 |
|
|
Govt plays safe on gay law
Ishrat’s kin move SC against stay order
Payscales of IIT, IIM faculty revised
Maya Memorials |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Get ready with infrastructure, Naxal-hit states told
Rail staff to get 75 days’ wages as bonus
Meet on Chinese intrusions put off
BJP buoyed by poll results
Stricter punishment for illegal organ trade
Lanka told to focus on resettling Tamils: PM
UPA soft on Chinese incursions: Jaya
US travel alert upsets tourism industry
Cong to launch stir against Maya govt
Dudhwa National Park gets baby rhino
Sit out till clean chit, lawyers
tell Dinakaran
Human trials of H1N1 vaccine in India
Cong denies ticket to
9 MLAs in Arunachal
BJP not to concede Guhagar seat Stealth destroyer to be launched today
Regulate sugar stocks, states told
|
|
Govt plays safe on gay law
New Delhi, September 17 The cabinet agreed to ask Attorney General GE Vahanvati to assist the apex court in arriving at an opinion on the HC verdict after Home Minister P Chidambaram convinced the cabinet on the legal merits of the judgment, stating it did not strike down section 377 of the Indian Penal Code as such. Announcing the cabinet decision, which had some reservations on the political implications of the HC ruling, Information & Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni later said it was arrived at following discussions on the report of the three-member group of ministers set up to look into the matter. “The government has taken a firm decision after considering the panel report. The cabinet agreed to ask the attorney general to assist the Supreme Court in every way desired by the court to arrive at an opinion in judging the correctness of the Delhi High Court order,” said Soni even as Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad kept mum on the issue, reflecting the UPA’s noncommittal stance on the matter. However, his cabinet colleague, Law Minister Veerappa Moily, has never quite hidden his appreciation for the high court ruling that he described as “well documented and well researched”. Moily had earlier sent a letter to the PM, saying his ministry was against opposing the HC ruling. The cabinet, for its part, did not want to deal with the controversial issue upfront and thought it proper to leave everything to the Supreme Court. Soni said the SC would decide if the high court was “right or not” in decriminalising homosexuality. The issue was earlier referred to the three-member GoM comprising Chidambaram, Azad and Moily. Vahanvati has already told the Supreme Court the government would not oppose Delhi High Court order and he would assist the apex court on section 377 of the IPC relating to homosexuality. The law stands challenged by certain religious groups and the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights, which feels the modification would open the floodgates to child sexual exploitation.
|
|
Ishrat’s kin move SC against stay order
New Delhi, September 17 Metropolitan Magistrate SP Tamang had arrived at the conclusion that the encounter was fake, but a single Judge Bench of Justice Kalpesh Javheri stayed the finding on September 9 and directed necessary action against the magistrate. Describing Ishrat and three of her associates as LeT activists, the police had claimed that they had plotted to kill CM Narendra Modi.
|
|
Payscales of IIT, IIM faculty revised
New Delhi, September 17 From now on assistant professors in all CFTIs, including the IITs, IISc, Bangalore, IIMs and IISERs, will, on completion of three years, automatically move to pay band 4 of Rs 37,400 to Rs 67,000, with an academic grade pay of Rs 9,000 (as their counterparts in UGC scales). They will not have to face any selections and will, however, continue to be designated as assistant professors.That apart, the ministry today agreed to redesignate all lecturers-cum-postdoctoral fellows as assistant professors, to be recruited on contractual basis. Their appointment conditions, however, remain unchanged. HRD Minister Kapil Sibal has further decided to partially change the experience requirements for the post of professors in these institutes. Earlier, the requirement was a minimum of ten years’ experience. Now the norm has been changed to include a minimum of ten years’ experience of which four years should be at the level of associate professor in IITs, IISc, Bangalore, IIMs and other CFTIs.Faculty members of CFTIs have also been seeking better pay structures as compensation for the extra burden they have to bear on account of increased seats following the 27 per cent quota for ‘other backward castes’.
