Hyderabad, November 2
The unexpected talk of an alliance with actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) has triggered a storm within Andhra Pradesh Congress with party leaders openly airing their differences over the issue.

The state Congress President D Srinivas stirred a hornet’s nest by announcing yesterday that the ruling party would have an alliance with PRP for the coming elections to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). The surprise move was seen as an attempt to neutralise the “Jagan-for-CM” campaign and marginalise the role of the ambitious young MP in the party. Caught off-guard, the loyalists of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who have been lobbying for anointing him as the Chief Minister, fiercely opposed any tie-up with Chiranjeevi.

Several ministers, MPs and MLAs, who are close to Jagan, today came out in the open, criticising the decision to forge electoral understanding with PRP. They argued that an alliance with Chiranjeevi would send wrong signals to the people and give credence to the opposition campaign that the Congress had weakened after the death of Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy.

However, anti-Jagan group within the ruling party has welcomed the development saying it would be in the long-term interests of both the parties. A clear vertical division was visible in the party over the alliance issue.

“There is no need for alliance with the PRP. We have enough strength to win any election on our own. Any tie-up with the PRP will do injustice to Congress workers,” the state Health Minister and president of Greater Hyderabad unit of Congress D Nagender said.

The Agriculture Minister N Raghuveera Reddy, another staunch loyalist of Jagan, opposed the idea of alliance but said it would be better if the PRP merged with the Congress.

Asked about allegation that the tie-up with charismatic actor was aimed at sidelining Jagan, he said “If somebody tries to weaken Jagan's camp, it will emerge stronger.” The Home Minister P Sabita Indra Reddy said the charisma of late YSR and his son could not be matched by anyone.

The party MPs Sabbam Hari and L Rajagopal also opposed the decision.

Interestingly, the Jagan camp and its chief architect and MP KVP Ramachandra Rao were kept in the dark about the negotiations with Chiranjeevi. The deal was said to have clinched by the APCC Chief.

The Congress now has a wafer-thin majority in the Assembly and the support of PRP’s 18 MLAs will give it the much-needed cushion, the pro-alliance leaders argued. Even in the worst case scenario of a revolt by hard core Jagan loyalists, there would be no problem to the stability of the government, they contend.

Meanwhile, a meeting of PRP’s Political Affairs Committee, held here today, endorsed the move to firm up an alliance with the Congress, saying it would help the fledgling party to grow in strength. This signaled a major re-alignment of political forces in the state in the post-YSR scenario.

Jaipur, November 2
Though the number of casualties may have been low vis-à-vis the magnitude of the IOC depot blaze here, the fire tragedy is posing a serious health hazard to the residents of villages around the depot premises as well as residential areas of the city.

With the winds changing their direction, almost the entire Pink City was enveloped in a cover of black smoke today morning. While the villagers were surprised to see their vast stretches of field covered with black flakes, the people in the urban areas, as far as 15 km from the IOC depot, found thin black sheets of soot and pollutants on their roofs.

Experts say the black matter, which is descending on the ground, is formed by thick smoke billowing out of the blazing oil tanks in the IOC depot. This matter carries a deadly mix of high pollutants like carbon monooxide, sulphur dioxide, hydrocarbons, nitric oxide and carcinogens, they added.

While the flames are still leaping at the IOC depot, the pollution level has gone up and air quality has deteriorated considerably in the city over the last five days. All the three air quality monitoring stations in the city have registered two-fold and at times even three-fold increase in the levels of SPM (suspended particulate matter), RSPM (respiratory SPM), sulphur and nitric oxides.

As per studies, burning a litre of petrol produces 2.4 kg of carbon dioxide emissions while in case of diesel the figure is 2.69 kg. Now, one could gauge the impact of this tragedy on the Pink City taking into account the fact that the 11 tanks of IOC depot contained 92 lakh litres of petrol, diesel and kerosene. By the time the entire fuel had burnt itself out, for which the state administration is waiting, it would have emitted crores of litres of carbon dioxide, carbon monooxide, apart from massive quantity of SPM and harmful gases.

The after-effects of the tragedy have already started coming to the fore with the people, complaining of respiratory problems, burning sensation in eyes, and skin rashes, pouring in at the SMS Hospital. Additional Medical Superintendent of SMS Hospital, Dr KK Mangal, said those living within a distance of 10-15 km from the IOC depot are most likely to get affected by such health problems. As the fire is still raging in three tanks, doctors say those with respiratory diseases should be cautious, as they may experience discomfort.

