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Swine
flu death toll reaches 89
Mumbai:
With the death of a 39-year old man in Mumbai, the nationwide
swine flu toll has mounted to 89. M Shaikh, who had tested
positive for the virus, had undergone treatment at MGM Hospital
in Navi Mumbai for ten days and was shifted to DY Patil
Hospital. He died on Friday night, Navi Mumbai Chief Health
Officer Deepak Paropkari said. Meanwhile, 123 fresh cases
of infection have been surfaced across the country, bringing
the total number of those who had been infected to 3,396.
Maharashtra now accounts for 47 fatalities - 25 in Pune,
ten in Mumbai, seven in Nashik, two in Aurangabad and one
each in Dhule and Latur. The deadly virus has taken 20 lives
in Karnataka, seven in Gujarat, three each in Tamil Nadu,
Chhattisgarh and Delhi, two in Uttarakhand and one each
in Kerala, Goa, Rajasthan and Haryana. According to the
Health Ministry, the virus is affecting people in the 14
to 44 age bracket more, and late reporting for treatment
was the reason for most of the deaths. Director General
of Health Services R K Srivastava, quoting a survey by the
ministry, said on Thursday that instances of death occurred
when people infected by the virus reported for proper treatment
five days or more after the symptoms surfaced.
Govt
to scrap all health regulatory bodies Top
New Delhi:
The Union Health Ministry has decided to scrap all health
regulatory bodies, including the Medical Council of India
(MCI), Dental Council of India, Pharmacy Council and the
Nursing Council. There will instead be a single regulatory
body - the National Council for Human Resources in Health,
which will oversee seven departments related to medicine,
nursing, dentistry, rehabilitation and physiotherapy, pharmacy,
public health/hospital management and allied health sciences.
However, the move needs a formal government notification.
Sources have claimed that medical education today is dictated
by bank balance and caste. The existing councils, besides
being unwieldy, have failed to provide a synergistic approach
and there is an urgent need for innovation in health-related
education. Sources said the task force report has been discussed
with the Prime Minister on August 26, 2009, which state,
"Professional councils such as the MCI/ Nursing and Pharmacy
Councils have been set up to regulate the practice of their
respective professions, including education. However, it
also says that many of these councils have drawn criticism
from all sections of society and got judicial censure on
several occasions." This action comes barely two months
after a private television channel exposed private medical
schools in Tamil Nadu charging students huge capitation
fees. The Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry has
since initiated action against the erring colleges. The
state government has issued showcause notices to both the
private medical colleges after the scam came to light.
Salman
Khan puts off US trip fearing detention Top
Washington:
Bollywood star Salman Khan who is scheduled to come to the
US early next month reportedly cancelled his visit on Friday.
According to sources Khan decision comes in the wake of
the humiliation faced by Sharukh Khan at New Jersey Airport.
Khan is scheduled to partake in a promotional event of his
upcoming movie " Wanted" besides participating in an auction
of his personal paintings to raise funds for charity. Khan's
decision was also propelled by the hard time being given
by the US Consulate in Mumbai in approving the visa of his
associates, including one of his family members, whom Salman
wanted to bring along with on the promotional trip, sources
said. Besides Khan, producer Boney Kapoor, Bollywood star
Sridevi and Prabhu Deva were also scheduled to attend the
promotional event. Following the Shahrukh Khan episode,
which attracted a lot of media publicity both in India and
the US, there is a sense of reluctance among local promoters
and organisers of Bollywood events to risk inviting stars,
sources added. Khan's decision has put a bug question mark
before the promoters and also local organisers in cities
like Chicago, Houston and Dallas who have invested a lot
of effort and money in organising these events.