|
|
Maya Memorials
New Delhi, September 17 In a 28-page affidavit, Chief Secretary Atul Kumar Gupta said at the outset: “If any transgression has occurred, I tender the most profuse apology for the same and humbly submit that (if any transgression has happened) the same was entirely unintended.” The official, however, ended the affidavit, stating that the September 8 undertaking “is being fully honoured and the question of the same being flouted does not arise at all.” The Mayawati government has filed the document in response to a show-cause notice issued by a Bench headed by Justice BN Agarwal on September 11 after taking suo motu notice of media reports that construction work on the memorials were going on. The court had also asked the government to evict all workers, except the watch and ward staff, within six hours (by 7 pm) that day. The apex court had accepted the state’s assurance for stopping work on all memorials involved in various petitions pending before the Allahabad High Court. The state clarified that “there has been some degree of confusion” as to the properties covered by the order. The properties that were not subject matter of litigation in the HC were the Bhagidari Bhawan, the library and Ambedkar Smarak, all at Gomti Nagar, Lucknow. “It is obvious that the newspaper articles are possibly based on some information they may have received from journalists trying to snoop in the area but could not place precisely the site at which the work was being carried out,” the official said. As such, the media reports “are misleading” and had been filed without verifying the facts in spite of the clarification issued by UP Rajkiya Nirman Nigam on September 10, the state averred.
|
|
Get ready with infrastructure, Naxal-hit states told
New Delhi, September 17 During the just-concluded conference of DGPs and IGs, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Home Secretary GK Pillai told the top police brass of the 20 Naxal-hit states to identify places where infrastructure and logistics could be provided before launching a full-fledged operation against Maoists. “They have to identify the places where police stations could be set up, temporary pre-fabricated barracks could be installed, toilets could be constructed and essential commodities could be stored,” a Home Ministry official said. The Centre does not want to take any chance while going in for the offensive against the Maoists, “which could even take two years”. The Home Ministry wants that once an area is made free of Maoists occupation, development initiatives should be carried out immediately so that the Naxals cannot gain its hold there again. — PTI
|
|
Saeed must be brought to justice: US envoy Mumbai, September 17 "I hope that in future the action on 26/11 includes people like Hafiz Saeed. Recently he was put into an Interpol red flag list," Roemer said. The US is expending personal treasure and resources to help dismantle infrastructure of terrorism in this region, he added. In the 26/11 attacks, people of India suffered tremendous hardship and loss and devastation, Roemer said. "It is time to reflect on the common enemy of the US and India. We share concerns about the LeT, the Al-Qaida and the Taliban and the threat emanating from that part of the world and we are working closer and closer together as two great powers to take on a common enemy and bring blood-thirsty perpetrators of these attacks to justice," Roemer said. "When scores of Indians are killed, when six Americans are killed, this is a priority for our country and I know it is a priority for India," he said. The Indo-US relationship is an extremely positive relationship, Roemer said. "Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was here, expressing deep interest on part of our government. She came to India, went to a conference in Bangkok and then went home. She did not go to any other place in the area. She values this Indo-US bilateral relationship. "President (Barack) Obama told me this is one of the most important and best relationships we will have in the world." Describing the Indo-US relationship as "very robust and growing", Roemer said there was bipartisan support in the US Congress for this relationship. "People-to-people ties between the two countries are extraordinary. Over 95,000 Indian students study in US universities and colleges and over a million Americans visit India," he said. "President Obama feels it cannot only be a positive relationship on energy security but on several other issues," he said, adding "you are going to see even more of these tangibles and programmes coming with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the US in November." Recounting his recent meeting with Obama, Roemer said, "he said, Tim, you know, there are a billion people in India. I said yes, Sir, may be a bit more. The President told me that he would like me to meet as many of these people as possible. He said I want you to get out of Delhi and go to places like Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad." — PTI
|
|
|
Cheetah’s comeback possible
New Delhi, Sept 17 The Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India had been given the task to prepare a roadmap and identifying seven-eight places where the extinct big cat could be reintroduced, he added.“An important conclusion that emerged from talks at Gajner was that Cheetah can be brought from Africa. The WII has been given three months to give its report, after which the government will take a decision,” the minister said, adding that first and foremost “we have to fight the common perception that if India cannot protect its tigers, how it can protect the Cheetah”. That the Environment Ministry is serious about the Cheetah business could be judged from the fact that less than two months after Ramesh’s announcement in Parliament that the government had been looking into the possibility of bringing the extinct animal to India, wildlife experts recently met at Gajner to identify the possibility for release of African cheetahs in India. Cheetah is the only animal that has been declared extinct in India in the last 1,000 years. However, given India's poor track record in protecting the tiger, the decision to explore the possibility of bringing in cheetahs from abroad did not evoke very encouraging responses from eminent wildlife experts. “It’s a very difficult task and not something, I will like to propagate. My suggestion will be to look after animals as they are today and make sure they are kept safe. Once they have achieved that they can pursue other objectives,” said well-known wildlife activist Valmik Thapar. Former Project Tiger director PK Sen also said it would be better if India concentrated on saving the fast dwindling numbers of tigers, lions and leopards in its jungles.
