| Woman
dies of swine flu in Mumbai; 14 new cases in Delhi Mumbai:
A middle-aged Mumbai woman reportedly died of H1N1 flu infection on Saturday at
the Kasturba Gandhi hospital here, registering second death due to Swine Flu in
the country, while in Delhi 14 more cases were tested positive on Saturday. Fifty
three-year-old Famida Panwala's medical condition reportedly worsened on Friday
night after which she was immediately shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
ward of the Kasturba Gandhi hospital. She was admitted to Leelavati hospital initially
and was shifted only Friday night at 11.00 p.m to Kasturba Gandhi hospital. "The
cause of the death is not yet confirmed, as the patient was suffering from other
complications as well," said Municipal Commissioner Jairaj Phatak. She was stated
to suffering from diabetes and hypertension when she was admitted to the hospital.
The patient was already critical before tests were conducted, stated Brihanmumbai
Municipal Corporation (BMC). On August 3, first death due to H1N1 flu infection
was reported after a 14-year-old-girl from Pune succumbed to the deadly influenza. New
Delhi: At least fourteen more people were reported to have tested positive
for swine flu in the national capital on Saturday, pushing the total number of
people afflicted with the H1N1 virus to 215 here. Confirmed positive cases included
another case from the Sanskriti School, which shut down on Friday. Meanwhile,
State Chief Minister Shiela Dixit urged that there was no need to panic. "The
government, and private hospitals are now conducting special tests for swine flu.
More testing centres are being readied. There were centres already at RML (Ram
Manohar Lohia hospital), LNJP (Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Hospital) but now more are
being readied," said Dixit. According to a senior Health Ministry official of
Delhi Government, apart from the 14 confirmed cases, 16 suspected patients of
swine flu were admitted in hospitals across the city. Meanwhile, JP Singh, Principal
Health Secretary of Delhi, has assured people that rigorous measures were being
taken to deal with the pandemic. He also said that contact tracing was being conducted
so as to identify all those who have come in contact with swine flu victims and
hence could have been infected. Coast
Guard detains suspicious North Korean ship in Andamans Top Portblair:
The Indian Coast Guard detained a suspicious North Korean ship with 39 crew members
on board late on Friday in the Indian Ocean near Andaman and Nicobar islands.
Sources said the ship MV Musen, had dropped anchor off Andaman and Nicobar coast
without taking permission from the Indian authorities. The officials of the Integrated
Command and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) are investigating the ship and all its
crewmembers. The Indian officials are facing difficulty in communicating with
the crew because of the language problem, sources said. The ship, which had embarked
on its journey from Thailand on July 27 with 1,600 tonnes of sugar to be shipped
off to Iraq, stopped at Singapore without permission and then moved ahead without
proper passport stamping done. On Friday helicopters of the Coast Guard identified
the ship in Indian waters. The ship did not respond to the signals, following
which the Coast Guard ships chased the North Korean vessel and made it obey its
orders. Earlier, the ship dropped anchor at Hut Bay without any permission. Even
the logbook of the vessel was found to be vague, sources said. Speaking to media
Kripa Nautiyal, Deputy Inspector General of the Coast Guard, at Andaman said,
"There is language problem which is delaying the investigations. The vessel may
be short of documents that's why they tried to flee the spot." "We are in touch
with ship's agents in India and all people concerned with the vessel are being
contacted. We are in possession of the ship and are still probing the ship," DIG
Nautiyal added. North Korea has been accused of transporting nuclear components
in the past as well to Pakistan and Iran . Recently, Myanmar also reported to
be involved in its nuclear plans the situation has become more alarming. New
Delhi: India on Saturday said that the North Korean cargo ship, which illegally
entered its territorial waters, had "no business" to be there even as its captain
today claim to have done so following some mechanical problems. Navy chief Admiral
Sureesh Mehta in the national capital said that M V San "had no business" to be
in Indian waters and that the maritime security agencies had fears that it could
be carrying nuclear components. "The fact is that the ship had no business to
be there," Mehta said while adding "that (it was carrying nuclear components)
was our apprehension also. At the moment, it is carrying genuine merchandise."
Meanwhile, Coast Guard Andaman and Nicobar Region Commander K R Nautiyal said
that the investigation process is still underway. "We are in the process of investigation.
Expert agencies, including Korean interpreters, are likely to come to facilitate
better communication, because they (crew members) are not very good in English,"
said Commander K R Nautiyal. The Indian Coast Guard detained a suspicious North
Korean ship with 39 crewmembers on board late on Friday in the Indian Ocean. Sources
said the ship MV Musen, had dropped anchor off Andaman and Nicobar coast without
taking permission from Indian authorities. Sukhbir
Singh Badal to be sworn in again as Deputy Chief Minister Top Chandigarh:
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal will be sworn in as
Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab on Monday. Badal registered a thumping victory
from Jalalabad constituency in Ferozpur district, as his party swept all three
seats in a by election to the Punjab Assembly. Badal defeated his nearest rival
former Minister Hans Raj Joshan of Congress by over 80,000 votes. Earlier, Badal
had resigned from the post of Punjab 's Deputy Chief Minister, after he failed
to make it to the Legislature Assembly in the prescribed six-month duration. Badal
was sworn-in as MLA alongwith two other newly elected MLAs. Eight
killed in cloudburst in Pithoragarh Top Pithoragarh
(Uttarakhand): At least eight people were killed and 24 others trapped in
debris after a cloudburst in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district on Saturday. According
to official sources, the cloudburst washed away eight houses in the Mushiyari
block. The cloudburst followed heavy rains in Lar and Jhegla villages. Eight bodies
have been recovered. Rescue operation was hampered due to the rocky terrain. President
inaugurates Armed Forces Tribunal Top New
Delhi: Marking it as an important milestone in the history of the Armed Forces
in India, President Pratibha Patil today inaugurated the long-awaited Armed Forces
Tribunal (AFT). "The establishment of the Armed Forces Tribunal an exclusive court
for the members of the Army, Navy and the Air Force will enhance their confidence
and trust levels in the system of dispensation of justice in relation to their
service matters," said President Patil. At present, about 9,000 such cases are
pending before various courts across the country, most of them with the high courts.
