|
|
|
|
|
Sushma sets ball rolling for Chinese Prez visit
Ebola threat: Centre sets up 24-hr emergency helpline
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
CBI probes IDBI loan to Kingfisher Airlines
Jaswant Singh continues to be critical
Modi gets clean chit in poll code violation case
Uddhav-centric campaign
unveiled by Shiv Sena
Minor falls in dahi handi practice, dies
Poachers turn Kaziranga park a killing field
Telangana, Centre on collision course
Mars orbiter all set to make history on September 24
Maoist-TPC encounter in J’khand, 15 dead
|
|
Sushma sets ball rolling for Chinese Prez visit
New Delhi, August 9 The meeting between them took place at Nay Pyi Taw, the capital of Myanmar, on the margins of the ASEAN-related engagements. The two ministers are also understood to have discussed the situation along the Line of Actual control (LAC) and emphasised the need for maintaining peace and tranquillity along the border. This was the second meeting between Swaraj and Wang, who had
come to India in early
June to establish contact
with the Narendra Modi government. Swaraj also held talks with her Australian counterpart Julie Bishop during which the much-anticipated civil nuclear deal between the two countries figured prominently, official sources said. Indications are that the two countries have satisfactorily completed negotiations over the agreement. The two sides are looking at the possibility of signing it when Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott visits India early next month. The accord will pave the way for uranium imports from Australia, making it one of India’s top strategic partners. Another significant meeting that Swaraj had was with Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird. The two ministers discussed energy cooperation between the two nations. India and Canada had signed a civil nuclear agreement in June 2010.
5-year plan to deepen relations with ASEAN
Nay Pyi Taw: Giving a fresh impetus to its ties with ASEAN, India on Saturday said it would soon draft a five-year action plan starting 2016 for enhancing connectivity and cooperation in diverse areas and hoped the long-delayed free trade pact on services and investment will be signed later this month. In her address at the 12th
India-ASEAN meeting here, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said India wanted to take collaboration with the grouping to “new heights”.
|
|
|
Ebola threat: Centre sets up 24-hr emergency helpline
New Delhi, August 9 All infected patients in the national capital will be treated at Ram Manohar Lohia hospital, a health ministry statement said. “There is no cause for panic. We have put in operation the most advanced surveillance and tracking systems,” he said in a statement. The 24-hour ‘Emergency Operation Centre’ will be functional from Saturday and its numbers are 011-23061469, 3205 and 1302, the ministry said. A mechanism has been worked out in consultation with the Civil Aviation and Home Ministries for the collation of information on travellers to India through the affected countries. Flight passengers will be made to mandatorily declare their movement in the recent past through health cards and their addresses in India. The WHO today declared the current EVD outbreak as the “most complex outbreak leading to public health emergency,” calling for global health alert in all countries. The four countries affected are all in western Africa- Guinea (393 deaths), Sierra Leone (286 deaths) and Liberia (282 deaths) . The National Institute of Virology, Pune, and National Centre for Disease Control in Delhi are prepared to test samples for diagnosis. “In addition, the estimated 47,000 Indians in the affected countries are being contacted by the Indian missions and supplied all didactic material so as to create awareness about prevention and self-reporting measures,” it said. — PTI
M’rashtra to detect infected passengers
Mumbai: The Maharashtra Government has deployed two ambulances available with the state emergency medical services at the city’s international airport to shift suspected Ebola-affected passengers. The Centre has asked the health division to collect information with help of the Airport Health Officer of the airport concerned about the list of suspected passengers.