|
|
Rail staff to get 75 days’ wages as bonus
New Delhi, September 17 The Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved the payment equivalent to 75 days’ wages for the financial year 2008-2009 for all eligible non-gazetted Railway employees (excluding RPF/RPSF personnel). Briefing newsmen after the Cabinet meeting Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said that in another decision the government had approved a proposal to avail Japanese assistance to create the western arm of a dedicated freight corridor costing Rs.26,124 crore. Railway officials here said the PSU was the first departmental undertaking wherein the concept of PLB was introduced. The main consideration at that time was important role of the Railways as an infrastructural support in the performance of the economy as a whole. The PLB Scheme for the Railways came into force from the year 1979-80 onwards and was evolved in consultation with the two recognised federations. The scheme envisages a review every three years. As regards the dedicated freight corridor in the first phase, Japan will provide a soft loan of Rs.17,700 crore to cover the Rewari-Vadodara section. The project was planned with the idea of augmenting the rail transport capacity to meet the growing requirement of movement of freight traffic. The Dedicated Freight Project on the Western and Eastern routes is one of the most ambitious project Indian Railway has ever taken up and once completed would meet transport requirement of the two busy trunk routes for the next 15 to 20 years. The project envisages a Western DFC (1483 kms) from Jawahar Lal Nehru Port (JNPT) in Mumbai to Tughlakabad and Dadri near Delhi to cater largely to the container transport requirements to and from the existing and emerging ports in Maharashtra and Gujarat and Eastern DFC from Ludhiana in Punjab to Dankuni (1806 km) near Kolkata to be extended in future to serve the new deep sea port in Kolkata area, and to largely serve coal and steel traffic. The cabinet also approved the extension of the term of the Thirteenth Finance commission. It was to hold office till October 31 but now the term has been extended till January 31, 2010. However, the commission has been asked to submit its report by December 31 so that the government’s decision on their recommendations could be given effect in the next year’s budget 2010-11. The Union Cabinet also approved setting up of new National Institutes of Technology (NITs). These new NITs will be established in Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Goa (which will also cater to Union Territories of Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Lakshdweep), Pudducherry (which will also cater to Andaman & Nicobar Islands), Sikkim , Delhi (which will also cater to Chandigarh) and Uttarakhand. The admissions in these new NITs will be made from the academic session 2010-11 and NITs will start classes either in campuses taken on lease or temporarily in mentor NITs. Work for construction of campuses for these new NITs will also be initiated subject to the land being provided free of cost by the concerned States and Union Territories .
|
|
Meet on Chinese intrusions put off
New Delhi, September 17 The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the External Affairs Ministry seem to be on one side seeking to downplay these incursions while the Defence Ministry and the Home Ministry will like India to do some posturing in the wake of the border violations. A much-awaited high-level meeting slated for today to take stock of the situation arising from the Chinese incursions became a casualty of the differences among key ministries on the threat from China. The meeting, convened by National Security Adviser (NSA) MK Narayanan, was to be attended by Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrasekhar, Defence, Home and Foreign secretaries, service chiefs and top intelligence officials, was put off without assigning any reason. Officials, who had tipped the media about the meeting, were tightlipped today. Various theories were doing rounds in official and media circles over the postponement of the meeting. There were reports that the NSA was incensed how the media came to know about the proposed meeting that was to be kept a closely guarded secret. He was reportedly of the view that such meetings should be held away from media glare. The Defence Ministry is learnt to be in favour of India adopting an assertive approach in view of the frequency of the Chinese incursions. It also wants curbs on Army patrolling along the line of actual control (LAC) to be lifted. Meanwhile, India has started sending some definite signals to China over the incursions. It has rejected China’s opposition to Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama’s proposed visit to Arunachal Pradesh in November. Another important signal is that President Pratibha Patil’s visit to China later this year has been put on hold. The then Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon had announced in June that the President would visit China later this year. Now the officials say the visit might not take place this year because the two countries were not finding mutually convenient dates for it.
