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Scientists beat tsunami warning system in killer waves study
Sagar Kulkarni
New Delhi, Oct 18 (PTI) Indian scientists claim to have beaten the newly built tsunami warning system in predicting that the waves triggered by the September 12 undersea tremblor would move towards the open sea keeping the coastline safe.
A team of geophysicists at the Hyderabad-based National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) forecast within an hour of the quake strike that the tsunami would not hit the southern Indian coast and, Andaman and Nicobar islands.
An earthquake of 8.4 magnitude had struck Bengkulu in southern Sumatra at 4:40 pm IST on September 12 triggering tsunami alerts across the region as well as in India.
"Our preliminary results at 5:40 p.M. Showed that the directivity of the tsunami was towards the open ocean in the southwest direction and India would be safe from tsunami," Kirti Srivastava, a scientist at NGRI, who conducted the study told PTI.
The Tsunami Early Warning System had taken nearly two hours to forecast that killer waves will not strike the country's southern coast.
Immediately after the earthquake, a group of scientists at NGRI started simulating the tsunami using the American National Earthquake Information Centre (NEIC) catalogs for focal mechanism solutions estimated for the Bengkulu region, NGRI Director V P Dimri said.
The research paper has been accepted by peer review journal 'Current Science' for publication. Besides Srivastava and Dimri, NGRI scientists V Swaroopa and D Srinagesh were involved in the study. PTI
US ambassador to India Mulford meets foreign secretary over N-deal
New Delhi, Oct 18 (PTI) With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh indicating that he had not given up hopes on the nuclear deal, US Ambassador to India David Mulford today met Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon here to discuss the fate of the agreement.
Mulford is understood to have conveyed the US' displeasure over uncertainty that has come to surround the crucial initiative between the two countries.
In his third meeting in four days with leaders and officials here, the US envoy is believed to have sought to know what the government is planning to do to push the deal that is being vigorously opposed by the ruling coalition's Left allies.
The meeting came a day after Singh said the "process of evolving a meaningful consensus" on the deal is still on, indicating that he had still not lost hope on it.
The comment came less than a week after Singh said that failure of the deal would not be "the end of life" and that his was "not a one-issue government".
The statement caused disappointment in the Bush administration which hoped that the UPA government would continue to push the deal.
Three days ago, US President George W Bush called up Singh, who was in Nigeria, and the Prime Minister told him that "difficulties" had arisen in operationalisation of the deal.
The US envoy had earlier met External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Joint Secretary (Americas) in the Ministry to convey his country's disappointment. PTI
EC appoints Kaushik as new Gujarat police chief
New Delhi, Oct 18 (PTI) After cracking the whip against senior police officials said to be close to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the Election Commission today ordered appointment of K R Kaushik as the new state police chief.
The EC had on Monday ordered transfer of Director General of Police P C Pande and seven other senior officials ahead of assembly elections in December.
Pande was Ahmedabad Police Commissioner during the 2002 post-Godhra riots in the state and had come under a cloud over the communal violence.
The 1970-batch IPS was shifted out of the state some months later on deputation to the Centre where he served with the CBI. However, Modi brought him back two years ago as the DGP.
While ordering the transfer of the eight police officials, the Commission had directed that none of them would be posted to any election-related post or work. PTI
Rly to add middle side-berth in sleeper coaches
New Delhi, Oct 18 (PTI) Indian Railways plan to add a middle berth along the corridor of coaches in trains barring Rajdhani Express in order to accommodate more passengers and boost revenues.
This will be done in regular and air-conditioned sleeper berths.
Currently, a three-tier sleeper coach has only two side berths along the corridor. This allows both passengers to sit in separate seats facing each other without blocking the aisle. While a non-AC sleeper coach has total 72 berths, an AC three-tier coach has 64 berths.
However, the railway ministry is now working towards adding nine berths in non-AC sleeper coach and eight berths in AC three-tier coaches on the side by raising the upper berth and fit another berth in the middle.
Fund has already been allocated and the retrofitting work will begin next month, Niraj Kumar, Executive Director, (coaching) told PTI.
It would cost about Rs 1.5 lakh per coach to do the retrofitting work. "While the Research Design and Standard Organisation (RDSO) has approved the changed design, we have also got the safety clearance to go ahead with retrofitting work in 12,500 non-AC sleeper coaches and 1,500 AC coaches in our workshops," said Kumar.
