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India could face isolation if deal not through: Pranab
Kolkata, Feb 3 (PTI) In the wake of stiff Left opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal, the government today cautioned if the pact was derailed the country could face international "isolation".
"If the agreement is not through, we could have to face isolation and possibly isolation in sanction too," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said inaugurating the 176th Annual General Meeting of the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce here.
Mukherjee said India and the global atomic watchdog IAEA were yet to find a common ground on the draft safeguards agreement necessary to operationalise the civilian nuclear deal with the US and discussions were still on.
After finalising the draft pact, the Congress-led government would place it before the UPA-Left panel to get a political go ahead for the deal that aims to bring India out of nuclear wilderness, Mukherjee said.
He said the agreements on civil nuclear cooperation with various countries would in particular "help in increasing the share of civil nuclear power in our energy mix" and ensure energy security.
"My ministry is aware of these challenges and are making all attempts by focusing on bilateral and multilateral engagements for cooperation with source countries," he said. PTI
BJP attacks Govt for reported move to equate ECs with CEC
New Delhi, Feb 3 (PTI) Attacking the Centre's reported move to amend the Constitution to equate the Election Commissioners with the CEC, the BJP today asked the Left parties to make clear whether they would "blindly support the constitutionally inappropriate action".
BJP General Secretary and eminent lawyer Arun Jaitley, who is leading the campaign for removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla for his alleged proximity with Congress and its president Sonia Gandhi, said the BJP was concerned about the statement of Union Law Minister H R Bharadwaj that the Constitution would be amended "ostensibly to create parity between the three members of the EC".
He said it was aimed at making the NDA petition seeking the removal of Chawla as Election Commissioner "infructuous".
Jaitley said the Central government "seems to have conveniently forgotten" that the Congress does not command a two-third majority in either Houses of Parliament to amend the Constitution and "even with allies it is unlikely to reach that figure".
Asking the Left parties to make their stand clear on the issue, the senior BJP leader said the Left had a "dubious role" in regard to issues like "partisan governors" and office-of-profit.
"Chawla's episode will once again put the Left parties on trial. They will have to make a judgement whether to blindly support the constitutionally inappropriate action of the Congress party or lean in favour of strengthening independent constitutional institutions," he said. PTI
Measures to ensure transparency in organ donation in offing
New Delhi, Feb 3 (PTI) Against the backdrop of a flourishing kidney racket in various states, the Centre is contemplating mandatory declaration of brain dead patients by all Intensive Care Units of hospitals to help address the shortage of organs for donation in the country.
The measures are part of the changes being brought about by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to the Transplantation of Human Organs Act to ensure more transparency.
According to Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss, the government has held widespread discussions with experts and the medical fraternity for the last two years to finalise the changes in these rules.
The Government will also roll out in a few months a National Organ Transplantation Policy in which emphasis will be given on cadaveric transplants.
Under the new initiative, the government also plans to set up centres which will coordinate organ donation. It would be also made mandatory for Intensive Care Units to announce brain dead patients.
Trauma centres set up along the highway would facilitate harvest of cadaver organs, senior officials of the Health Ministry said.
As per the draft of the amendments to the Transplantation of Human Organs Act being framed by the Ministry, a separate National Accredited Board for Laboratories (NABL) would be set up by the Quality Council of India for undertaking assessment and accreditation of testing and calibration of laboratories in accordance with the international standard. PTI
India bag two points from rain-ruined series opener
Ashish Shukla
Brisbane, Feb 3 (PTI) Rain played spoilsport as the opening match of the cricket tri-series between India and Australia was abandoned here today.
India batted poorly through a rain-interruption to be all out for 194 from their curtailed 45 overs and then their bowlers raised hopes as Australia lost three wickets on way to 51 from 7.2 overs before rain washed out the remainder of the match.
Ishant Sharma and S Sreesanth were breathing fire, managing lift and movement, which made Australia's target of 141 runs from 26 overs off a revised Duckworth Lewis system not as straightforward as it looked at one time.
Australia were 33 for one from four overs when the first interruption occurred and the resumption lasted only 3.2 overs before the final heavy downpour came.
Earlier India made a disappointing 194 from their 45 overs.
Both the teams got two points each from the abandoned tie.
India meet Sri Lanka in their next outing on Tuesday.
Earlier, India chose to bat first on winning the toss and only a late flourish in the final eight overs that yielded 66 runs brought them this far.
Paceman Brett Lee with five for 27 was the main destroyer for the Australians.
India were 128 for six from 36 overs when rain stopped their innings for close to an hour before it relented and the match was reduced to 45 overs a side. PTI
Give youngsters time to settle, pleads Dhoni
Brisbane, Feb 3 (PTI) Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni backed his young team and outlined his vision for the 2011 World Cup after the opening game of the tri-series against Australia was washed out here today.
