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54 pc voting in Phase-I
K’taka Crisis |
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Malarial deaths grossly underestimated
SC offers compromise formula to BCCI, Modi
PM leaves for East Asia on October 24
US hints at easing restrictions on
hi-tech exports
I-T raids on Oasis Group units
‘Take action against mosques for noise pollution’
Headley Visit
National Population Commission
meets after 5 yr
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54 pc voting in Phase-I
Patna, October 21 According to Chief Electoral Officer Sudhir Kumar Rakesh, about 54 per cent voters exercised their right to franchise today which is much higher compared to the votes polled during the last Assembly elections in 2005. The DGP, Neelmani, said altogether 160 persons were taken into preventive custody and the police seized 48 vehicles, mostly two-wheelers, during the poll hours today. However, all of them were released after the polls were over. The second phase of polls in 45 constituencies is scheduled for October 24. The last phase of polls for the 243-member Bihar Assembly would be held on November 20 and the counting would take place on November 24.
Progress? Look at Cong states, Rahul tells Nitish
Patna, October 21 Addressing election meetings during the second leg of his Bihar campaign today, Rahul said that Nitish Kumar keeps harping about having done a lot of development work in the state. “If he really wants to assess his performance, he should not draw a comparison with what was done during 15 years of RJD rule here. Instead, I suggest he has a look at the work done by the Andhra government,” Rahul said. The Nehru-Gandhi family scion said that the UPA Government at the Centre had given about Rs 1 lakh crore to Bihar. Charging the state government with siphoning off funds meant for the poor, Rahul said the state had received maximum funds under MANREGA, Indira Awas Yojna and other schemes for providing pucca houses to people living below the poverty line.
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K’taka Crisis
Bangalore, October 21 The case was referred to a single judge by a division bench on Monday after the bench delivered a split verdict with Chief Justice JS Khehar upholding the Speaker’s order and Justice N Kumar setting it aside. Justice VG Sabhahit, who started hearing the case yesterday, today reserved his verdict after conclusion of the arguments by advocates representing the parties involved in the case. A total of 16 MLAs -- 11 from BJP and five Independents supporting the BJP government in Karnataka - were disqualified by the Speaker after they wrote a letter to Governor withdrawing support to the Yeddyurappa-led government. The step helped Yeddyurappa to win the trust vote held first on October 11 and then again on October 14. A new division bench will take up the petitions by five independent MLAs on November 2. The court had earlier said that the October 14 trust vote was subject to its verdict on the petitions by Independents. The ruling party, in a frantic drive to enhance its strength, has started poaching opposition MLAs and has already succeeded in winning over two Congress MLAs, reducing the party’s strength to 71 in the Assembly. The two Congress MLAs who have resigned from the Assembly are expected to contest from their respective seats again as BJP nominees.
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Malarial deaths grossly underestimated
New Delhi, October 21 The infection accounts for about 2,05,000 avoidable and premature deaths before the age of 70 in India. This includes 55,000 children (below five years); 30,000 from five to 14 years; and 1,20,000 from 15 to 69 years, claims a significant new study led by teams from the office of the Registrar General of India (RGI) and University of Toronto, Canada. The study was published today in the British medical journal Lancet. It says 90 per cent of the detected deaths happened in rural areas; 86 per cent happened at homes and were preceded by sudden and severe fever that was never treated by any health worker as it was not reported in a health facility. The government today “accepted the report for the positives it could contain for India’s disease control programme”. Director, General Health Services, RK Srivastav told The Tribune, “Like every scientific study, we accept this one so we can take the best from it. We will refer it to the Director, National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, for peer review. At present we can’t comment on its findings but we will see if they have anything of importance for India’s malaria control efforts. We have to see what mathematical model has been used to arrive at the conclusions.” Part of the RGI’s Million Death Study seeks to assign causes to all deaths in the Sample Registration System (SRS) areas during 13 years from 2001 to 2013. The survey has huge implications for global malaria control efforts and seeks immediate revision of WHO’s “grossly underestimated” and “misleading” malarial mortality figures. WHO claims one lakh malarial deaths worldwide, whereas the study finds over two lakh annual deaths in India alone. “The current estimate of malarial deaths in India is based on deaths among the diagnosed cases. Because malaria is easily and cheaply curable, surveys of properly diagnosed patients see misleadingly few deaths. Since national malarial programme cures nearly all the cases it treats, it detects just 1,000 malarial deaths annually and misses most others caused by malaria,” Prabhat Jha, Director, Centre for Global Health Research at the University of Toronto which conducted the study, told TNS. The alarming research finds the highest mortality of 50,000 in Orissa. The other “high-malaria states” are Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Assam. It states that while the risk of a newborn Indian dying from malaria before the age of 70 years is 1.8 per cent (18 people out of every one lakh can die), it is 12 per cent in Orissa. Asked to explain how they were sure the detected deaths were not due to causes that could be confused with malaria -- such as dengue, meningitis and typhoid -- the authors said the documented deaths did not occur in states where dengue or meningitis or typhoid were common. They however said the deaths occurred in states where the most dangerous type of malarial parasite (Plasmodium falciparum) occurred. WHO refutes study
The World Health Organisation today said the findings of the new study on malarial deaths published in the Lancet could not be accepted without further validation. It said that the study relied on verbal autopsy, which had been found to overestimate malarial deaths. Expressing serious doubt about the 2.05 lakh malaria deaths in the country that the new study claims, the WHO did accept the limitations of existing methods of estimation.