An
emotional farewell to Ted Kennedy Top
Boston (Massachusetts,
US): Tens of thousands of mourners packed the sides
of beach roads, highways and city streets from Hyannis Port
to Boston on Thursday to bid an emotional farewell to Senator
Edward M Kennedy, who made a final journey from his cherished
summer refuge, over the Sagamore Bridge, past touchstones
of his life in politics. People waved American flags and
held handmade signs, watching as the senator's funeral procession
wound swiftly to its destination at the John F. Kennedy
Presidential Library and Museum, where the senator will
lie in repose through Friday afternoon. An extraordinary
three-day celebration of Kennedy's life will continue today
with a public viewing of his casket at the Kennedy library
and a private memorial service there tonight. Tomorrow,
President Obama is scheduled to deliver a eulogy at Kennedy's
funeral Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help
in Mission Hill, followed by Kennedy's burial in Arlington
National Cemetery in Virginia. Bostonians were by and large
awestruck by the grandeur and scope of the procession, as
they many of them knew Kennedy not as an exalted senator
and powerful statesman, but as an intimate figure who frequented
their neighborhoods, knew their names, and exuded an uncommon
compassion, especially in private moments, reports the Boston
Globe. Crowds surged and applauded along the route but were
heaviest in Boston, bringing parts of the city to a reverent
standstill as Kennedy's body passed. As the motorcade crept
slowly up Park Street toward the State House, a smattering
of applause became a full ovation. The procession began
at midday with a Mass for the Kennedy family in a sunroom
of their compound in Hyannis Port, overlooking Nantucket
Sound, where the senator loved to sail. Afterward, a military
honor guard rolled the senator's casket, draped in an American
flag, out of the storied home. Kennedy's relatives, led
by Vicki and his sister, Jean, stood silently as the casket
was loaded into the back of the waiting hearse. The senator's
daughter, Kara, briefly wiped away tears, but most family
members were stoic, their hands clasped in front of them.
Kennedy's two granddaughters briefly embraced before the
family dispersed into waiting limousines. Many reached out
and lay a soft hand on Kennedy's hearse as they walked by.
The motorcade took Summer Street into South Boston, passing
construction workers wearing hardhats, soldiers in fatigues,
and members of a carpenter's union holding signs. The hearse
made its last stop in a circular drive at the entrance to
the Kennedy Presidential Library. The wooden casket was
carried from the hearse by a military honor guard, who moved
in slow, synchronized steps.
Suicide
attack kills 22 security personnel in Peshawar Top
Peshawar:
At least 22 security personnel were killed and 20 others
were injured in a suicide attack which targeted one of the
residential barracks of Khasadar Force in Torkham area of
Khyber Agency late on Thursday. According to sources, the
blast occurred when a suicide bomber entered the barrack
of the Khyber Riffles and Khasadar Force and blew himself
up. The blast was so powerful that it destroyed the barracks
completely and damaged other adjacent buildings also. Sources
said the toll could rise as 16 out of the 20 injured are
said to be critical. Most of the critically injured have
been admitted to the Lady Readings Hospital in Peshawar
while some of them have been admitted in local hospitals
in Landi Kotal, The Nation reports. Officials said they
have recovered the body of the attacker and investigation
was on as no terror group has claimed the responsibility
for the attack. "The authorities have found the head of
the bomber at the site of the attack," senior administration
official, Rehan Gul Khattak said. It was the first big attack
in the region since the Tehreek-e- Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone strike earlier
this month.
India,
US, Israel involved in a 'nexus' to destabilize Pak: Former
ISI DG Top
Islamabad:
Former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director-General
Lieutenant General (retired) Hamid Gul has said that India,
US and Israel were together hatching a conspiracy against
Pakistan to destabilize it. In an interview with the Foreign
Policy Journal, Gul , who was once called 'the most dangerous
man in Pakistan', said there is a nexus between Washington,
Tel Aviv, and New Delhi which is working to create more
trouble in Pakistan. Gul said it was due to this reason
that the U.S. signed strategic nuclear deal with India.
Referring to US allegations that he had ties with several
extremist groups, he said such claims were laughable. "Well,
it's laughable I would say, because I've worked with the
CIA and I know they were never so bad as they are now. This
was 'a pity for the American people' since the CIA is supposed
to act "as the eyes and ears" of the country," Gul said.
When asked about his alleged links with the Taliban, he
said : "It is utterly baseless. I have no contact with the
Taliban, nor with Osama bin Laden and his colleagues. I
have no means, I have no way that I could support them,
that I could help them."
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