| Family
of girl who died of swine flu to sue hospital Pune:
Family members of the 14-year-old Pune girl, who died of swine flu are set
to slap civil and criminal charges against the private hospital where she was
admitted. The agitated family members of Rida Shaikh squarely blame the medical
authorities in Pune, for wrong diagnosis. Following Rida's death, the provincial
Maharashtra Government has decided to invoke the Epidemic Act in Pune and Satara
districts of the state, to check the spread of swine flu. The family lawyer said,
they wanted to teach the private hospital a lesson by initiating action against
them. "We are going to take civil action, we are going to take criminal action,
we are going to do whatever is required to be done. The family is not interested
in money but yes, we are going to teach a lesson to these private hospitals, we
are going to sue them for damages and we are going to take huge sums of money
from them. Obviously we are not interested in money, the money which we obtain,
will be given to charity," said Asif Lampwala, lawyer of Rida's family. Rida's
aunt charged the hospital of taking chances on their child. "Obviously if you
are a parent you would, want the best for your child. You would want facilities,
you would want to go to the best of doctors and you would want to go to big hospitals.
How will you know that the hospitals are taking chances on your child?" said Ayesha
Shaikh, Rida's aunt. Rida was admitted in a private hospital on July 26 with symptoms
of sore throat, running nose and headache. According to her parents, the doctors
initially diagnosed it as a case of pneumonia. Later, Rida was put on a ventilator
when her condition deteriorated. Parliament
felicitates artistes of Oscar-winning 'Slumdog Millionaire' Top New
Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker, Meira Kumar, on Monday felicitated artistes of Oscar
winning 'Slumdog Millionaire' before the movie was screened for the lawmakers.
A special screening of the movie was held for members of both the houses. "I feel
really blessed. People have been really kind to my music. And in mind it's just
the beginning, we have lot to do," said music director AR Rahman. "It is the privilege
of the parliament, when world over our artists are being honoured, celebrities
are being honoured. Parliament is the right place for all of us to acknowledge
their service and excellence," said lawmaker Oscar Fernandes. On Sunday, a special
screening of Slumdog Millionaire' was held at Rashtrapati Bhavan for President
Pratibha Patil. Rahman and Pookutty won three Oscars for India as the "Slumdog
Millionaire" juggernaut swept the annual Hollywood awards. "Slumdog Millionaire",
based on Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup's novel "Q & A", came to the 81st Academy
Awards ceremony with 10 nominations and failed to win only in the Sound Editing
category. Sensex
touches 14 month high in early trade Top Mumbai:
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) benchmark Sensex rose to a 14-month high in early
trade on Tuesday. The Sensex was trading 86 points low at 15,837 in early trade.
The Nifty was 30 points down at 4700. However, both the Sensex and the Nifty then
tanked 0.37 and 0.47 per cent, respectively. The top gainers in the opening trade
were Hindalco, Sterlite and Tata Motors. Tata Power, ITC and Bharti Airtel were
top losers. PCB
awaits approval from India, Pak to play in 2011 World Cup Top Lahore:
The Pakistan Cricket Board is still awaiting assurances from New Delhi and a green
signal from Islamabad for its participation in the 2011 World Cup in India. Pakistan,
which as part of the organizing committee of the World Cup, was stripped off as
the host of 14 matches, but its status just as a host remained after attack on
Sri Lanka team. Pakistan is also assured of getting 10.5 million dollars from
the ICC plus the gate revenues. The PCB carries every hope of green signal from
the government to play matches in India has also sorted assurances from the BCCI
and the ICC, which are still lying pending. The PCB particularly apart for a green
pasture for the team wanted easy visa access for Pakistani fans who wanted to
see their team play in India. However, all the three stakeholders, PCB, BCCI and
the ICC, especially the latter two are waiting to see the relations between the
two neighbouring governments get normal as quickly as possible to get things going.
"The BCCI has done everything to humiliate the PCB on the issue of shifting the
14 World Cup matches originally allotted to Pakistan. Now, the PCB has sought
an assurance that the Indian Government would grant visas and ensure security
for its players and fans," The Nation quoted sources, as saying. "I don't foresee
a situation where Pakistan's league matches are going to be scheduled only in
Sri Lanka or Bangladesh. After all, what if the team makes the knockout stage?
