New Delhi, August 21: Failed monsoon rains this year have created a critical situation for rural livelihood, drinking water and crops, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said on Friday.
The government expects early sowing of winter-sown crops over a larger area this year to offset some of the crop loss, but the farm situation remains disturbing, Pawar told a conference of state farm ministers.
New Delhi, August 21: Pitching for raising foreign direct investment limit to 49 per cent in the defence sector, a study on India’s military exports has said global players are reluctant to fund the industry in the capital-intensive sector due to lack of incentives.
New Delhi, August 21: The government has given permission to 20 private laboratories to conduct swine flu tests, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad announced on Friday and reiterated that there was no need to panic as the spread of the virus was being controlled.
“We have increased government testing laboratories from 18 to 23 and have also allowed 20 private laboratories to conduct swine flu testing,” Azad told reporters.
He did not give any details, only saying: “Health ministry will verify and allow more players to do the job provided they match the quality.”
Chennai, August 21: Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK-Congress combine Friday took early leads in all five constituencies where by-elections had been held Aug 18.
Initial results released by the state election commission showed DMK candidates in the lead at Bargur, Cumbum and Illayangudi, while Congress candidates were in the lead at Tondamuthur and Srivaikundam.
New Delhi, August 21: Swine flu claimed its second victim in Tamil Nadu when a 47-year-old man succumbed to the virus, raising the countrywide toll to 45 even as Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today accused state governments of not doing enough to contain the pandemic.
As many as 159 fresh flu cases were reported from various states till yesterday, taking the total number of those afflicted by the disease to 2,401, a Health Ministry official said.
New Delhi, August 21: Facing a peculiar situation of exhausting 10-digit mobile numbers, C-DOT, a research and development organisation of the telecom sector, is studying if the Unique Identity Number could be converted into mobile number.
The identity number could be the one to be issued by the government for which an UID Authority has been set up, or any other like driving licence number.
The situation has arisen in the wake of phenomenal growth in the mobile telephony with over 1 crore subscribers being added every month.
New Delhi, August 21: India has pledged assistance of Rs.20 billion to Nepal for infrastructure projects, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told visiting Nepali Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal.
The Nepali prime minister arrived Monday on a five-day visit to India – his first to the country since assuming office three months ago. He met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday and held detailed discussions with him.
Thursday morning, Finance Minister Mukherjee called on Nepal at his suite in Delhi’s Oberoi Hotel.
New Delhi, August 21: Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Friday said she would visit India in a bid to soothe concerns over attacks on its students and dishonest education providers.
Gillard recently launched a sweeping review of Australia’s lucrative international education sector in response to a series of violent assaults on Indian students and claims they were being targeted in study scams.
Chandigarh, August 21: The two kids staging a dharna for the last 40 days in this Haryana town, demanding release of their father from police custody, were forcibly sent to an orphanage Thursday night, the police said.
Nitika (8) and Himanshu (7) have been sitting on a protest dharna along with their grandparents outside the Superintendent of Police’s office here since July 11. The police officials forcibly picked them from here and sent them to an orphanage at Rai in Sonepat district.
New Delhi, August 21: Jaswant Singh expulsion from BJP has may further embarassment for the party as Speaker Meira Kumar had just appointed Singh as chairman of the prestigious Public Accounts Committee of the Lok Sabha.
Saffron BJP finds in fix it cannot withdraw Singh’s name, announcement of Jaswant Singh as chairman of the PAC is already posted on the Lok Sabha website.
Chennai, August 20: Madras High Court today dismissed a petition seeking a CBI probe into alleged accumulation of unaccounted wealth by Tamil Nadu Congress Committee chief K V Thankgabalu, holding that it was politically motivated.
‘The manner in which the petitioner followed his grievance showed he was motivated by political consideration’, a bench comprising Chief Justice H L Gokhale and Justice D Murugasen said.
Chennai, August 20: Floral tributes, administration of communal harmony pledge and distribution of welfare assistances marked the 65th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in Tamil Nadu.
At Raj Bhavan, Governor Surjit Singh Barnala administered Communal harmony pledge to officers and staff of Raj Bhavan.
Chief Minister M Karunanidhi administered ‘Sadbhavana Diwas’ pledge, assuring to work for the unity of the country with communal harmony, to his Ministerial colleagues, officials and staff of the Secretariat after paying floral tributes to a portrait of Rajiv Gandhi.
Chennai, August 20: A CBI court today issued notice to former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and two former AIADMK ministers on a petition by the investigating agency, seeking a date to be fixed for framing charges against them in the Rs two crore ‘Birthday Gift Case’.
Besides Jayalalithaa, Judge Mohammad Issat Ali also issued notice to K A Sengottaiyan and Alugu Thirunavukarasu and posted the petition for hearing to September four.
Kolkata, August 20: Three more people tested positive for swine flu in West Bengal Thursday, taking the total number of affected cases in the state to 64, health officials said.