"We have already done it in three coaches in Jhelum Express on an experimental basis", he added.
There is a considerable increase in passengers. The number of AC three-tier passengers increased from 20.61 million in 2005-06 to 23.89 million while the number of passengers in non-AC sleeper coaches rose from 177 million to 205 million during the same period. PTI
Mumbai police to exercise extra caution for T20 tie
Mumbai, Oct 18 (PTI) A day after four spectators, including a woman, were held for allegedly passing racist comments against Australian players at the Wankhede Stadium, the city police today said they would be extra vigilant for the upcoming Twenty20 match where "tempers can fly." The four youngsters, who were booked under Section 110 of the Bombay Police Act (behaving indecently in public), were immediately released after paying a fine of Rs 1,200 each as per the provisions of law.
"They are not criminals and were warned to behave properly. We took action against them after receiving complaints and released them immediately," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone I) Brijesh Singh said.
Singh said that karate-trained personnel will be kept in the stands of 30,000 capacity Brabourne Stadium where the T20 match is to be played on Saturday.
"People come there to enjoy the match and they should do so without insulting anyone," Singh said.
Meanwhile, he added that the security will be tight for the match and additional personnel from the SRPF, CRPF, police commandos and quick reaction team will be roped in. PTI
Ponting critical of crowd behaviour in final tie
Mumbai, Oct 18 (PTI) Cut up at the boorish crowd behaviour at the Wankhede Stadium, Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting hoped it would not be repeated when they clash with India in the one-off Twenty20 tie on Saturday.
The visiting skipper was particularly concerned at the heckling of his star all rounder Andrew Symonds, who had complained of racial abuse during the fifth ODI of the seven-match series at Vadodara on October 11.
"Action has been taken as well and a few members of the crowd were taken away from the ground. I am not sure what has happened over the last two days. Some of the stuff that went on were totally unnecessary leaving a bad taste. I hope it's not repeated at the Twenty20 game," he said after his team's narrow two-wicket loss to the hosts in the last tie.
"Sections of the crowd in different parts of the world are different and it's part and parcel of the game, I guess. That part of it we understand, but it's still unacceptable. It's happened to him (Symonds) here again for the second time. He's disappointed," Ponting said after the seventh and final ODI last night.
Australia won the series 4-2 after the opening game at Bangalore was washed out on September 29, but could not keep the home under the thumb yesterday and India made a dramatic recovery to escape from the brink at 64 for six in 20 overs, chasing 194, and scored a consolation victory.
The two teams now clash in the T20 clash at the Brabourne Stadium on October 20 in a repeat of their high-profile semi final contest in the World T20 championship in South Africa won by the Indian team led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
India went on to beat Pakistan in the final. PTI
Harikrishna beats Topalov in Bilbao Blindfold Chess World Cup
From Our Chess Correspondent
Bilbao (Spain), Oct 18 (PTI) India's P Harikrishna thrashed former World Champion Veselin Topalov 1.5-0.5 to jumped to joint second spot after the fourth round at Bilbao Blindfold Chess World Cup underway here.
After losing to Norwegian sensation Magnus Carlsen from a position of strength, this was an excellent comeback by Hari who won one and drew one game to reach five points in the unique event where winner gets three points for a victory and one point is awarded for a draw.
Grandmaster Bu Xiangzhi, the lowest ranked player in the six-players double round-robin event, emerged as the sole leader on 8 points after beating Carlsen by a 1.5-0.5. The Chinese player won the first game and drew the next to keep his slate clean.
Three points or one victory behind Xinagzhi is the group of Carlsen, Harikrishna and world's youngest ever Grandmaster Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine.
Karjakin won one and drew one against top women rated Judit Polgar of Hungary who now shares the last spot with Topalov on 4 points.
Harikrishna was a picture of confidence before the game.
"I had some apprehensions about playing blindfold before the first round, but after I played reasonably against Carlsen I thought I could play well in this variant too," Harikrishna said after the game. PTI
Symonds mistook antics for racism: Pawar
Melbourne, Oct 18 (PTI) BCCI President Sharad Pawar believes Andrew Symonds mistook hostile crowd antics for racism and insisted that the episode would not sour Indian Cricket Board's relation with its Australian counterpart.
Reacting to reports that Symonds had been subjected to monkey chants in Vadodara, Nagpur and in Mumbai too last night, Pawar assured that International Cricket Council's Anti-Racism Code would be strictly adhered to but he also felt that it was not a case of racism.