|
|
BJP buoyed by poll results
New Delhi, September 17 The results have not only put the party in the reckoning once more, but even reestablished its pre-eminence vis-à-vis its NDA allies like JD(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. In spite of winning byelection to the Dwarka Assembly seat, the BJP avoided a formal comment on the elections for the perceived defeat of the alliance of JD(U)-BJP combine at the hands of Lalu-Paswan combine of RJD-LJP in Bihar. Of the 18 Assembly constituencies that went to polls this round, the RJD-LJP combine won eight against two to the JD(U) and and one each to the BJP, Congress and the BSP. But the most significant defeat Nitish Kumar faced was in Phulwari Sharif, where an old time Lalu loyalist Shyam Rajak quit the RJD and joined Nitish immediately after the general elections results, anticipating the political demise of Lalu Prasad. Both Nitish and Lalu had made that a prestige issue. BJP leaders here blamed the defeat on the last minute defection of Shyam Rajak. BJP leaders were rather circumspect in their comment on the outcome of Bihar results. A senior BJP leader discounted this as an indication of Lalu-Paswan revival and instead attributed it to “local factors.” They are not too unhappy with this outcome because as some of them said it had brought Nitish Kumar a few pegs down. All along, BJP leaders were getting signals that Nitish Kumar was discreetly hobnobbing with the Congress and was weighing his options of dumping the BJP and aligning with the Congress that broke away from Lalu and Paswan in the run up to the general elections. They feel that now Nitish’ winning streak seems to petering out, the BJP would be in a better position to tackle him. Simultaneously, since the Congress has not really made a mark the BJP feels no more threatened by the prospect of the Congress-Nitish tie up. They have been talking in private of how Nitish was capable of ditching them in an hour of crisis. Beyond Bihar too, the BJP has reasons to feel good. Its winning streak started sometime ago when it won Delhi MC byelections only recently. Then came its sweeping victories in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand. And the latest victory in Delhi coupled by defeat for Nitish is also a happy augury for the BJP.
|
|
Stricter punishment for illegal organ trade
New Delhi, September17 Further, the definition of relatives (who can donate the organ) has been expanded to include grandchildren and grandparents. The amended Act also requires foreign relatives of an organ recipient to get clearance from health authorities who will determine whether the said person is a relative or not. In the past, several poor were passed off as relatives and forced to donate organs for money. Lastly, the Act provides for severe punishment for doctors and touts engaged in commercial trading of organs and tissues. Doctors will get 10 years of imprisonment and touts seven years, as per the amendments approved.
|
|
Lanka told to focus on resettling Tamils: PM
Chennai, September 17 Replying to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's demand to ascertain from the island government whether the assistance provided by the state and the Central governments, besides those provided by other countries, were reaching the displaced Tamil population, the Prime Minister said "we are committed to working on a priority basis for the relief and rehabilitation of the internally displaced civilians in north Sri Lanka. Our humanitarian assistance is substantial". The Union government had also reiterated that the legitimate grievances of Tamils must be addressed
within the framework of a united Sri Lanka, he said in a letter to Karunanidhi. Manmohan Singh said the field hospital set up by India had treated more than 38,000 patients and the country's demining teams were in the process of clearing tracts in the north to expedite the resettlement process and added that the Centre had also sent shelter material to facilitate resettlement. The Union government was in the process of taking up several projects to restore the livelihood, rehabilitating infrastructure like railways, rejuvenating agriculture and imparting skills for livelihood and employment, he said. "On the issue of the consignment from the Sri Lankan diaspora mentioned your letter, the Indian Red Cross has handed over the consignment to the Sri Lankan Red Cross. "We expect the Sri Lankan government to facilitate the clearance of this consignment and undertake its distribution", he said.
