Month: October 2009

Mortgaged: Wives, daughters

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Lucknow, October 05: There are no bad debts in Bundelkhand. If a man cannot repay a loan in cash, a wife or daughter will often do just as well.

As authorities in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh seemingly look the other way, women in drought-prone, impoverished Bundelkhand, a cluster of 13 forgotten districts that lies along the borders of the two states are paying the price for bad loans with their liberty.

“Make me happy and the debt will be waived, he would say to me,” says Anita (name changed), her teeth gritted in rage.

Over 400,000 babies die within day of birth in India

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New Delhi, October 05: More than 400,000 children die within 24 hours of their birth in India every year – the highest anywhere in the world, a study by an international charity said.

While globally this figure stands at two million babies dying within a day of their birth, the shocking and tragic fact is that the reason for these deaths are diseases and infections that are easily treatable, and therefore the deaths are preventable.

UAE, Cuba Sign MoU

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Havana, October 05: The United Arab Emirates and Cuba on Sunday signed a Memorandum of Understanding on political consultations between the foreign ministries in the two countries.

The two countries also signed a Economic, Trade and Technical Agreement.

The agreements were signed by the UAE Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla.

The understanding aims at holding regular bilateral talks to boost the relations and exchanged views over the regional and international issues of common interest.

Rescue Team Begins Tasks in Indonesia

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Jakarta, October 05: Unhampered by heavy rains, members of the UAE Rescue Team started operations at 10 locations in the quake-shattered Indonesian island of Sumatra and recovered several bodies from under the rubble.

H1N1, Accidents on Morocco Regional Meet Agenda

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Dubai, October 05: Policies to counter the spread of H1N1, as well as reducing the burden of road traffic accidents and cancer in the region will be among the top issues to be discussed at the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office meeting that starts in Morocco today.

Margaret Chan, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) will also be attending the meetings.

RAK Waits as Challengers Go to Court

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Ras Al Khaimah, October 05: The America’s Cup has ceased to be about the grandeur of victory and defeat.

In fact, ever since West Australian winds left the American burgee in tatters for the first time in over a century in the 1983 challenge, yachting world’s premier event has been as much about strategies in courts of law as tactics on water.

The 2010 challenge — for which Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE is priming to play hosts — must now sail through the scrutiny of a New York court before the expectant air in the emirate can freshen into a sigh.

Ministry to Close Schools without Nurses

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Abu Dhabi, October 05: Schools will be closed if they fail to hire nurses trained to conduct screening of students for possible swine flu infection, the Minister of Education told Khaleej Times on Sunday.

Humaid Al Qattami said schools need to hire at least one medical professional to conduct early screening of suspected flu cases and administer treatment to prevent an outbreak.

Former Japanese finance minister found dead

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Tokyo, October 05: A former Japanese finance minister who stepped down after appearing to be drunk at an overseas news conference was found dead in his home Sunday, police said, ruling out foul play.

Shoichi Nakagawa was lying face down in bed when his wife found him in their Tokyo home, a spokesman for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department said on condition of anonymity due to police policy.

Air-India Pilots and Crew Trade Punches in Mid-air

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New Delhi, October 05: Imagine the plight of 106 airplane passengers as their pilots and crew exchanged blows at 35,000 feet, jeopardising for a while just about everything on board.

Shortly after the Air-India flight took off from Sharjah on Saturday, the passengers were horrified to watch the staff come to blows in the cockpit and galley of the Airbus A-320 as it cruised over Pakistan on its way to Delhi 
via Lucknow.

One policeman for each booth

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Mumbai, October 05: A comparison of the number of polling booths in the state and the availability of police personnel shows that, the state police would have provisions for just one home guard or an unarmed cop to man a polling booth and one armed police constable to manage a ‘sensitive’ booth.

The scenario gets ominous with the looming terror threat, communal tensions, political rivalries and suspected large scale naxal violence expected during the October 13 assembly elections.

Khalifa Issues Law on Peaceful Use of N-energy

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Abu Dhabi, October 05: The President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, issued Federal Law No. 6 of 2009 Regarding the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy.

The law represents a key component of the necessary legal infrastructure, in accordance with the criteria set by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as a framework for the successful implementation of a peaceful nuclear energy sector.

A.P. faces drinking water shortage, diseases

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Hyderabad, October 05: Andhra Pradesh may be slowly limping out of the flood crisis, but a major challenge is awaiting state authorities in the form of shortage of drinking water and spread of diseases in thousands of villages.

The state has so far announced 33 deaths due to flood. But the loss of livestock is likely to be one of the highest in the history of the state. Krishna river is witnessing the worst-ever flood since 1903 and though the preparedness of the government machinery has helped check the loss of human lives, the receding water will throw up several unpleasant surprises.

Two arrested for throwing beef at idol in Orissa

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Bhuwaneshwar, October 05: Two persons were arrested on charges of throwing beef at an idol of Goddess Laxmi at a community puja pandal in Orissa’s Sundargarh district today, police said.