"We respect that we have to protect the individual player. There is a complaint and we will take the appropriate action," Pawar was quoted as saying by 'Sydney Morning Herald.' "I believe this is a misunderstanding; a language issue. There are many languages spoken in India, and I don't understand many of them myself.
"Still, it is the responsibility of the Indian board to execute that (the ICC's anti-racism code). There have already been steps taken," he added.
He also dismissed the idea that the incident would have any adverse effect on the relationship between the cricket boards of both the countries.
"This will not at all affect our relationship with Cricket Australia. We have a very strong relationship and we are hoping that will continue," he asserted. PTI
Crowd behaviour has embarrassed even host fans: Ponting
Mumbai, Oct 18 (PTI) A livid Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has said continuous "racial abuse" directed towards all-rounder Andrew Symonds by the crowds during the one-day cricket series against India must have left even the host fans embarrassed.
"I am sure there will be a lot of embarrassed people around this country as well to know that this stuff has happened again at one of their cricket venues," Ponting said after Australia won seven-match series 4-2.
Ponting said he was hoping for better crowd behaviour during the Twenty20 match on Saturday.
"It is done now, hopefully in the Twenty20 match on Saturday it does not happen there" he said.
Ponting said he wanted an end to the hostilities and called on the spectators to behave during the tour finale at Brabourne stadium.
"Some of the other stuff that went on today (Wednesday) was totally unnecessary. I just hope that it does not happen again at another cricket venue that I play in because it leaves a bad taste in everybody's mouth," the skipper said.
Symonds has alleged that racial taunts have been directed at him in the last three one-dayers at Vadodara, Nagpur and here, a claim backed by match referee Chris Broad, who has mentioned the incidents in his report to the ICC.
Even during last night's match here, four spectators were detained by the police for "misbehaviour".
Symonds was booed when he came out to bat and it continued after he was out first ball. The man of the series was once again jeered by the crowd during the presentation ceremony. PTI
Sensex down by 717 pts as foreign funds pull out
Mumbai, Oct 18 (PTI) The scare of a regulation to limit derivative instruments like Participatory Notes continued to haunt the bourses, which recorded its second biggest fall of 717.43 points after the initial bullishness in the morning when Sensex shot up by nearly 500 points.
Withdrawal by hedge funds through FII route and cautious tone adopted by foreign funds led to the Sensex tanking 717.43 points to close at 17,998.39.
Most blue chip companies, barring some IT firms, recorded losses. ACC and Reliance Energy led the losers in terms of percentage, demonstrating that the reassurance by the government and market regulator SEBI did not last even 24 hours. PTI
Direct tax collections up 40 pc at Rs 1,22,000 crore
New Delhi, Oct 18 (PTI) A booming economy and better tax compliance have enabled the government post a 40 per cent jump in direct tax collection at Rs 1,21,950 crore till October 15 this fiscal against Rs 86,751 crore during the same period last fiscal.
Corporate tax contributed Rs 75,549 crore, up by 40.29 per cent from Rs 53,853 crore during same period in the previous fiscal, an official statement said today.
Personal income-tax, fringe benefit tax, securities transaction tax and banking cash transaction tax yielded 45.13 per cent more at Rs 46,320 crore against Rs 32,821 crore.
Bullish securities market led to a collection of Rs 3,784 crore through securities transaction tax, up 48.05 per cent against Rs 2,556 crore.
Banking Cash Transaction Tax collections were up 20.22 per cent at Rs 284 crore against Rs 236 crore.
Fringe Benefit Tax collections recorded a growth of 87.92 per cent at Rs 2,326 crore against Rs 1,238 crore.
While tax deducted at source grew by 49 per cent, advance tax collections rose by 30 per cent till September 15.
Growth in TDS is a strong indicator of increasing employment, employee compensation and private investments. Growth in advance direct tax collections implies better profitability and improved cash flows in businesses particularly in the core, consumption and financial sectors.
Growth in direct tax collections is also due to better tax compliance which is indicated by an increase of 64 per cent in self-assessment tax. PTI
14 FDI proposals worth Rs 1,257 cr cleared
New Delhi, Oct 18 (PTI) The government today cleared 14 Foreign Direct Investment proposals worth Rs 1,257 crore, including those of Mauritius-based Essar Telecom Holdings Ltd and US-based Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM).
The proposals include induction of foreign equity worth Rs 500 crore by Essar Telecom Holdings and Rs 200 crore from GSAM.
