for the influenza viruses, expected to be active in the winter of 2009, is almost fully ready and stocked up in major consumption areas of the world, Dhere told the Indian edition of Technology Review, the 109-year old magazine of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) published by CyberMedia. — IANS
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Infections cross 1,000 mark
NEW DELHI: Swine flu infections in India crossed the 1,000 mark on Tuesday, with the tally rising to 1,078 as the country reported 119 positive cases and 12 deaths. Maharashtra alone reported 91 cases, including 63 in Pune and 24 in Mumbai. Delhi reported 15, Karnataka six, including four in Bangalore and two in Manipal. Ahmedabad had one indigenous case while Nagpur had three, Osmanabad, Nasik, Goa and Jammu one each, and Hyderabad and Trivandrum had two each. Of Mumbai’s 24 cases, only two came from abroad. The case in Jammu is a 23-year-old woman who recently travelled to Mumbai and Pune. Kerala reported two cases during the day, one of them in Thiruananthapuram who later passed away. The other, a 12-year-old girl, came from Doha.
— TNS
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Flu alert Schools cautious 1 more in R’sthan Conducive weather
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Gorkha council to be abolished; interlocutor to carry forward talks
Jaswant distances himself from
GJM Jaswant Singh, the BJP MP from Darjeeling, subtly distanced himself from the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha
(GJM) main demand for separate Gorkhaland, even as he wished them well and welcomed “Resumption of tripartite talks” here
today. Singh who was specially requested by the GJM to address a press conference on the issue, preferred to hand over the mike to GJM central committee member Amar Lama who had participated in the
negotiations. Jaswant Singh stayed away from the talks and made an opening statement saying “This isn’t my press conference. It is a GJM press conference. As the MP from Darjeeling I welcome the resumption of talks and it gives me satisfaction that the negotiations have moved in the right direction. I am grateful to the organisers of the conference for having invited me on this occasion.”
New Delhi, August 11 The DGHC Act, 1988, will be abolished as soon as an alternative administrative set-up is finalised through mutual consultations and agreement, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Home Affairs, said this evening. The announcement came hours after the third round of tripartite talks among the Government of India, the Government of West Bengal and the representatives of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) ended here today. The talks were held in a free, frank and cordial atmosphere, the spokesperson said. The Government of India delegation was led by the Union Home Secretary, G.K.Pillai, the West Bengal Government delegation by the state Chief Secretary, A.K.Chakrabarty and the GJM delegation by Anmole Prasad. It was also agreed that the DGHC will be abolished and an interlocutor will be appointed to carry forward the discussions. In another major development today, it was also agreed unanimously that the proposal for establishment of a Hill Council under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution would be dropped. The GJM assured that a peaceful and conducive atmosphere would be maintained and all the parties agreed to work in a spirit of constructive cooperation to carry the talks forward, senior home ministry officials told mediapersons after the talks. The GJM has assured that it will discuss the issue. It was also announced that a Central team will visit Darjeeling and review the development work in the district. It was informed by the Government of West Bengal that the CRF and special Central assistance amounting to Rs 70 crores was lying unutilised. It was agreed that a team of state government officials would be sent to Darjeeling to discuss the utilisation of these funds. The next tripartite meeting would be held on December 21, 2009, at Darjeeling. The last tripartite meeting between the three sides took place on December 29 last year where it was decided to take forward the talks after the Lok Sabha
polls.
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SC shows concern over price rise, scanty rains
New Delhi, August 11 Noting that the Technical Experts Committee (TEC) on water solutions, appointed at the instance of the apex court, had done a “commendable job”, a Bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and AK Ganguly requested the TEC to “consider measures to alleviate the immediate crisis” caused by the scanty rainfall. Solicitor-General Gopal Subramaniam assured the court that the government was “fully alive to the situation”, prompting the Bench to tone down its intended order to deal with the situation at two levels -- short-term and long-term. The Bench asked the Centre and the states to extend all help, including financial, administrative and technical, to the TEC, headed by Science and Technology Secretary T Ramasami who was personally present in the court. “We request the committee to continue its work on a war-footing” to solve the water problem, the court said in its order. During the arguments on the PIL by advocate MK Balakrishnan and others, Justice Katju pointed out that the “country is facing a terrible situation due to monsoon failure and rising prices, particularly of cereals and pulses used by the common man." Earlier, the Centre informed the court that besides setting up the TEC, it was launching a "WAR" mission for dealing with the water problem in various parts of the country. WAR stands for ‘Winning’ (water from sustainable resources), ‘Augmentation’ (of quality of water from available and accessible sources) and ‘Renovation’ for recycle. "The state is willing to be a collaborator in public interest" on the issue of water, Subramaniam said. Justice Ganguly said special attention was required to resolve river water problems, particularly with neighbouring countries such as Nepal and Bangladesh. Justice Katju said states like Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh were the worst hit by water scarcity. Though the SG said the court's intervention on the issue was “most welcome”, the Bench clarified that it would not issue any directive to the TEC as the committee consisted of experts. The court would merely monitor the progress of the work every two months and posted the next hearing for October 20.