|
|
UPA soft on Chinese incursions: Jaya
Chennai, September 17 Citing reports of an incursion by Chinese troops into Indian territory, unprovoked across-the-border firing by the Pakistani army and the alleged dumping of dangerous wastes on Indian land by alien forces, Jayalalithaa said: "When such reports surface it is customary for countries perpetrating such outrages to deny them outright. But what is pathetic about the present UPA coalition at the centre is that even before the offending nations have got into denial mode the Indian government has stretched itself to hand out clean chits to neighbouring countries". The last incident reported in the media was about crossborder firing in Sikkim, again involving Chinese troops, and the media had quoted top intelligence sources for their information. “The media stood by their report despite the spate of denials from the defence and external affairs ministries, said Jayalalithaa. “After the entire country had been exercised about the issue, the Indian government had decided to hold a high-level meeting to be presided over by the national security adviser and to be attended by the three service chiefs as well as the cabinet, defence, home and external affairs secretaries.” "The lethargy in even convening such a meeting of officials, all available in Delhi, is indicative of the apathy of this government on this issue. In the first place such a meeting should have been held at least a fortnight ago when the reports of Chinese firing first surfaced. Only after that should the denials, if at all, have come, she said" "Having put the cart before the horse, the meeting now convened promises to be a farce. The outcome of the meeting is a forgone conclusion. It is a clear case of too little, too late. This is a dangerous trend when we talk about India's security concerns", the AIADMK chief said in a statement here. "The obvious inference that can be drawn is that the present government is viewed by our aggressive neighbours as being the softest, least assertive and most incompetent when it comes to international relations", she opined.
|
|
US travel alert upsets tourism industry
Jaipur, September 17 The advisory has sent jitters among those associated with the industry here and they are now contemplating to meet top tourism ministry officials in New Delhi on the issue. The US accounts for anywhere between 30 to 40 per cent of the total tourist inflow into the state and its advisory could not have came at a worse time for the tourist trade that was expecting a turnaround before the upcoming festive season. Rajasthan Association of Tour Operators chief Khalid Khan said the US travel advisory would certainly hit the industry hard not only would it take a toll on arrival of American tourists but also affect the traffic from Europe and other countries. “The need of the hour is that the tourism ministry should take up the matter with its US counterpart and ensure the advisory is withdrawn”, he added. Similarly, Indian Heritage Hotel Association general secretary RS Mandawa said: “Foreign tourists take such advisories seriously and it is bound to affect our business”. Blaming the government as ell as the media for blowing up issues like the H1N1 flu and terror attacks, he observed: “Now that we have scared them we should be ready to face the consequences”.
|
|
Cong to launch stir against Maya govt
Allahabad, September 17 Accusing the BSP government of not implementing the schemes properly, Congress leader, in charge of UP, Digvijay Singh today said the party would expose the irregularities in implementation of the schemes particularly the ambitious rural job guarantee programme, NREGA. The AICC general secretary said the state government did not want to popularise the pro-poor schemes of the Centre. Referring to arson at the house of UPCC president Rita Bahuguna Joshi , he accused the Mayawati government of “unabashedly using her administrative machinery to harass Congress leaders and workers” in the state. “This is simply a design of the Mayawati government to stop the juggernaut of the Congress, which turned the apple cart of BSP in the last LS elections,” Singh said. — PTI
|
|
Litterateur Meenakshi Mukherjee dead