In the last five days, the SMS Hospital alone has received over 100 patients with breathlessness, blurred vision, burning sensation in eyes, and skin rashes etc. Similarly, in the rescue and health camp opened by the administration in Bilwa, near the IOC depot, 50 cases of irritation in eyes and headache were reported from Sitapura and Bilwa areas yesterday.

In view of the situation, the health department has issued orders to keep the primary health centres open round-the-clock in the affected areas. Apart from it, two mobile medical teams are doing the rounds of the area to provide medical assistance to the people at their homes.

On the other hand, Rajasthan Environment Minister Ram Lal Jat claims that there was nothing to worry. “The wind will blow away the smoke in the coming two-three days. We can do nothing to improve the quality of air. We will have to wait and watch,” he said.

Jaipur, November 2
Even as the flames at the IOC depot continued to leap for the fifth day, the panel formed by Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora to probe into the causes of the fire tragedy began its inquiry by visiting the site here today.

Headed by HPCL MD MB Lal, the seven-member committee will investigate into the causes behind the massive blaze and would also recommend safety measures to avoid such mishaps in future. The committee has to submit its report within six weeks.

Meanwhile, the death toll in the fire tragedy reached 11 with a critically injured IOC driver succumbing to his burn injuries. The deceased, Jagdish Yadav, had suffered 100 per cent burns and was battling for life at the SMS Hospital for the last five days.

On firefighting front, the fire in eight out of 11 tanks has died down, while it is still raging in three tanks, of which two are that of petrol. The eight tanks, in which the fire has died down, are still emitting thick black smoke. The covers of two tanks blew off in an explosion last night, leading to fire in some barrels lying on the depot premises, though it didn’t cause any spread of fire. According to Chief Fire Officer Ishwarlal Jat, the blaze in petrol tanks has reduced considerably but still it would take another 24-36 hours for it to completely die down.

However, unfazed by the raging fire in three tanks at IOC depot, the district administration decided to reopen the industrial units situated near the fire site from today, while stating that schools and colleges in and around the area will also reopen soon.

In a related development, with an aim to provide relief to the industry, the state government today waived service tax for the next one year for the industries which have bore the brunt of the IOC depot blaze.

Chief minister Ashok Gehlot also announced postponing the levying of VAT on the industries at the Sitapura Economic Zone up to March, 2010. The state government has also set up two committees to assess the damage caused to industrial units and nearby villages.

Guwahati, November 2
Noted environmentalist and Chipko movement leader Sunderlal Bahuguna today warned that the next World War, if come about, would be fought over no other issue but water which is getting extremely precious day by day given the onslaught of climate change.

Launching the ‘Save Himalaya, Save Water, Save Life’ movement here for the North-East states, Bahuguna said, “The Himalayas is the main source of water and we have to save the ecology of Himalayas first save ourselves.”

Calling upon the people, especially women folk to join the movement, Bahuguna observed that the Himalayas should be the focal point to build mutual trust among neighbouring countries to save it and its water and other lives.

The campaign that was started in Jammu and Kashmir on September 30 was now being taken to Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and Nagaland by Bahuguna and his co-campaigners.

The movement has been prompted by alarming ground realities like drastic change in the snowfall patterns and the fast melting of glaciers due to impact of global warming in the Himalayan region, frequent severe drought and floods.

The delegation of the movement led by Bahuguna is travelling to all Himalayan states in India and neighbouring countries to hold consultation with governments, eminent citizens, media, civil society groups in an attempt to invoke environmental awareness and consolidate opinions on the need to push for specific development policies for the region in view of increasing threats to eco-system, lives and livelihoods.

Referring to his interaction with people of Srinagar, Bahuguna said people spoke about ‘dying’ of Dal Lake, drastic change in snowfall pattern and the Kashmir valley witnessing unprecedented hot weather.

“Our humble attempt is aimed at making people aware of the imminent ecological threats and laying stress on the need to draw a new, more humane, more ecologically sensitive development plan for the Himalayan region,” campaign convenor Kishore Upadhyay said.

Hyderabad, November 2
In the strongest-ever indication that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah is here to stay, his portraits sprang up on the walls of Congress Legislature Party office here, around two months after he took over the reins following the death of YS Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash.

With this, the uncertainty over his continuance in the hot seat appears to have ended for now. The clamour for anointing YSR’s son and first-time MP YS Jagan Mohan Reddy as chief minister has subsided after the latter’s meeting with party president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi last week.

While making it clear that Rosaiah, the septuagenarian leader, would continue in the post, Sonia assured the young MP that his interests would be taken care of and that he would be the future face of the state Congress.