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SC offers compromise formula to BCCI, Modi
New Delhi, October 21 A Bench comprising Justices JM Panchal and Gyan Sudha Misra suggested that the existing three-member disciplinary committee should be allowed to carry on with the inquiry but they should not participate in BCCI meetings at the time of considering the inquiry report.
The three members of the disciplinary committee are Arun Jaitley, Chirayu Amin and Jyotiraditya Scindia. The SC proposal comes in the wake of Modi’s insistence on the reconstitution of the disciplinary committee by inducting retired judges of the apex court or high courts. He contended that Jaitley and Amin were instrumental in the institution of the inquiry against him and as such they were biased against him and could not conduct an impartial probe. At the same time, the BCCI also ruled out induction of non-BCCI members into the disciplinary committee as there was no provision for it in its constitution. Senior counsel Ram Jethmalani and CA Sundaram, who appeared for Modi and BCCI, respectively, told the Bench that they would have to consult their clients on the court’s proposal. The court allowed the two parties time till October 27 when the next hearing would take place. Jethmalani said the members of the disciplinary committee were also responsible for filing an FIR with the police against his client on charges that were still being probed by them. This showed their bias.
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PM leaves for East Asia on October 24
New Delhi, October 21 Apart from Japan, Singh, accompanied by a high-level delegation, will visit Malaysia and Vietnam. While his trips to Japan and Malaysia are bilateral, the PM will be in Vietnam for the eighth India-ASEAN Summit and the fifth East Asia Summit, it was officially announced here today. Singh would be in Tokyo until October 26 for the annual summit meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan. India and Japan enjoy a strategic partnership. The two countries are engaged in deepening of bilateral ties in such diverse areas as defence, business, high technology trade, science and technology and culture and the process has gained momentum in the last one decade. The two countries are looking at giving a new dimension to their ties by signing the civilian nuclear cooperation agreement they have been negotiating since June. New Delhi is quite satisfied with the discussions on the proposed nuclear deal so far and appears confident that it would be able to address any reservations Tokyo might have on nuke cooperation with India. On the second leg of his visit, the PM will pay an official visit to Malaysia from October 26-28 at the invitation of his Malaysian counterpart Dato Sri M Tun Abdul Razak, who had visited India in January. The two leaders are expected to discuss all facets of bilateral ties, as well as regional and global issues of mutual interest. India and Malaysia have also been discussing a free trade agreement (FTA), besides other proposals, to enhance trade. One major issue that may come up during the talks will be Malaysia’s decision to scrap the ‘visa on arrival’ scheme for Indians. The Malaysian side claims that it had to suspend the scheme because of its abuse by a large number of Indians. From Malaysia, the PM will travel to Hanoi in Vietnam on the third and final leg of his tour for participating in the India-ASEAN Summit and the East Asia Summit.
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US hints at easing restrictions on
hi-tech exports
New Delhi, October 21 “We will work with India to adapt and reform export-control policies so that they reflect the realities of the 21st century,” US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns told reporters at the South Block here after talks with Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao. Hinting at the easing of high-tech exports to India during Obama’s visit, Burns said the USA wanted to see India as a “partner and not as a target.” “The US has deep strategic interest in India’s rise as a major power. It is committed to support India’s emergence to reflect new international realities,” he said. Stressing that Obama’s trip would bring “tangible benefits”, Burns said the USA was looking forward to a “successful and historic visit”.