Hyderabad, September 17 Mukherjee, a professor at the University of Hyderabad, fainted and collapsed at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) here while preparing to board a flight to New Delhi, where she was to release one of her books. "She was travelling alone and was to board an Indigo Airlines flight to Delhi. She fainted at Gate 22 and was rushed to Apollo Medical Centre at the airport, where she was declared dead," said an airport spokesman. Her relatives, who came to see her off, were still at the airport when she collapsed and was rushed to the medical centre, he said. Mukherjee, who is survived by two daughters, was on her way to Delhi to release her new book "An Indian For All Seasons", a biography of historian R.C. Dutt. The book published by Penguin was to be released on Thursday. Wife of litterateur Sujit Mukherjee, Meenakshi Mukherjee was a big name in English literature and had received the Sahitya Akademi award in 2003 for her book "The Perishable Empire: Essays on Indian Writing in English". She was also Chairperson of the Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies from 2001 to 2004 and the chairperson of its Indian Chapter from 1993 to 2005. She taught in a number of Indian colleges in Patna, Pune and Delhi before joining the University of Hyderabad. Her last and longest spell was as Professor of English in the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. She was a visiting professor in several universities outside India, including the University of Texas at Austin, University of Chicago, University of California at Berkeley, Macquarie Univesity (Sydney), University of Canberra and Flinders University (Adelaide). She authored "The Twice Born Fiction", "Realism and Reality: Novel and Society in India", "Re-reading Jane Austen" and "The Perishable Empire". She also edited about half a dozen collections of essays including "Considerations: Twelve Studies of Indian Literature in English", "Midnight's Children: A Book of Readings", and "Early Novels in India". — IANS
|
||
|
Dudhwa National Park gets baby rhino
Lucknow, September 15 Expressing satisfaction at the growing numbers of the endangered Indian rhinos in the state, UP’s chief wildlife conservator BK Patnaik said the Rhinoceros Rehabilitation Programme in the state was a success and a second phase would be launched soon. A project to rehabilitate the one-horned rhino in UP had been launched in 1984, when it was discovered that the endangered Indian rhino till then also living in the Kakarha Forest of the Dudhwa National Park had become completely extinct. A 27-sq km enclosure fenced by barbed wires was built in the Kakarha Forest. Two male and five female rhinos were procured from Assam and the Rambha Chitwan National Park of Bihar and Nepal for breeding. As the habitat and weather of the area are conducive, the number of rhinos steadily multiplied over the years reaching 29 two days ago. Of this, there are 7 male, 16 female and seven cubs.
|
||
|
Sit out till clean chit, lawyers
tell Dinakaran
Bangalore, September 17 In a meeting held at the HC premises here today, AAB, an apex organisation of the HC lawyers, also passed a resolution saying that all the judges of the High Court should make their assets public. Karnataka HC judge Shylendra Kumar, who had earlier given a statement about his assets and liabilities to the registrar general of High Court, published the details of his assets in his personal blog after the registrar general ignored his request of displaying his statement in the official website of the HC. In a third resolution, AAB prepared a list containing all such orders passed by Dinakaran that the advocates felt were bad in law or smacked of favouritsm. “The list has been sent to the President, the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court,” Rajanna, general secretary of AAB, told The Tribune. Starting from tomorrow Karnataka HC will remain closed till October 5 on account of the Dussehra holidays. “On October 5 we may have to pass one more resolution. If the Chief Justice turns up for work on October 5, then we may resort to boycotting the court. However, if he does not come to the court and waits for the decision of the Supreme Court on the charges against him, then the High Court here will function normally,” Rajanna said. The stormy AAB meeting, which was held in the wake of opposition by some eminent Supreme Court lawyers to Dinakaran’s elevation to the Supreme Court, was attended by approximately 1,000 lawyers, and lasted for about four hours. Only four lawyers out of 34 who spoke in the meeting said it was premature to move against the Chief Justice. Eminent SC lawyers under the auspices of forum for judicial accountability earlier urged the CJI KG Balakrishnan to refrain from elevating Dinakaran to the SC in view of the charge against him of holding 400 acres of land in Tamil Nadu. Dinakaran reportedly denied the allegation when he was summoned by Balakrishnan to Delhi.