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Anti-Raje campaign gathers steam
Jaipur, August 11 The anti-Raje campaign gained momentum on Sunday when Raje came face to face with RSS-backed leaders over the appointment of conveners for cooperative elections. The party had apparently finalised the list of conveners with the consent of Raje even as office-bearers rued they were not taken into confidence. However, Raje attributed her say in the list. She also launched a counter attack, alleging that a person accused of anti-party activities was made in charge of the party’s membership campaign in Kota. This led to a bitter argument between Raje and other BJP leaders, most of whom left the meeting in haste skipping lunch at the party office. The anti-Raje camp did not waste time in raking up the issue with party high command and went on to accuse her of running a parallel organisation and diluting state BJP chief Arun Chaturvedi’s role in the party. With infighting being far from over, Raje’s detractors are going all out in their effort to uproot her from the post of the Leader of Opposition. Internal bickering has intensified to the extent that the RSS-backed leaders of the party are dissuading Chaturvedi from announcing his team as of now hoping that Raje may be replaced soon. This is anti-Raje camp's second attempt on her. Earlier, the high command had turned down their request. However, they renewed their plea following a verbal duel between Raje and MP Lalit Kishore Chaturvedi on Sunday. Lalit Kishore and former Home Minister Gulabchand Kataria had approached party high command over the Sunday episode. Earlier, the RSS-backed leaders had minced no words in making their displeasure known over Raje’s decision to sit at the state BJP headquarters twice a week. Their contention is clear “Raje has been given the charge of leading the party in the state Assembly. She should stick to her job instead of getting involved in the party affairs”. With the tug of war for power getting murkier with each passing day, it will be a tough job for Arun Chaturvedi to form a balanced team, the announcement of which is now expected only once the fights are settled in the party.
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India proposes extradition treaty to Nepal
New Delhi, August 11 Official sources said the Kathmandu was quite receptive to the idea and promised to get back to New Delhi soon. An extradition treaty between India and Nepal has been expected to go a long way in helping New Delhi to bring to justice fugitives from the Indian law, who take refuge in Nepal after committing crimes in the Indian territory. Since, India and Nepal share a porous border and a passport has not been mandatory to travel between the two countries, the Himalayan nation provides a safe haven to Indian criminals. In several instances, even ISI agents have used fake documents to enter India from the Nepalese territory. Sujata, daughter of Nepali Congress President GP Koirala, is here on her first visit to India after assuming office three months back ahead of Prime Minister Madhav Nepal’s visit to New Delhi next week. Officials said India, wary of increasing influence of China in the Himalayan nation, promised full support to Nepal in carrying forward the peace process. “India is ready to support the peace process in any manner and to the extent possible,’’ the Nepalese minister was told in unambiguous terms by the Indian side. Sujata, who also met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, discussed the entire gamut of relations with Indian leaders. In comments made in the media, the Nepalese minister admitted that some gaps have developed between India and Nepal, but she sought to dispel the notion of increasing Chinese influence in her country.
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Sonia to look into NREGA execution
Rae Bareli, August 11 On the second day of her visit, Sonia visited some 20 villages in Sareni and Sataon assembly segments to see for herself the implementation of NREGA, the UPA government’s flagship programme. She also warned officials who were responsible for not implementing the scheme properly. Interacting with schoolchildren, the Congress President asked them about the quality and quantity and regularity of the mid-day meal. She also met party workers at her camp office at the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital Guest House here to get their feedback on the ground realities with special reference to the implementation of central schemes in the state. Party workers from her constituency and the nearby areas came in large numbers to meet their MP with whom she spent considerable time chalking out political programmes. After meeting the Congress president, party workers said they had apprised her of their problems and the state government’s “indifference” towards them. “We told her that the benefits of the central schemes are not reaching us,” a party worker said. On the final day of her visit she is likely to visit some more villages of her constituency Earlier, she inaugurated the newly constructed building of Rajiv Gandhi boys hostel in the Feroze Gandhi Institute of Engineering and Technology and took part in a havan before inaugurating the hostel.