The investment proposals were cleared by Finance Minister P Chidambaram on the recommendations of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). PTI
ONGC to invest $ 5 bn to produce 25 mmscmd gas from KG fields
New Delhi, Oct 18 (PTI) Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) plans to invest over USD 5 billion to produce 25 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) of gas from its eastern offshore Krishna Godavari fields by 2013.
The state-run firm yesterday submitted to the regulator Director General of Hydrocarbons an appraisal programme of the discoveries it had made in KG offshore basin, putting the in-place reserves at 6.37 Trillion cubic feet (Tcf), industry sources said.
Besides natural gas, ONGC also plans to produce 8,000 barrels of oil per day from the fields.
The reserve estimates and production plan in ONGC's appraisal programme, however, do not include its ultra-deepwater UD-1 discovery in KG-DWN-98/2 block adjacent to Reliance Industries' prolific gas discovery block KG-D6.
ONGC estimates another 2-14 Tcf of reserves in the UD-1 discovery, sources said, adding half-a-dozen other finds in the same KG-DWN-98/2 block have been clubbed with other discoveries in the region like G-29, GS-4 and Vashistha.
The production planned is better than previously announced plans of 12-15 mmscmd.
Sources said the company's appraisal plan outlines integrated development of the discoveries in shallow to deepwater (northern) part of the KG-DWN-98/2 block along with other fields in adjoining nomination acreages.
While ONGC has 90 per cent stake in the KG-DWN-98/3 block, it has 100 per cent stake in the adjoining acreage which it got from the government on nomination basis.
Cairn India has the remaining 10 per cent in KG-DWN-98/3. Norsk Hydro of Norway and Petrobras of Brazil are to take 15 to 30 per cent stake in the block. PTI
Sensex jumps 284 pts, RIL rally boosts market
Mumbai, Oct 18 (PTI) A sharp rally in heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) in morning trading today pushed the benchmark Sensex 284 points higher after yesterday's turmoil at the bourses.
RIL hogged the limelight in the initial 10 minutes of trading ahead of the company's board meeting during the day, which is expected to consider stock split or a bonus issue.
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex opened strong at 18,827.46 and later sniffed 19K level at 18,999.55, a rise of 283.73 points from yesterday's close of 18,715.82.
The broader S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also spurted by 87.15 points to 5,646.45 at 1010 hours from previous close of 5,559.30.
Reflecting a strong rally in RIL, the company's market capitalisation crossed Rs 4,00,000 crore.
The market continued its rally after a sharp intra-day recovery yesterday. PTI
Foreign ministers of India, China, Russia to discuss ties
Anil K Joseph
Beijing, Oct 18 (PTI) Foreign ministers of India, China, and Russia will meet on October 24 to discuss "pragmatic" ways to boost trilateral cooperation, but their ties are not targeted at a third party, a senior official said here today.
The ministers, who will meet in northeast China's Harbin City, will exchange views on major international and regional issues and discuss "pragmatic cooperation" among the three countries, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao announced here at a biweekly news briefing.
"This kind of cooperation is helpful and open. It is not targeted at any third party," Liu said when asked to comment on the significance of the second such meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and their Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
According to past experience, the three foreign ministers will explore cooperation in many fields, including political and economic fields, Liu said.
The ministers are also expected to
Bhutto returns to Pakistan after eight years in self-exile
Karachi, Oct 18 (PTI) Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto returned here today, ending eight years of self-imposed exile and carrying "a message of change and hope for a better future for democracy" in the country.
A commercial flight carrying Bhutto, 54, from Dubai landed at about 1:45 pm local time (2:15 pm IST) at the Karachi International Airport. Tens of thousands of her supporters have thronged the port city to give her a rousing welcome.
Some 20,000 airport security personnel, policemen and paramilitary personnel as well as bomb disposal squads were deployed in Karachi to protect Bhutto, who returned to Pakistan following secret parleys with President Prevez Musharraf for a power-sharing arrangement.
Bhutto's husband Asif Ali Zardari stayed back in Dubai. Her London-based younger sister Sanam, two nephews, several close friends and party workers apart from a large media contingent accompanied her from Dubai in the flight.
With the general elections in the country scheduled to take place in the first half of January next year, she hopes to campaign for her Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in the poll.