"Will the World Cup then go ahead without Pakistan? Remember, besides the final,
one semi-final and one quarter final have been given to India," the paper quoted
an unnamed PCB official, as saying. UN
team to grill Musharraf next month over Benazir's death Top Islamabad:
A UN Commission inquiring into the assassination of former Pakistan premier
Benazir Bhutto will question former president Pervez Musharraf next month contrary
to the mixed signals coming from the ruling PPP-led Government. The inquiry commission,
it appears, is clear that it will be interviewing Musharraf, who is currently
residing in London. According to sources close to the UN Commission, the interview
may be conducted some time in September, most likely in London. The three-member
UN commission will definitely interview Musharraf in person, The News quoted sources,
as saying. The commission, which will go by its own mandate, is known to believe
that its work will be incomplete without interviewing a principal, important and
perhaps the most authoritative personality in Pakistan when the tragic and bloody
killing of Benazir took place. The commission, headed by Chile's Permanent Representative
to the UN and former Chilean Deputy Foreign Minister, Ambassador Heraldo Munoz,
is known to be quite determined about conducting the inquiry in a credible manner.
The other two members of the commission are: Marzuki Darusman, a former attorney-general
of Indonesia and Peter Fitzgerald, a veteran of the Irish National Police. Interviewing
Musharraf, observers believe, should not be a problem since the mandate of the
commission does include interviews with key players of the Musharraf era. The
commission, which commenced its six-month mandate on July 1, 2009, visited Pakistan
in mid July. The commission will submit a report to the UN secretary-general within
six months of its actual starting of work. He will then share the report with
Government of Pakistan and submit it to the Security Council for information.
Pak
Christians accuse police of failing to protect them Top Washington:
Pakistani authorities have arrested 100 people and offered 6,000 dollars in
compensation to Christian families in an effort to reassure the country's minority
that they will be protected by the law, after an anti-Christian riot left eight
people dead in the town of Gojra over the weekend. The response of authorities
on Monday failed to dampen accusations from Christians that the police neglected
to protect them. The attackers in Punjab Province also burned homes to the ground,
The Christian Science Monitor reports. It was the third attack on Pakistani Christians
in the past month, a trend that observers attribute to a rise in extremism and
suspicions that local Christians are aligned with the US-led wars in Afghanistan
and Iraq. Sunni Islamic militants in Pakistan target other minority groups as
well, including Shiites and Ahmadis, groups they consider heretics. According
to Minority Rights Group International, a UK-based NGO, Pakistan had the world's
highest increase of threats against minorities last year and was ranked the seventh
most dangerous country for minorities overall. "People are saying 'We hate Pakistan
and we want to leave' - it's truly a terrible thing for community relations,"
says Joseph Francis, chairman of the Christian Nationalist Party. According to
Pakistani officials the attacking mob was incited by the banned Islamist group
Sipah-e-Sahaba, who claimed that Christians had desecrated the Quran. Punjab Law
Minister Rana Sanaullah said a government investigation showed that allegation
to be baseless. According to Iqbal Haider, co-chairperson of the HRCP, the attacks
are an indication of the unchecked growth of religious extremism. According to
Joseph, Muslim mob in Gojra had been incited with hate-speech that called Christians
"America's dogs." "Since 9/11, we've felt a lot more at risk. Whenever we have
large gatherings or processions, we have to ask for police protection," he says.
Unrepentant
Taslima says she will never apologise like Rushdie Top London:
Controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, the only female writer with
a fatwa on her head, has refused to apologise for infuriating fundamentalists
ahead of a secret visit to beg Indian authorities to let her return. Taslima,
who is exiled from Bangladesh, had a fatwa issued against her in 1993 because
one of her books, Shame, criticised Islamic texts that are used to oppress women.
She spoke out ahead of a visit to India later this month to plead with the authorities
to allow her to stay. Taslima has briefly returned three times to India after
she was thrown out on March 8, 2008, but has always been denied permission to
live there beyond a stipulated number of days. She said that Salman Rushdie, to
whom she is often compared, had apologised for his comments made in The Satanic
Verses, but she was not prepared to budge. "He had even compromised to the extent
of writing that he was willing to be a born-again Muslim," Scotsman quoted her,
as saying. "I stand by every word that I have said against fundamentalists. The
question of an apology does not arise even if it is a quid pro quo of my getting
a chance to live in either India or Bangladesh," Taslima said. "Rushdie stays
in the West because he is a westerner. I am not. Rushdie has been in England since
he was nothing but a child. He writes in one of the western languages. "For me,
it is a different case altogether. I cannot relate to the West. I write in my
mother tongue, Bengali, and I wish to return to my motherland or India, whichever
choice is given to me. But I am being forcefully kept out of India and Bangladesh.
Rushdie has never been forced to leave his country," she added. Taslima says that
she is unfairly discriminated against by both Delhi and Dhaka. Delhi had earlier
given her a permanent residency permit, but is fighting shy of allowing her to
stay anywhere after huge riots broke out in November 2007 in Kolkata. She said:
"I know the fatwas are still hovering over me. But if only I can go and live in
Bangladesh or India with government permission, I shall fight every injustice
against me. I am willing to risk that." |