This is the first time that Rosaiah’s picture has been given prominence in the CLP. Interestingly, he is yet to be formally elected as the leader by the CLP. The party high command has been wary of convening the CLP meeting, fearing ugly scenes from Jagan’s supporters.

Rosaiah has consolidated his position, particularly after Jagan made a public statement expressing full support to the Chief Minister and making it clear that he would take up any job assigned by the high command.

With the succession row being resolved successfully, the next task before the central leadership is to convene a meeting of the CLP and elect Rosaiah as CM. Rosaiah is a member of the state Legislative Council.

Kolkata, November 2
Within 24 hours of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee demanding Centre’s immediate attention towards the law and order situation in West Bengal, the CPM central leadership today decided to send a deputation to the Prime Minister, asking him to immediately sack the Railways Minister for her ‘links’ with the Maoists.

Talking to mediapersons here, the veteran Politburo member Sitaram Yechuri said there were concrete evidences and other substantial documents that the TMC leader was maintaining a good contact with Maoists leaders like Koteshwar Rao (alias Kishenji), Bikash and others.

“Such a dangerous element cannot be allowed to remain in the Central ministry,” said Yechuri, adding that the party would lead a deputation to AICC chief Sonia Gandhi and the PM, demanding Mamata’s immediate removal from the Cabinet.

Former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu also made an appeal to the Congress leadership to support the CPM and other Left parties against Mamata. He alleged the Maoists and Mamata were now moving jointly for the dissolution of the elected Left front government by creating severe law and order trouble.

CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee alleged that the government had in its possession several proofs of Mamata’s active support to the Maoists movement in Singhur, Nandigram, Lalgarh and Jangalmahal. He said the government had already sent “those evidences” to the Home Minister.

Meanwhile, Bhattacharjee reviewed the law and order situation vis-à-vis the Maoists movement in the state at a high-level meeting at Writers Buildings today. He said the government would in no case withdraw the joint action force from Lalgarh and Jangalmahal as demanded by the TMC chief.

On the contrary, the government will be sending additional six companies of the combat forces to tackle Naxals.

Bangalore, November 2
Amid reports that many BJP MLAs from flood-hit areas in north Karnataka were preoccupied with dissident activities in resorts and hotels, ignoring the plight of those affected, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa today apologised to the people and vowed to work for them.

“In the backdrop of the happenings, as the Chief Minister, I apologise to the people of the state. We will take care to see such incidents will not take place in future and will work unitedly for the people’s welfare,” he told reporters here.

His comments came in the wake of reports that many MLAs and ministers loyal to rebel ministers from Bellary district -- G Karunakara Reddy, G Janardhana Reddy and B Sreeramulu -- seeking Yeddyurappa’s ouster, camped in Hyderabad and Goa, when they should have been attending to the grievances of people, suffering after the recent unprecedented floods. Later speaking in Bellary, Yeddyurappa also dismissed the reports on the alleged role of senior BJP leader H N Ananth Kumar in “hatching conspiracy” with the Reddy brothers.

“Ananth’s name is unnecessarily being dragged to link him to the Reddy brothers,” the Chief Minister said. “Unnecessarily, some people are trying to drag his name to create confusion”, he said, adding the Lok Sabha member from Bangalore South is trying his best to find a solution to the issue. — PTI

New Delhi, November 2
The Income Tax department has begun sealing properties and issued prohibitory orders around the premises of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda and his associates in the alleged Hawala transactions and illegal investments case.

The sealing exercise is done as the owners of these properties are not available at certain places, tax officials said. The department has also seized some cash as it is continuing its searches, which began on Saturday, on more than 70 premises across the country, they said.

Meanwhile, Koda was interrogated on camera today. The I-T officials were questioning Koda on camera so that his statements are recorded as a video proof. I-T sources said Koda had provided information about investments made at different places, the network used to invest money and people involved in the illegal transaction.

The I-T sleuths, who are probing allegations of disproportionate assets against Koda and his associates, had during the raid discovered documents relating to illegal transactions worth Rs.2,000 crore. Seven new places were raided on Monday, officials said.

According to sources, documents related to investments of Koda and his associates Vinod Sinha and Sanjay Chaudhary have been seized. The sources said the day and night searches may continue for the next two to three days. “This is one of the largest raids against people who have developed network not only in different Indian states but also in many foreign countries,” said an I-T department source.

The officials have seized a laptop, hard disk and documents from Koda’s houses and are investigating his links with a resort in the Andamans. — Agencies

Thiruvananthapuram, November 2
Defence Minister AK Antony on Monday warned that relations with Pakistan can improve only if it takes serious steps against terrorists waging war against India.