Ahead of her arrival here, Bhutto told reporters at the Dubai airport that "I am going home with a message of change and hope for a better future for democracy, and I hope that this moment for democracy succeeds... I am a leader of the poor. I will live and die with the poor." PTI
Pakistan, Iran inch closer to finalise IPI gas agreement
Islamabad, Oct 18 (PTI) Pakistan and Iran are close to finalising a gas purchase agreement for the USD 7.4 billion IPI pipeline during technical talks here, even as officials said India's decision not to take part in the talks did not mean it had pulled out of the trilateral project.
The three-day technical talks between senior Pakistani and Iranian officials will conclude today and will be followed by secretary-level talks tomorrow.
"After the technical-level talks, the secretary-level talks will also be held in Islamabad as the dialogue process between the two sides seems to be going in the right direction. And the gas sale-purchase agreement is expected to be signed after the secretary-level talks," an unnamed official of Pakistan's petroleum ministry was quoted as saying by 'The Post'.
Shabbier Ahmed, the deputy secretary in the petroleum ministry, told: "The last unresolved subject of price review that was proposed by Iran three years ago is also under discussion.
"Hopefully, all the obstacles will be resolved during the final round of technical level talks between two countries today," Ahmed said.
India's decision not to participate in the talks here did not mean it had pulled out of the project, unnamed officials were quoted as saying by the Daily Times. They said Pakistan and India had "to settle issues concerning the agreement on their own terms".
"It is a trilateral project and we are trying to advance it between the three countries," a petroleum ministry official said. PTI
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh leaves for home
Johannesburg, Oct 18 (PTI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left here today for home on the conclusion of his two-nation five-day tour of Africa.
Singh attended the second India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Summit in Pretoria and earlier in Nigeria he addressed the joint session of the National Assembly.
Singh is the first Indian Prime Minister to set foot on Nigerian soil in 45 years for a bilateral visit. PTI
People over 40 ignore risk of blindness by glaucoma: Survey
New Delhi, Oct 18 (PTI) Even though more people fear going blind than suffering a heart attack or dying young, they usually ignore going for regular eye-check up that experts affirm can positively reduce the risk of losing vision.
People over forty usually turn a blind eye to losing their vision due to glaucoma, seen as the leading cause of irreversible blindness in India and affecting almost 70 million people in the world, finds a recent survey in seven countries including Australia, Germany, UK and the US.
Results of the survey reveal that only four out of ten respondents had paid a visit to an eye specialist in the last year even though twice as many people feared going blind compared to heart disease or early death.
"Yes, it is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness in India. The main problem is that majority of cases are undiagnosed or unaware of disease and are presented to the eye care providers at a very late stage when restoration of visual function is not possible," says Dr Tanuj Dada, All India Medical Institute of Science.
The disease also known as 'Kala Motia' is a condition in which the normal drainage channels of the eye get obstructed, leading to rise in intra-ocular pressure, which causes damage to the optic nerve of the eye (the nerve responsible for visual function). If left untreated the disease can lead to blindness," he says.
Awareness of glaucoma, was extremely low with a total of 40 per cent of people surveyed being unaware of the fact that glaucoma is linked to blindness, the multi-country survey pointed out. PTI
After Ganesh, its now Durga, its all commerce
Gitika Saksena
Mumbai, Oct 18 (PTI) After the Ganesh festival the commercial capital of the country is now in the grip of the 'Dandiya' fever with hundreds of Durga Puja pandals being thronged by youngsters dressed in colourful attire.
If entertainment dominates the Ganesh celebrations, it is professional artistes who conduct the vastly popular'Dandiya', the Gods take a back seat, rues a senior 'Mumbaikar', a witness to the festivals during the last over six decades.
The Ganesh puja mandals concentrate more on show of opulence. Similar is the case with Durga celebrations with pandal organisers looking for new, modern ways to make their show look rich and sophisticated, rather than a traditional one, he says.
The main attraction of Durga fest, the famous 'dandiya' dance over the years is reflecting a more western appearance, says Sujata Kulkarni, a resident of suburban Mulund. "I used to like the 'dandiya' show when I was younger because we used to enjoy that in a traditional style, wearing the 'ghagra-choli' and dancing to drum beats. Nowadays, I see many youngsters performing 'dandiya' in western outfits. It doesn't look good that way," she feels.
Vilas Mhatre, who has been organising durga puja pandal in Thane for the last 25 years feels that the festival still retains its traditional colour though people like to see it in a sophisticated perspective.