“Today (Thursday) we have only three positive swine flu cases. With this the figure goes up to 64 so far,” state’s nodal officer for swine flu Tapas Sen told IANS.
Meanwhile, a two-and-a-half year old boy, who was on ventilator support, was moved out of the intensive care unit Thursday as his condition further improved.
Ranchi, August 20: Demanding Jharkhand Governor K Sankaranarayanan settle the dispute over acquisition of agriculture land for a private steel and power company in Saraikela Kharswan district, Lok Sabha member Arjun Munda has shot off a letter to Raj Bhavan.
Claiming the land acquisition displaced 153 families, the former chief minister in the letter yesterday urged the Governor to direct the district administration to mediate and put an end to the ‘sufferings’ of the families in the face of worst drought.
Orissa, August 20: Armed Maoists today blew up in broad daylight at least three Orissa forest department office buildings at Tamada, located barely 20 to 35 km from here.
“After boarding a bus at Karuabahal, nearly 40 Maoist cadre blew up the forest range office at Tamada using powerful explosives. The employees were driven away before destroying the office,” Sudarsan Sethi, sub-divisional police officer, Bonai, said.
Maoists then reached Birida in Brahmanitaranga police station, about 20 km from here and destroyed the forest beat house there in a similar way.
Mumbai, August 20: Cash-strapped national carrier Air India Thursday decided to cut performance-linked incentives of its employees by 30 to 50 percent.
The decision was taken at a meeting between the management and employees union leaders and the workers have accepted the cut, an airline official said.
The incentives, being given to employees in addition to the salary, contributes to Rs.130 crore of the airline’s expenses.
The carrier had earlier come under severe criticism for offering huge incentives to its 31,000 employees, even while it was making losses.
Bhubaneswar, August 20: A doctor and a nurse of a medical college in Orissa were put in isolation after they developed symptoms of swine flu.
“The blood and swab samples of a junior doctor and a senior staff nurse at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack along with nine others were sent for confirmatory swine flu test to Kolkata”, a senior health department official said.
He said the doctors were being imparted training on handling suspected swine flu cases by keeping themselves safe.
Male, August 20: With Mumbai attack bringing to fore the terror threat from sea, India today offered naval patrol and aerial surveillance assistance to Maldives that will help serve the security interests of the two countries in the Indian Ocean region.
Bhopal, August 20 (Pervez Bari): The Nagpur bench of Mumbai High Court has issued notice to Maharashtra Government returnable after two weeks in a matter Public Interest Litigation, (PIL), filed by Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, (VJAS), president Kishore Tiwari praying to cancel & withdraw the government resolution extending illegal state largesse & extra ordinary illegal favour to MLAs Local Area Development Funds, (LADFs), meant for entire financial year -2009-10 is being allowed to be spent in six months time as the MLAs term is expiring in October 2009.
Bhopal, August 20 (Pervez Bari): The Ludhiana-based International Human Rights Organisation, (IHRO), has hailed the Punjab Pollution Control Board, (PPCB)’s action of disconnecting power to the dyeing industrial units there on instructions of the Punjab government, which, in turn, has thus executed the orders, though belatedly and reluctantly, of the state high court for cleaning the Budda Nullah.
New Delhi, August 20: Home Minister P.Chidambaram will leave for Thimphu Friday on a three-day official visit to Bhutan, his first foreign tour after taking over the portfolio Dec 1 last year.
During his visit, Chidambaram will meet the King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, Prime Minister Jigmi Y. Thinley, Fourth Druk Gyalpo Jigme Singye Wangchuck and Minister for Home and Cultural Affairs, Lyonpo Minjur Dorji.
‘The purpose of the visit is to further strengthen bilateral relations between India and Bhutan,’ said a statement from the home ministry.
New Delhi, August 20: With drought declared in half of India, the government said today it would “respond appropriately” to mitigate the situation and would increase the minimum support price (MSP) of cereals and pulses to help farmers. “We are taking it step by step. It is an evolving situation and the government will respond appropriately,” Home Minister P. Chidambaram said, while announcing that the support price for paddy has been hiked by Rs.100 per quintal and that for pulses by Rs.300 per quintal.
Srinagar, August 20: Life came to a standstill in Shopian in south Kashmir today due to a “civil curfew” call against Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s proposed visit to the town, which was later cancelled in view of the development.
The ‘civil curfew’ was called by Majlis-e-Mashawarat, a non-political body spearheading the movement for justice for two women, who were allegedly raped and murdered in the town, 52 kms from here, in May.
Kendrapara (Orissa), August 20: An all-women team has successfully concluded a 296-km rafting mission on the river Mahanadi, Orissa’s longest river.
The first ever river rafting mission in the state by women, it saw Rosalini Pattnaik (28), Rosalini Behera (18), Rajashree Mohapatra and Sonaphoola Sabar (18) rafting to their destination at Barunei near Paradip, Rabindra Kumar Bhuyan, Director, National Adventure Foundation (Orissa chapter) said.