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Cong workers wave black flags at
Buddhadeb
Kolkata, August 11 The police dispersed the demonstrators and the convey sped towards the circuit house, where the CM held a meeting. Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, while addressing a public meeting in the nearby Burdwan district, accused the Chief Minister of misusing the police and government machinery against the opposition parties. Mamata was speaking in Khudrot village where TMC MP Subhendu Adhikery and some other party workers had been beaten up while organising a protest rally on Saturday. Though Section 144 had been re-imposed in seven different villages at Mongolkot, the police and the district administration did not disrupt Mamata’s meeting.
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Bengal bars industrial townships on fertile land
Kolkata, August 11 Talking to reporters here today, he said the government would ensure events similar to those in Singur and Nandigram were not repeated in the state. “We have learnt enough lessons from the land acquisition in Singur. A land bank would now be set up in every district for provided soft loans to acquire arid and nonirrigated land for setting up industries,” he added. The minister said, “We all now realize the great blunder committed in Singur and Nandigam, for which our party CPM has been paying the price”. He said the government plans to launch a massive campaign against hoarders and black marketers to force them to lower prices of essential commodities.
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IAF wants a plane that will last 3 decades
New Delhi, August 11 Well placed IAF officials said the selected plane should have the capability to take on technological upgradation in the future to incorporate changes. Also, it should last us some three decades or so. The flights trials to buy the 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft would commence in the next week. These would be primarily to replace the ageing fleet of MiG 21s and MiG 27s. The entire process of testing the aircraft of six competitors has been expected to last till April next year. The government would take a final call on awarding the contract and that would be based on strategic needs of the country. The test would not be to pitch one aircraft against another rather it would be to check each one of the them separately for service qualitative requirements (SQRs) that have been laid down for various parameters. The jets would be tested in home conditions across three climate zones- hot, humid and cold.
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Tackling Naxals
New Delhi, August 11 It is still to assume the proportions of a “tiff” between the Ministry of Defence on one side and the Home Affairs on other. However, sources said the Home Ministry will prevail. The Home Ministry has announced its intentions of creating a special force for the naxal-affected districts located across several states in mid-eastern and central India. The deployment of Rashtriya Rifles (RR), a force comprising entirely of the Army’s infantry units, into the naxal areas will be fine-tuned in the final strategy to counter naxalites. “If we can get some units of the RR there will be nothing like it”, a top official in the Home Ministry had told a select group of mediapersons last week. Sources in the Indian Army said already 63 battalions or 63,000 men had been dedicated to the RR, any more men would mean lowering guard. Most of the infantry units located in “peace stations” had been directed at maintaining a certain number of men to tackle any immediate aggression from any neighbour. The plan of the Home Ministry had been to reduce the para-military strength in J&K, this would add to the burden of the Army. Separately, several thousand strong army had been posted in other parts of the J&K like Ladakh, Jammu and the Doda regions. Besides, it had also been engaged in counter insurgency in North East and also the national security guards. Not only this, the Home Ministry wants the help of the IAF for reconnaissance and rescue efforts. The IAF had unmanned aerial vehicles and also choppers that could aid this new force.
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‘Maintain tight vigil for I-Day’
New Delhi, August 11 A hawk-eye vigil was being maintained in and around Delhi, where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will hoist the tri-colour at the historic Red Fort, official sources said. The area around the Red Fort which mainly consists of walled city has been sanitised and police informers deployed to keep a tab on any movement of anti-national elements. Besides heavy deployment of gun-totting commandos from Delhi Police, para-military and elite National Security Guards, air defence guns would be kept in readiness to ensure that no flying object hovers over the venue on August 15.
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Gujarat to pay Rs 10 lakh to kin of
Sohrabuddin
New Delhi, August 11 A Supreme Court Bench comprising Justices Tarun Chatterjee and Aftab Alam asked the state counsel, Mukul Rohtagi, whether the ex-gratia could be raised. Rohtagi said this was only an interim arrangement and the court was free to decide the actual amount while disposing of the case. The ex-gratia would cover the alleged killing of Sohrabuddin's wife, Kausarbi, subsequently, also by the state police. Appearing for Rubabuddin Sheikh, brother of Sohrabuddin, senior counsel Dushyant Dave said he was accepting the offer of Rs 10 lakh to be paid within a week as his client was suffering from terminal cancer.