|
||
|
Human trials of H1N1 vaccine in India
New Delhi, September 17 Following hectic negotiations on this front, Novartis, Baxter and GlaxoSmithKline recently conveyed their willingness to come to India for human trials of the swine flu vaccine. But the government wants to be sure the companies follow Indian safety protocols in letter and spirit. “Everything has been finalised. Only we need to be sure the manufacturers follow Indian protocols considering the vaccine has been developed in the West and must pass all our safety tests for us to introduce it in the markets,” Secretary, Health Research V.M. Katoch today said. The government has selected eight sites for human trials on a sample of 600 to 800 people. “Safety is our top priority. The vaccine must conform to Indian settings,” Katoch said, adding that the local H1N1 vaccine would be available by March next because India has to test the backbone of the influenza vaccine which will then yield itself to modifications depending on the kind of flu that spreads. Meanwhile, to control the rising prices of Tamiflu, which was retailed yesterday, the government has approved four local research institutions to manufacture shikimic acid, a critical component of Oseltamivir. So far, India had been importing shikimic acid to locally produce the drug. But now the health ministry feels it is important to have indigenous availability of shikimic acid, which has so far caused shortage in the production of Tamiflu worldwide as it can’t be synthesised economically and is only effectively isolated from Chinese star anise, an ancient cooking spice; the herb is also used in traditional Chinese medicine. Although most autotrophic organisms produce shikimic acid, the isolation yield is low. But India may soon have its own shikimic acid, with the government approving four projects for production - from NIPER, Mohali, Delhi University, IIT Delhi and IIT Mumbai. “While some of them propose to isolate shikimic acid from bacteria, others say they will do the same from some trees. We are hoping for good results as local availability of this component will help us reduce drug prices,” Katoch said. As of now, Tamiflu pricing has been left to market forces, said the government which yesterday allowed retail sale of Tamiflu with druggists that have Schedule X licence to sell restricted drugs.
|
||
|
Cong denies ticket to
9 MLAs in Arunachal
Guwahati, September 17 So far, the Congress has declared 56 names for the forthcoming elections to the 60-member state legislature. Names of party nominees for Pakke-Kessang, Palin, Yachuli and Namsai are yet to be decided in view of lack of consensus, according to a party source in Itanagar. The nine sitting MLAs who failed to make it to the ticket list are monk-turned-politician TG Rinpoche (Lumla LAC), Tani Loffa (Seppa West), Nyato Rigia (Taniha), Kito Sora (Along East), Tadik Chije (Mechuka), Wangnia Pongte (Changlang North), Kamthok Lowang (Khonsa East), Thajom Aboh (Khonsa West) and Atum Welly (Seppa East), who is also a minister in the incumbent Dorjee Khandu ministry in Arunachal
Pradesh.
|
||
|
BJP not to concede Guhagar seat Mumbai, September 17 The Shiv Sena wants the Guhagar seat to accommodate Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing assembly Ramdas Kadam who lost his own seat, Khed, after delimitation of constituencies. Last week Kadam stayed away from a public meeting addressed by Uddhav Thackeray giving rise to speculation that he was upset with the party for not trying to find him a seat in the assembly. The Thackerays who publicly offered the Ghatkopar West seat to the BJP to accommodate Poonam Rao, the daughter of the late Pramod Mahajan, are now seen as driving a tough bargain. According to sources, the BJP does not want to give up the Guhagar seat which has been represented by its MLA Vinay Natu for three terms. Also, the party is expected to face a tough fight at Ghatkopar West if it fields Poonam Rao. Though the Mahajans have a good network in the area, the BJP is worried about Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena acting as a spoiler. Ghatkopar West has several pockets of Marathi-speaking people who may vote for the MNS, thus splitting the saffron vote. BJP leaders admit that the MNS has been successful in wooing the Marathi voters away from its candidates during the Lok Sabha elections and may repeat its feat in the assembly elections as well. Meanwhile, the BJP has indicated that it may release its first list of candidates on Saturday. So far there is no word from the Shiv Sena as to when its first list of candidates would be released.
|
||
|
Stealth destroyer to be launched today Mumbai, September 17 INS Kochi will formally join the naval fleet in 2011. INS Kolkata, the first vessel, will be inducted next year. The third vessel of its class is likely to be launched in 2012. According to the project details revealed by the navy, all the three vessels will have land attack capabilities as well. Each of the Project 15-A Kolkata Class destroyer is expected to cost around Rs 3800 crore. These ships will be fitted with the state-of-the-art weapon systems, including the BrahMos missile, the Barak-2 surface-to-air missiles with a range of 70 km and the MF-Star multi-function radar system.
|
||
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