|
|
|
CBI probes IDBI loan to Kingfisher Airlines
New Delhi/Mumbai, August 9 CBI sources said the bank failed to provide convincing answers on reasons to extend the loan to the crisis-ridden company. “It was first exposure to the bank. There was no need for the bank to take the exposure outside the consortium when already other loans were getting stressed,” a senior CBI official probing the matter said. The chairman of IDBI Bank could not be reached immediately for comments on the allegations. Sources said senior officials of the management of Kingfisher Airlines, part of the UB Group promoted by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, and IDBI Bank would be examined soon for explaining the reasons for extending the loan to the airlines ignoring its own internal report which has warned against such a move. The debt-laden airlines has stopped operations since October 2012. “We have not received any communication and are unaware of any such inquiry,” Prakash
Mirpuri, vice-president, Corporate Communications of the UB Group, said. CBI sources said the agency registered 27 inquiries and cases with regards to bad loans given by Public Sector Banks to various corporates, the latest being two cases registered against Bhushan Steel and Prakash Industries where CMD of Syndicate Bank was allegedly bribed by these companies. The consortium of 17 banks had an outstanding of over Rs 7,000 crore on loans from Kingfisher with State Bank of India having the highest exposure of Rs 1,600 crore. Punjab National Bank has outstanding dues of Rs 800 crore to Kingfisher, Bank of India Rs 650 crore and Bank of Baroda Rs 550
crore. — PTI
|
|
|
Jaswant Singh continues to be critical
New Delhi, August 9 He is under constant monitoring by a team of neurosurgeons and critical care experts at the hospital, an update on his condition issued by the Defence Ministry said today. His vital parameters are stable but he continues to be in coma, it said. Singh, a former Defence Minister, was brought to the hospital at around 1 am on Friday “with an injury to his head,” according to a statement by the ministry. Examination at the hospital showed him to be in coma, it said. The senior politician was found unconscious at his home in the capital and was rushed by his family to the hospital, where he was operated upon. Former PM Manmohan Singh visited the hospital today; senior BJP leader LK Advani and former party president Rajnath Singh had visited it yesterday. — Agencies
|
|
|
Modi gets clean chit in poll code violation case
Ahmedabad, August 9 “We have filed a closure summary report before the metropolitan court number 11 here today,” a senior officer of the Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) said. The closure summary, maintaining that no case was made out against Modi, was filed in the court of Metropolitan Magistrate MH Patel. To a question whether Modi has been given a clean chit in the case that was filed on the instructions of the Election Commission, he replied in the affirmative. An FIR was registered against Modi, who was then the Gujarat Chief Minister, following a directive from the poll panel for allegedly violating provisions of the Representation of People Act on April 30 this year. Modi had triggered a controversy when he addressed a press conference immediately after casting his vote at a school in Ranip area of Ahmedabad, part of party veteran LK Advani’s Gandhinagar seat, where he prominently displayed the BJP’s election symbol lotus. Accusing him of violating the election law, the Congress party had filed a complaint with the EC. The poll panel’s order directing lodging of a complaint/FIR said Modi had violated the provisions of Sections 126 (1)(a) and 126 (l)(b) of Representation of People Act, 1951. The maximum punishment under these provisions of RPA is up to two years imprisonment. The EC order had said, “The commission is of the view that by holding that meeting and also by addressing the same today when the polling is going on in the entire state of Gujarat and in different parts of the country, Narendra Modi has violated the provisions of Sections 126 (1)(a) and 126 (l)(b) of RP Act 1951. “Therefore, the commission directs ... that complaint/ FIR as the case may be, should be filed against Narendra Modi and all others who were involved in the convening and holding of the said meeting,” the EC order had said. Section 126 (1) (a) of RP Act prohibits holding of public meetings during period of 48 hours ending with the hour fixed for conclusion of poll. Modi is also facing a separate case in connection with the incident wherein an Aam Aadmi Party worker has said that the police had filed an incomplete FIR in the case. Nishant Verma, in his complaint to the Ahmedabad (rural) court, has demanded that Modi be additionally charged under section 130 of RPA and IPC Sections 114, 171 (c) and (f). — PTI
The FIR
An FIR was registered against Modi, who was then the Gujarat Chief Minister, following a directive from the Election Commission for allegedly violating provisions of the Representation of People's Act on April 30 this year. Modi had triggered a controversy when he addressed a press conference immediately after casting his vote at a school in Ranip area of Ahmedabad, where he prominently displayed the BJP's election symbol lotus.
|
|
Uddhav-centric campaign
unveiled by Shiv Sena
Mumbai, August 9 Playing on the initials of the Shiv Sena leader, the campaign is titled “UTha Maharashtra” (Wake up, Maharashtra). The ad, crafted on the lines of the BJP’s campaign for Narendra Modi ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, features only Uddhav Thackeray and has no mention of the BJP. “We are not saying Uddhav Thackeray is the chief ministerial candidate of the NDA, though we want our allies to support him,” party leader Subash Desai said. The saffron-coloured poster featuring Thackeray and the party symbol —- the bow and arrow —- was released on Friday along with the Sena’s vision document for Maharashtra. The BJP is waiting and watching to see how the Shiv Sena’s advertising campaign pans out. Officially, the party has stated that the Chief Minister of Maharashtra will be chosen from the largest party, if the NDA wins the Assembly elections. While the Shiv Sena has staked claims for 171 of the 288 Assembly seats, the BJP riding high on the Modi wave wants the seats to be divided equally. Four smaller parties that are part of the alliance in Maharashtra have are also flexing their muscles and demanding several seats that have been held by the two saffron allies for more than two decades. The most vociferous demand has been made by the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, which has demanded 38 seats including that of Baramati and Karad, the home bases of NCP boss Sharad Pawar and Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, respectively.