“In relations with Pakistan, the main impediment is that there are still a large number of terrorist camps operating across the border. There is a continuous effort to push terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan has to take serious efforts (to tackle terrorists), then only relations can improve,” Antony told reporters after giving out Trivandrum Press Club journalism awards here.

When asked if the government will use the Army against the Maoists, he said: “We are very clear that law and order is a state subject. The Centre will only help them (the states) with paramilitary forces. Army can be called in only as the last resort, when all other options have been exhausted.”

Asked about the Indo-ASEAN free trade agreement, Antony criticised Kerala’s Left Front government which has opposed the treaty.

“Minister of Commerce Anand Sharma wrote to the Chief Minister (V.S. Achuthanandan) in August regarding all the aspects of the negative list. People here are trying to make a political issue out of this. This should not happen,” said Antony. — IANS

Patna, November 2
The upcoming Nalanda International University on the remains of an ancient seat of learning by the same name in Bihar appears all set to become an axis of unity among the South Asian countries.

Prime Minister Dr Man Mohan Singh has taken a personal initiative to develop the university and make it into an International Centre of Excellence not only in the field of education but also for regional understanding and co-operation among the South Asian countries.

Unveiling his aims for this University at the conference of SAARC nations held recently, the PM made an appeal to all the members of SAARC to take an active interest in establishing the modern international university. The SAARC members responded to his appeal with enthusiasm.

This development has been communicated to Bihar government by the Prime Minister’s Office in the form of a letter to Chief Secretary Anoop Mukherjee. The letter from the PMO says the PM also thanked the member nations like China, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Combodia and Vietnam for their assurance to develop the Nalanda International University project.

Notably, Japan and Singapore have already extended their help for this ‘dream project’ of former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam which was initiated by Bihar CM in 2006.

The state government has already acquired more than 500 acres of land for the project and appointed Kalam as ‘visitor’ of this International University. A ‘mentor group’ has also been constituted under the leadership of Nobel laureate Dr Amartya Sen. The mentor group comprising the likes of Lord Meghnad Desai and Sugata Bose has already held its meeting at Singapore to discuss the modalities for developing this university into a Modern education centre which would attract students and faculty from the international community.

Chennai, November 2
As the three-day campaign by the Sri Lankan Tamils Protection Movement, highlighting the conditions of Tamils confined behind barbed wire camps in Sri Lanka, drew huge crowds and emotional response throughout Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today shifted focus towards the refugee camps in Tamil Nadu, promising immediate measures to improve them.

Convening an emergency session of the cabinet meeting here, Karunanidhi instructed his cabinet colleagues to accord utmost priority to the welfare of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees lodged in various camps in the state.

He also directed them to visit all the 115 refugee camps and submit a report on the prevailing conditions in those camps by November 10. Presiding over the emergency meeting, attended by officials and all the Ministers, including Deputy Chief Minister M K Stalin, the Chief Minister told the officials that it should not be forgotten that Sri Lankan refugees were Tamils and they should not be ill-treated in the refugee camps.

Citing reports on the pathetic conditions in refugee camps for the island Tamils, the Chief Minister said the ministers should find out what kind of assistance should be provided to the Tamils in refugee camps. Steps to improve the conditions of the island Tamils living in refugee camps would be formalised after analysing the report submitted by the Ministers, he said.

The cabinet meeting decided to immediately allocate Rs 12 crore for developing infrastructure facilities in the refugee camps and more assistance and the kind of schemes would be decided based on the report submitted by the ministers.

The island Tamils’ issue has taken the centre stage in the state again, following the three-day campaign by the Sri Lankan Tamils Protection Movement, comprising the BJP, CPI, MDMK, PMK and other Tamil groups. MDMK leader Vaiko, who was defeated by a slender margin in the recent Lok Sabha elections, surprised everyone, by drawing big crowds for his roadside meetings, in the delta districts of Thanjavur and Napattinam, considered as the bastion of the ruling DMK.

The western districts of of the state, where stalwards of the Congress, including TNCC leader KV Thangabalu, former Union Ministers EVKS Elangovan and K Prabhu were defeated on the Lankan Tamils plank in the recent Parliament elections, showed a good response to the campaign of the movement's co-ordinator P Nedumaran. The CPI's campaign in southern districts and PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss’ meetings in north Tamil Nadu also drew good crowds.

New Delhi, November 2
Advertisements promising a “life of pride” in the Indian Army notwithstanding, the ‘sarkari babus’ seem to be losing track of methods to woo the target audience -- youth. For, in this era of computerisation and youth’s reliance on websites and search engines like Google, authorities have forgotten to update the pay scales on the official website joinindianarmy.nic.in.