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I-T raids on Oasis Group units
Chandigarh, October 21 A team of around 200 income tax sleuths from Punjab, Delhi, Chandigarh and Madhya Pradesh swooped down on distillery units, offices, resorts and residential premises of the Oasis Group. These included Oasis Resort in Delhi, Oasis Distilleries Limited, near the Chandigarh railway station, bottling units in Ferozepur and Faridkot, Sun Shine Enterprises in Bathinda and a sales outlet in Abohar. A distillery in Madhya Pradesh’s Badnawar district on the Indore-Ratlam highway was also raided. Confirming the searches, North-West region’s director general of income tax (investigation) BL Razdan said that the operation commenced in the morning and the outcome of the search is expected to be completed only by tomorrow. “Scrutiny of the documents seized from the company’s distilleries and other enterprises was still on,” said Razdan. Raids were on till late in the evening. According to information, the Oasis Group has interests in exports, hotels and liquor. It was founded by the late Om Prakash Malhotra. His son Delip is the group’s current chairman and managing director. The group has launched a number of quality blends like Royal Arms Real Whisky, Every Day Gold Prestige Whisky, and Old Fox XXX Matured Rum.
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‘Take action against mosques for noise pollution’
Mumbai, October 21 In an editorial, the Sena’s mouthpiece “Saamna” alleged that mosques in Mumbai were violating noise pollution norms when the calls for morning prayers are made via loudspeakers. “The calls for azaan wake up the children, the sick and the elderly before dawn putting everyone to inconvenience,” Saamna said. It demanded that the government should take action against the mosques as well. “But no one bothers about the noise pollution caused by mosques,” it said. The newspaper also criticised Sumaira Abdulali of the Awaz Foundation for, what it said, ignoring the noise pollution caused by mosques. “Is she not disturbed by the blaring loudspeakers atop the mosques?,” Saamna asked. Incidentally Abdulali and the Awaz Foundation had called for regulating loudspeakers atop mosques as well. The Shiv Sena also ignored a decision by Muslim religious authorities in many parts of Mumbai who voluntarily agreed not to give the call for morning prayers via loudspeakers. However, some mosques in Muslim-dominated areas continue to use loudspeakers in the mornings. Continuing its tirade against the noise pollution laws, Saamna added that the Shiv Sena would abide by the law “but the law must be reasonable and must respect our feelings only then we will respect it.”
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Headley Visit New Delhi, October 21 Sources today confirmed that the US never mentioned Headley’s name and never gave any tip-off, which could have enabled the Indian side to trail him. Notably, Headley visited India twice after the November 2008 Mumbai attacks to scout for another terrorist strike, probably in Delhi. Though arrested by the US authorities, Indian officials were allowed to question Headley in Chicago, which blew the lid off his links with the ISI and the Lashkar-e-Toiba. It was not possible that the US did not know about Headley’s visit in the post-Mumbai attacks period and during the same time the US authorities had bugged his house and were trailing him, the sources said, adding India would raise the issue with the US. Now onwards, the Government of India is very clear that it will not wait for the US to share bits of information, rather has opted to bolster its own intelligence units.
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National Population Commission meets after 5 yr New Delhi, October 21 The meeting, which was happening after five years although it is actually supposed to take place every two years, commenced late in the evening at the PM residence and was attended by UPA chief Sonia Gandhi, leaders of all national political parties, leaders of opposition in both Houses of Parliament, some Cabinet ministers and chief ministers of problem states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar among others. After the opening remarks by Sonia Gandhi and the PM, Health Secretary Sujatha Rao gave a presentation on the issue. It was argued that there was a need to bring population control and stabilisation issues back into the national mainstream considering it had taken a back seat following the sterilisation drive that late Congress leader Sanjay Gandhi launched in 1970s. Since then, the government has found it difficult to persuade men to go in for sterilisation. Even today, 96 per cent of all sterilisations in India are being conducted on women with vasectomies (male sterilisation making up just 4 per cent). The taboo must be broken and the issue discussed threadbare, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said.
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The first phase of polling for the six-phase Assembly elections in Bihar passed off peacefully with no incident of violence reported from any of the 47 constituencies that went to the hustings on Thursday.