"This year we are putting up a 50 ft-40 ft massive model of Sun temple in Konark because people who come to our pandal want to see something unique, having a rich appeal and different from other places," he says. PTI
Puja in the capital is simple, traditional
Amit Das
New Delhi, Oct 18 (PTI) No Harry Potter's Hogwart castles or other themes, Durga Puja pandals in Delhi are quite simple.
Durga Puja is gaining popularity in the capital as more number of pujas are organised every year but when it comes to theme-based decoration, Delhiites seems to go traditional.
"In Delhi, we don't have such replicas or theme-based pandals much. We try different things , no doubt, but it is more simple and traditional," says Utpal Ghosh, President, Navapalli Puja Samiti.
"Moreover, I am not very supportive of these pandals either because instead of making Titanics and castles, it is more important to try to make the younger generation aware of the mythological relevance of Durga," he adds.
Echoing similar views is S K Roy of Purvasha Durga Puja Samiti. "Our Puja is more ritual based. We emphasise more on cultural side. We don't hire artist from Kolkata or try to make it entertainment based. We conduct various cultural programmes," he says.
M Sengupta, who works in a PR agency in the capital says, in Delhi celebrating Puja is more like revisiting one's roots, which makes it different from Kolkata.
"In Delhi, Bengalis hardly get a chance to meet people of their community at a time so the social interaction that one has during the puja makes it a very pleasant experience," she says.
Well, Delhi might not be building mammoth castles but they have something new every year, Sengupta says. PTI
Pakistani singers, singing their way into Indian hearts
Anurag Sharma
New Delhi, Oct 18 (PTI) With the increasing fan following and demand for fresh voices, singers from 'sarhad paar' (across the border) are a happy lot and hopping into Bollywood into welcoming arms.
The success of Pakistani singers in India like Abida Parveen, Farida Khanum, Ghulam Ali, Nusrat Fateh Ali and more recently Adnan Sami have opened a new window for the present generation. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Atif Aslam, Shafqat Amanat Ali, Ali Zafar, Junoon, Strings, Call, Fuzon, Jal are finding a firm foothold in Bollywood as they release albums to an increasing fan following.
"Pakistani singers are the latest rage in Bollywood. While we have talented singers like Sunidhi Chauhan and Sonu Nigam, there is always room for fresh voices. Pakistani singers have a blend of sufi and classical touch to their voice, which makes them different," says Mohammed Asif, senior manager, Tips industries. The last album of Atif Aslam 'Doorie' sold 1.5 million copies worldwide, which is huge, he adds.
Pakistani singers have found a base in India with films like 'Krrish' and 'Awarapaan.' In Pakistan, there is no tradition of film music. The pop rock scene is much more developed there beacause it doesn't have to so-exist with an film music. These singers charge less remuneration compared to established Indian singers, he says.
Music has no boundaries and if Pakistani singers are good, we should welcome them, says popular ghazal singer Pankaj Udhas. PTI
Court provides relief to Hemophilia patients
Amit Kumar
New Delhi, Oct 18 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has given Hemophilia patients a reason to smile. Treatment for this inherited disorder that is costly and beyond the reach of a majority of those affected will now be provided free of cost at three hospitals in the capital.
Acting on a Public Interest Litigation filed by the Hemophilia Federation India (HFI), which highlighted the absence of life saving mechanisms like drugs as also awareness of the disorder and special care facilities for patients in Delhi, the Court has designated the Lok Nayak, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital and the Guru Tej Bahadur Hospital to provide free treatment to those who are below the poverty line as well as those who are in urgent need of medicines.
Taking note of the genuineness of matter, a bench comprising of Chief Justice M K Sharma and Justice Sanjiv Khanna, appointed a committee, including Principal Secretary, Director General , Director of Health of NCT of Delhi, Secretary (Health) of central government as its members and J R Midha as convener, to monitor and redress all the grievances raised by HFI. Based on its action taken report, the court gave its order.
"All Hemophilia patients belonging to families below poverty line will be supplied Anti Hemophilic Factor (AHF- a life saving drug) free of cost. In emergency cases also free treatment will be provided to all Hemophilia patients who come to the designated hospitals," Justice Sharma said.
When a normal person is injured his blood quickly clots to prevent further loss of blood. However, this does not happen in the case of those with hemophilia. The Anti Hemophilic Factor (AHF) that produces clotting in blood is not manufactured in the country but imported from abroad that makes it costly for the average patient. PTI
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