UTha Maharashtra
* Playing on the initials of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, the campaign is titled “UTha Maharashtra” (Wake up, Maharashtra) *
It is crafted on the lines of the BJP’s campaign for Narendra Modi (NaMo) ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, but has no mention of the BJP.
|
|||||
|
Minor falls in dahi handi practice, dies
Mumbai, August 9 The police said Kiran Talekar, a student of Class X, was yesterday practising with a group of boys for the festival which falls later this month. He fell from the fifth tier of the human pyramid when it crumbled and injured his head and chest. Talekar was rushed to a hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries today, the police said. The Bombay High Court had last month condemned the participation of children as young as six or seven who climb the highest of human pyramids. Despite a ban on the participation of minors in human pyramids, organisers are going ahead with practice sessions involving children in the city. Several parties, including the Shiv Sena, demanded that the Maharashtra Chief Minister bring in an ordinance overturning the ban and even threatened to launch an agitation. However, some politicians, including BJP MP from Mumbai Poonam Mahajan-Rao, were in favour of the ban and demanded that the participation of children below 12 years be banned. Dahi handi celebrations are major events in Maharashtra with politicians and social organisations sponsoring prize money worth lakhs of rupees. Govindas, as the participants are known, risk life and limb to form pyramids that go up to seven or even eight tiers for the prize money. The topmost two or three tiers are made mainly of young children.
Govt vs organisers
* Despite a ban on the participation of minors in human pyramids, organisers are going ahead with practice sessions involving children in Mumbai *
Several parties, including the Shiv Sena, demanded that the Maharashtra Chief Minister bring in an ordinance overturning the ban and even threatened to launch an agitation *
The Bombay High Court had last month condemned the participation of children in human pyramids.
|
|||||
|
Poachers turn Kaziranga park a killing field
Guwahati, August 9 State Environment and Forest Minister Rakibul Hussain said since 2001 to August 3, 2014, a total of 126 rhinos were killed by poachers only in the Kaziranga National Park (KNP), a UNESCO world heritage site. At least 31 rhinos were killed in Orang National Park, 14 in Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, seven in Manas National Park, another UNESCO world heritage site, and 15 in other forest divisions. According to official figures, the highest number of incidents of poaching took place in 2013 when 41 rhinos were poached, including 27 at the KNP, five in Manas Park, three in Orang, two in Pobitora and four in other divisions. Twenty-one rhinos have been killed in the KNP and one at Pobitora by poachers so far this year. On anti-poaching steps, the minister said an anti-rhino poaching task force had been formed in the state, while forest personnel in the state were provided with sophisticated weapons. Law provisions have been amended to hand out stringent punishment to rhino poachers so that it could become a deterrent. For ensuring better wildlife policing, the vulnerable KNP is being divided into four separate forest divisions. The state government has also approached the Centre seeking permission for using unmanned aerial surveillance vehicles, besides putting into use night-vision equipment as part of the anti-poaching measures. Besides, elevated zones have been created at the parks so that rhinos do not fall victim to poachers during floods and at places electronic fences have been erected, he added. In the KNP, 68 poachers were nabbed for killing rhinos in 2013 and so far in 2014, at least 22 have been arrested. In 2013, five poachers were gunned down. In the first seven months of 2014, at least 13 were killed. Meanwhile, a Lok Sabha MP from the state, Gaurav Gogoi (Congress), has raised the matter of unabated rhino poaching in the Kaziranga National Park in Parliament. He pointed out that rhinos are poached for the prized horn. One gram of rhino horn powder fetches up to Rs 16,500 in markets in Vietnam. The MP, therefore, also requested the Ministry of External Affairs to ask the Government of Vietnam to ban all products made of rhino horn to curb the poaching elsewhere, including Assam.