A large number of people gathered in large number in front of the puja pandal at Bolonda village about 25km from here and blocked the road for about four hours demanding arrest of the culprits, police said.

Shiv Sena-MNS war spreads through the cable network

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Mumbai, October 05: The animosity between the Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has got uglier. MNS general secretary Pravin Darekar, who is contesting the assembly polls from Magathane, has alleged that Shiv Sena workers in the constituency were threatening some cable operators for supporting him.

He added that the cable operators have been threatened by Sadanand Kadam, brother of Sena leader Ramdas Kadam. “Six operators have got death threat,” Darekar said, adding that the Sena was playing a foul game as it was afraid of losing the polls.

Pakistan trust sells Sikh shrine land

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Islamabad, October 05: The authorities in Pakistan have sold over 500 kanals of agricultural land attached to two Sikh gurdwaras to the defence housing authority (DHA) in violation of rules.

The Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), according to reports, has overturned its rules while handing over to DHA 544 kanals (one kanal = .125 acres) attached to Sikh shrines — Samadh Bhai Maan Singh and Gurdwara Deh — in Lidhar, a village in Lahore Cantonment.

PM, Sonia to visit flood-hit Andhra, Karnataka

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Hyderabad, October 05: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Home Minister P. Chidambaram will visit flood-hit Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka Monday and Tuesday to assess the havoc wreaked by heavy rains there and meet the affected people.

“Sonia Gandhi will undertake an aerial survey of the worst-affected districts of Kurnool and Mahboobnagar in Andhra Pradesh for a spot assessment of the death and destruction caused by heavy rains and flood waters,” a party spokesperson told IANS Sunday.

New governors named for Nagaland, Tripura

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New Delhi, October 05: Former Delhi Police chief Nikhil Kumar has been appointed the governor of Nagaland and Kamla, former Rajasthan deputy chief minister, has been named the governor of Tripura, a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement said Sunday.

Kumar will take over from Gurbachan Jagat, governor of Manipur who is holding additional charge of the governor of Nagaland, and Kamla will replace Dinesh Nandan Sahaya.

Sahaya, a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and former senior vice president of the Samata Party in Bihar, had assumed the charge in June 2003.

A.P. suspends aviation official

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Hyderabad, October 05: The Andhra Pradesh government Sunday suspended K.V. Brahmananda Reddy, managing director of state-owned Aviation Corporation Limited, allegedly for the delay in arranging a helicopter for the chief minister to undertake an aerial survey of flood-hit areas.

Though the government order cited no reason for the action, sources said the official had failed to arrange a chopper for Chief Minister K. Rosaiah on Saturday.

Two policemen killed in Baghdad violence

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Baghdad, October 05: Two policemen were killed and four others injured in two separate attacks in the Iraqi capital Sunday, police said.

In one incident, a bomb went off near a police vehicle on the al-Muttabag street in eastern Baghdad, killing a policeman and wounding four others.

In another incident, gunmen shot dead a policeman in al-Ameen neighbourhood in southeastern Baghdad.

Violence continued in Iraq although the government has been trying to restore normalcy in the country after the US troops pulled out of cities and towns three months ago.

–IANS–

Nine killed in Colombia bus accident

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Bogota, October 05: Nine people were killed when the passenger bus in which they were travelling rammed into a stationary truck in southeastern Colombia, police said.

The accident took place on the road linking the Colombian towns of Puerto Lopez and Puerto Gaitan Sunday. The victims include four women and five men.

–IANS–

Israel’s nukes most serious threat to Middle East: ElBaradei

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Tehran, October 05: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei has said Israel’s nuclear arsenal is the most serious threat to the region, Mehr news agency reported.

Tel Aviv has not granted IAEA inspectors access to its nuclear facilities for the past 30 years. Israel is the only country in the Middle East that possesses nuclear weapons, ElBaradei said at a joint press conference with Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation director Ali-Akbar Salehi here Sunday.

No ‘vulgar’ salaries to CEOs, Khurshid tells India Inc

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New Delhi, October 05: To put a check on the public expenditure, the Government has advised India Inc to refrain from doling out “vulgar” salaries to CEOs.

“I think when we are working on this (austerity), we can hardly say that we (will) shut our eyes on what salary the CEOs are going to take,” Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid told PTI when asked how the Government intends to control salaries of CEOs which at times appear vulgar.

PMK cuts ties with AIADMK

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Chennai, October 05:The PMK on Sunday snapped ties with the AIADMK, bringing to an end a relationship formed just before the Lok Sabha polls.

The immediate provocation was the petition filed by AIADMK leader and former minister C.Ve.Shanmugam in the Madras High Court, seeking a direction to include PMK leader S. Ramadoss, his son Anbumani, son-in-law Parasuraman, brother Srinivasan, his grandson and others in a 2006 murder case.