Annually, thousands of youth apply to become officers in the Indian Army and the website is a prime source of information. But, it still lists old pay scales, which were revised and tripled over a year ago. In fact, new wages make the Army one of the most lucrative career options for youth and the website does not showcase this at all, despite the force having a huge shortfall of officers.

The website missed out on the most important information — salary — a youth desires to know, said Sandeepak Singh Yadav, a youth from Rewari, who called up The Tribune to narrate the lack of information on the website.

As per the official website, a Lt Colonel is in the pay scale of Rs 13,500-17,100. But post-revision, the scale concerned has tripled to Rs 37,400-Rs 67,000. The website has similar salary errors for all ranks starting from the Lieutenant to the Chief of the Army Staff. Similar gaffes are visible in matter of rank pay or grade pay. The website says a Captain gets a rank pay of Rs 400 while a Colonel gets Rs 2,000. After implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission in October last, these were increased manifold and an officer at the level of Colonel gets more than three times what has been quoted on the website.

Interestingly, the forces had fought a pitched battle over their rank and status. So much so that it had snowballed into a major issue with the Prime Minister setting up a group of ministers to look into the matter. And finally, most of the demands were met.

A source said a full-fledged directorate looks after recruitment and such a miss in today’s web-enabled world is a “serious gaffe”. Youngsters today look up to websites for information and the official website should have had the same and even should have compared it with other career options. Also, it should list out each benefit in cash and provide a gross income.

Hyderabad, November 2
Known for its hi-tech and innovative campaigns, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), in yet another unique initiative for elections to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), has launched a website inviting feedback and suggestions to finalise candidates for the polls.

The party has launched the website - www.ghmc. inviting people to give their opinion and also suggest candidates to contest elections from respective civic wards on November 23. The website lists development projects undertaken in Hyderabad during the TDP regime earlier to 2004 and how subsequent the Congress government let the people down in every possible way.

“To make sure Hyderabad gets back the past glory, you need to act. It is your city, your life. Make an informed decision. Vote Telugu Desam and save our city and the state," the party exhorts the 55-lakh voters in the city.

“All development in Hyderabad, which has now emerged as a Greater Metropolitan, took place prior to 2004, when we were in power. After 2004, the Congress government under Y S Rajasekhara Reddy was involved more in corruption and grossly neglected the development of the state capital,” TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu has alleged.

Be it expansion of roads, construction of fly-overs, introduction of Multi-Modal Transit System, diversion of river Krishna water to meet city needs and all other infrastructure development happened only during TDPs regime, he said. — PTI

Gorakhpur, November 2
Railways has ordered an inquiry into the train mishap in Gonda that left 14 persons dead. Railway Safety Commissioner P K Vajpayee would conduct the inquiry into the accident, an official spokesman of the North Eastern Railway said here today.

At least 14 persons were killed and around 25 injured when the speeding Gonda-Ayodhya passenger train rammed into a truck at an unmanned level crossing in Gonda yesterday.Railway Board chairman S S Khurana and acting general manager, North Eastern Railway, H S Pannu, last night visited the accident site and ordered the inquiry.

The Railways has established helplines at Lucknow, Gonda, Khalilabad and Gorakhpur stations for the convenience of the passengers. The numbers are Lucknow, 0522-2638353, Gonda, 05262-221526, Khalilabad - 05547-226219, and Gorakhpur 0551-1072. — PTI

Hyderabad, November 2
Pneumonia kills five million children every year around the world which is more than the number of deaths caused by AIDS, measles and malaria put together.

Doctors at The Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP) here observing the World Pneumonia Day on November 2 said many children do not receive affordable treatment.

The disease needs to get more attention that will lead the stakeholders and governments to develop and monitor comprehensive programmes, they said.

Addressing media on the occasion of the World Pneumonia Day today, IAP said it had organised a panel discussion and resolved to observe this day every year.

Dr Sudershan Reddy, president, IAP, said pneumonia was common up to five years of age and a whopping five million children die around the world every year due to pneumonia.

Stating that there are different types of pneumonia, doctors pointed out that as many as 50 children die everyday due to pneumonia in Andhra Pradesh alone.

Dr Sudershan Reddy said the IAP was planning to attract global attention to this problem but he pointed out that in developed world there is hardly any death due to pneumonia and so the interventions are less.

The IAP wants a coordinated global effort to help ensure that pneumonia gets the much needed attention that will lead stakeholders and government to develop and monitor comprehensive programmes to tackle pneumonia, he said. — PTI