126 rhinos killed since 2001
* Since 2001 to date, 126 rhinos have been killed by poachers only in the Kaziranga National Park (KNP), a UNESCO world heritage site *
The highest poaching incidents took place in 2013 when 41 rhinos were poached, including 27 at the KNP *
In the KNP, 68 poachers were nabbed in 2013 and so far in 2014, at least 22 have been arrested
|
|||||
|
Telangana, Centre on collision course
Hyderabad, August 9 Section 8 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, vests the Governor of Telangana with a special responsibility to protect the residents of the common capital of Hyderabad. The powers extend to maintenance of law and order, internal security, security of vital installations and management and allocation of government buildings. — PTI
|
|||||
|
Mars orbiter all set to make history on September 24
Bangalore, August 9 Mariner 9 of NASA was the first spacecraft to orbit the Mars. That was back in 1971. But ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) is slated to be the first space agency in the world to pull off a successful Mars mission in its first attempt. The spacecraft (weighing 1,337 kg at lift off) has been travelling in an exemplary manner since its launch from Sriharikota near Chennai on November 5 last year. It has been so stable while travelling in the deep space that a trajectory correction manoeuvre (TCM), slated for August, has been given a go by. The spacecraft is supposed to have a mission life of six months but reduction in the number of TCMs means less consumption of fuel resulting in corresponding increase in the mission life of MOM (since the spacecraft will have more fuel at its disposal). MOM was orginally slated to undergo four TCMs. Two of these were carried out in December and June, respectively, while the one slated for August was considered not required. The last TCM is slated to take place in September shortly before the spacecraft is inserted in the Martian orbit. MOM has completed more than 80 per cent of its long journey. ISRO officials, however, are as yet not ready to say whether the drop in the number of TCMs will enhance the mission life of MOM. “It all depends on the quantum of the TCMs. May be only one TCM will be required in future but it will be a big one consuming a lot of fuel,” V Kesava Raju, mission director of MOM, told the TNS. While the thrusters aboard the spacecraft were fired for a duration of 40.5 seconds for the first TCM in December, these were fired for 16 seconds only for the second TCM. When the spacecraft will reach nearest point of Mars (Periapsis), it will be manoeuvred into an elliptical orbit around Mars by firing the engine aboard the spacecraft. The spacecraft will then move around the Mars in an orbit with Periapsis of 366 km and Apoapsis (farthest point from Mars) of about 80,000 km.
ISRO eyes first-attempt feat
* ISRO is slated to become the first space agency in the world to pull off a successful Mars mission in its first attempt *
The spacecraft has been travelling in an exemplary manner to reach the Martian orbit since its launch from Sriharikota near Chennai on November 5 last year *
It has been so stable while travelling in the deep space that a trajectory correction manoeuvre (TCM), slated for August, has been given a go by *
The last TCM is slated to take place in September shortly before the spacecraft is inserted into the Martian orbit.
|
|||||
|
Maoist-TPC encounter in J’khand, 15 dead
Medininagar, August 9 However, no body was recovered and a search operation is on, they said. “People of Kouriya village informed us that 15 or 16 TPC naxalites were killed by the Maoists after an exchange of gunfire. They said all bodies were carried away by other TPC ultras who also took away the weapons of the dead,” Superintendent of police of neighbouring Latehar district, Michael S Raj said. Raj is leading the search operation for bodies as Palamau SP YS Ramesh is on leave. — PTI
|
|||||
|
Rain watch
* The outlook for the second half of the four-month monsoon has improved after some above-average rainfall that is also expected to spill over into next week, weather experts said. * Various parts of Rajasthan, mainly falling in northern region, were lashed by rains since Friday. * Plight of the flood-hit in Odisha was compounded by fresh rains triggered by low pressure though water level receded slowly after claiming 37 lives and affecting 24.28 lakh people, Relief Department officials said.
|
|||||
Lucknow Ahmedabad Mumbai
Mumbai Nashik
Kolkata Kolkata
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
New Delhi/Mumbai, August 9
A 14-year-old boy died after he fell from a human pyramid while practising for dahi handi celebrations in Navi Mumbai on Saturday.
The police said Kiran Talekar, a student of Class X, was yesterday practising with a group of boys for the festival which falls later this month.
Guwahati, August 9
Health minister Harsh Vardhan, however, said there was no reported case in India and one traveller, who landed in New Delhi on July 20 and was confirmed by the WHO as a case of EVD, was found to be healthy. He had been traced to Dwarka in south-west Delhi.