Apart from the writ jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and High Courts, she said
that the Tribunal would have exclusive jurisdiction in nearly all issues relating
to the conditions of their service ranging from tenure to seniority, promotion
and pension benefits. With the inauguration of the Tribunal, aggrieved armed forces
personnel will now be able to appeal against sentences handed down by the court-martial.
"Tribunal will also act as the appellate forum for the Armed Forces personnel
against verdicts of court-martial. This meets a prime demand of the forces," she
added. The President said that the Tribunal will conduct its work in a manner,
which ensures that cases are handled expeditiously, and proceedings are completed
as soon as possible. "The list of cases alongwith their date of hearing should
be put online. There should be predictability in court hearings and adjournments
granted only in very exceptional circumstances. It should be particularly careful
in avoiding the build up of backlogs," she said. Consisting of both judicial and
administrative members, the President said: "It is in a position to dispense justice
by combining legal knowledge with a complete input of the ground realities in
which the Armed Forces operate." "This Tribunal will set standards of reference
even for other courts in terms of ethics, systematic working methodology and equitable
justice," the President added. Set up by an Act of Parliament in December, 2007,
the AFT will have its Principal Bench in New Delhi and eight regional benches
spread across the country. The Tribunal will have 15 courts in all, - three each
in New Delhi, Chandigarh and Lucknow and one each in Jaipur, Mumbai, Kolkata,
Guwahati, Chennai and Kochi. India
relaunches auction of areas for oil and natural gas exploration Top Mumbai:
India on Saturday relaunched its largest ever auction of oil and gas exploration
areas, aiming to attract USD 3 to 4 billion investment towards boosting energy
security. Union Minister for Petroleum Murli Deora kick-started the offer of over
70 oil and gas exploration areas in the 8th edition of New Exploration Licensing
Policy (NELP) and 10 coal bed methane (CBM) blocks with the first roadshow here.
Deora said, "NELP can be portrayed as India's success story in our endeavour to
achieve self-sufficiency in hydrocarbons." He added that, under NELP, over 70
oil and gas discoveries have already been made in 21 exploration blocks by accretion
of in place hydrocarbon reserves of more than 600 million tonnes of oil equivalent.
India is offering 24 deep-sea blocks, 28 shallow water blocks and 18 onland blocks
for bidding in NELP-VIII hoping to attract USD 3 billion investments in exploration.
With the commencement of natural gas production in Krishna Godavari Basin from
April 2010, the gas production in the country would be doubled, and in monetary
terms it would be about USD 42 billion, Deora said. A revised timetable has been
drawn after the Finance Ministry extended the 7-year income-tax holiday to natural
gas production. Petroleum Ministry is planning to hold road shows in Houston on
August 20 and 21, Calgary on August 24 and 25, London on September 8 and 9, Perth
on September 22 and 23, and in Brisbane on September 24 and 25. Deora informed
that the data centres have been set up at oil regulator Director General of Hydrocarbons's
office in Noida, London, Calgary, Houston and Perth. Indian being Asia's third-largest
energy consumer is aiming to cut oil imports and has till now awarded 203 blocks
in the previous seven rounds with over USD 11 billion committed as exploration
spend. Since its advent in 1999, NELP has made 68 oil and gas discoveries in Cambay
onland, North East Coast and Krishna Godavari deep-water areas totaling over 600
million tonnes of reserves. No
security threat to World Badminton Championships Top New
Delhi: Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Saturday said that the World Badminton
Championships will take place in complete security and there was no need to have
any apprehensions. "The alert in Hyderabad was based on information shared with
the state police in a routine manner. There is no specific information that points
to any imminent threat to the championship in Hyderabad. Nevertheless, the state
police has taken all measures necessary to fully secure the tournament and ensure
the safety of every player," he said. Earlier in the day, the Andhra Pradesh police
said that there is no specific threat to the championships, which will be held
at G.M.C.Balayogi Stadium from August 10 to 16. According to a police official,
they did not have any specific report of terror threat in any part of the city.
According to sources, Intelligence Bureau sleuths visited the stadium to take
stock of the situation. The championships has been enveloped in a security blanket,
following the Intelligence Bureau's alert on possible terror strike. The IB informed
the state police that terror elements would attempt to strike at international
players as they did against Sri Lankan cricketers in Pakistan recently. Over 200
players from all over the world and their support staff have already arrived in
Hyderabad. Security around the venue has been beefed up by deploying special teams
with metal detectors and sniffer dogs at various points. Round the clock armed
escort has been provided to all the players participating in the tournament, sources
said. |