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MF Husain’s painting kicks up row
Panaji, August 11 Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) activists yesterday objected to the display of the painting as part of the ‘ban’ on the painter and his works by hardliner groups across the country. “Although the oil-on-canvass painting titled ‘White Bull’ at Goa museum’s contemporary gallery makes no offence to any religion, the protest is against the painter. MF Husain has hurt religious and national sentiments of crores of Hindus and Indians by painting Hindu deities and Bharat Mata in the nude and obscene poses,” HJS convener Jayesh Thali said in a representation submitted to the state government. Husain had been accused of committing offences under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, the HJS convener said.
— PTI
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Chiru’s son’s film in song row
Hyderabad, August 11 Written nearly 40 years ago by noted revolutionary balladeer and writer Vangapandu Prasada Rao, the song “Em pillado Yeldam Vastavaa…” found its way as a sleazy number in the movie released last week. The song was originally written to attract the youth into Naxalite movement. Using the opening line of the soul-stirring song, the filmmaker created an entirely different mood in the film that has nothing to do with Naxalite ideology. The song is picturised on scantily-clad women. Taking serious objection to the song sequence, Vangapandu Prasada Rao demanded apology from the film makers for insulting the revolutionary movement. “I was shocked to see my song being used in an item number. They did not even take my permission before adapting it in the move. How can they use such a song in obscene and vulgar sequences?” the septuagenarian writer said.
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Celestial treat for star-gazers
New Delhi, August 11 Perseids, a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle, will be seen tomorrow, SPACE director CB Devgun said. Perseids, better known as earth gazers at its peak, is visible from mid-July each year, with the greatest activity between August 8 and 14. During the peak period, the rate of meteors reaches 60 or more per hour, Devgun said. He said the meteors can be seen all across the sky, but because of the path of Swift-Tuttle's orbit, Perseids is primarily visible in the northern hemisphere. The time when the meteor will be maximum is around 1-2 AM on August 12 as the Earth is expected to pass through a denser-than-usual filament of dust from Perseid's parent Comet Swift-Tuttle, he added.
— PTI
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New US envoy presents credentials
New Delhi, August 11 Fifty two-year-old Roemer, who presented his credentials at a formal ceremony here, also conveyed to the President the personal greetings from Obama and goodwill of the people of the US. He said, “As our governments work together on areas of significant mutual interests, I am struck by the commonalities between our nations- in our values, our democratic ideals and in the challenges and opportunities that we face.”
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Govt slams report on China
‘breaking up’ India New Delhi, August 11 The article came close on the heels of Indo-China talks on boundary dispute that, New Delhi has reasons to believe, have gone off very well. “The article in question appears to be expression of an individual and does not accord with the officially stated position of China on India-China relations conveyed to us on several occasions, most recently by State Counsellor Dai Bingguo during his visit to India last week,’’ External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said. He was of the view that opinions and assessment on the state of India-China relations should be expressed after careful judgement based on long-term interests of building a stable relationship between the two countries. The article ‘If China takes a little action, the so-called Great Indian Federation can be broken up’, has been published in the new edition of website of the China International Institute for Strategic Studies, an influential think tank that advises Beijing on global and strategic issues. It said China could be assisted in this task by "friendly countries" like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.
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Swine flu does not have this feature and is still infecting humans well, with scientists at sea about how it achieved such transmission without having mutated to acquire the required tool. There is also no knowledge yet on how likely is H1N1 to acquire the said feature. But the CDC scientists have warned in their researches that swine flu virus was going well enough to beat seasonal flu viruses and could transmit better in future. Of specific concern to public health experts is the novel virus’s uncanny ability to invade the deepest lung tissue leading to more severe illness. The University of Wisconsin-Madison, in its latest study, has concluded that H1N1 is in fact more virulent than previously thought, just because of its ability to infect deep cells in the lungs- something seasonal flu viruses could not do. 
“In-bound visitors are cancelling travel bookings and postponing travel to Maharashtra ever since the swine flu scare broke,” says Amodh Jain, a travel agent in Mumbai. However, tourists leaving India for foreign shores are continuing to do so despite the fear of flu in other countries, he added.