"If we are looking for a team for 2011 World Cup, it's important that we have guys who have played 80-100 matches by then...I think this is the team I wanted," an earnest Dhoni said.
"This is the plan which can succeed it can backfire as well. But they (the youngsters) need the right opportunity and base to perform." Dhoni was not perturbed that he has given opportunity to his men, selected in place of veterans such as Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, in conditions as difficult as in Australia.
"It's up to individuals if they succumb to pressure. It's up to them to show courage or perform." The wicketkeeper-batsman said he picked Manoj Tiwary by instinct ahead of Suresh Raina even though the Bengal youngster arrived in Australia only yesterday.
"I go by instinct. It doesn't matter that he arrived only yesterday or he didn't have enough practice. It's tough cricket and good ones can adapt quickly," he said.
As for today's game, Dhoni felt it was evenly-poised after his bowlers broke through early.
"After the second break, Ishant (Sharma) and Sreesanth bowled brilliantly in the right areas and troubled the batsmen.
"I think it was evenly-poised. When the rain came, the momentum was with us. But the target was so small, a good innings could have turned the momentum their way." PTI
Twin bombings rock Lanka on I Day eve
T V Sriram
Colombo, Feb 3 (PTI) At least seven people were killed and nearly 100 wounded today in two LTTE bombings, including a suicide attack in the Sri Lankan capital, as the strife-torn nation reeling under escalated violence since the government dumped the tattered ceasefire prepared to mark its 60th Independence Day.
A woman suicide bomber blew herself up inside the Colombo Fort railway station in the heart of the city targeting innocent civilians at around 2 PM, military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said.
At least seven persons have been killed and over 90 injured in the attack. The wounded have been admitted to the Colombo National Hospital, he said.
The attack came just hours after a grenade explosion inside the Dehiwala Zoo near Colombo left seven people including two children injured.
" A flash of light was followed by a shock wave and that's all I could recollect", a witness said.
Following the incident Dehiwala Zoo was temporarily closed for public.
The bombings came a day the LTTE detonated a parcel bomb in a bus packed with Buddhist pilgrims killing 18 people and wounding 80 at Dambulla.
A string of attacks by suspected LTTE rebels, who are facing a rising military onslaught in the north after the government pulled out of a ceasefire on Jan 16, has rattled the country which had already stepped up security ahead of independence day celebrations tomorrow.PTI
Iran invites India, Pak for talks on IPI
Islamabad, Feb 3 (PTI) Trying to find a breakthrough in the trans-border gas pipeline deal, Iran has invited Indian and Pakistani petroleum ministers to Tehran to sort out their differences on the contentious transit fee issue.
Iran's Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari yesterday said the petroleum ministers of India and Pakistan would come to Tehran later this month to discuss the multi-billion dollar Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline project.
"We have invited the Indian petroleum minister with the Pakistanis to come here ... And they have accepted," Nozari told a news conference in Tehran yesterday.
Iran has suggested February 12 or 13 as dates for talks on the gas pipeline, media reports said here.
India's Petroleum Minister Murli Deora and his Pakistani counterpart Ahsan Ullah Khan held discussions in London on January 26 on the project, with both sides expressing their keenness to put it on stream.
Though New Delhi and Islamabad have reached an understanding on the transportation tariff payable to Pakistan, the two nations have not yet arrived at any agreement on payment of a separate transit fee to Pakistan for using its territory.
Three-fourth of the pipeline will be passing through Pakistan which will also use the pipeline for providing gas to its consumers.
The pipeline is to be laid in the three nations separately. Iran would lay a 1,100-km pipeline from the Persian Gulf to the Iran-Pakistan border, while Pakistan would lay a 1,035 km from its border with Iran to the Indian border. India would then pipe the gas to consumption centres.
The total cost of the project was estimated to be over seven billion dollars in 2006. PTI
Pak govt warns news channels against violating regulations
Islamabad, Feb 3 (PTI) Pakistan government has issued a fresh warning to the country's news channels, saying they could be banned if they violated media regulations imposed during last year's emergency rule.
Caretaker Information Minister Nisar Memon said the TV channels would face "a November 3-like action" if they continue to flout the regulations of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA).
All Pakistani and foreign news channel were taken off cable networks after President Pervez Musharraf had imposed emergency rule on November 3 last year. The Pakistani channels were allowed to return to the airwaves after their managements signed a government-mandated code of conduct.
Talking to journalists in Hyderabad yesterday, Memon made it clear that transmission could be suspended if any channel was found violating the laws. "I urge these TV channels to abide by articles of their licence as they have pledged not to violate them." "It would have been better had the government stopped on day one the TV channels for violating the rules," Memon said.
Memon also cautioned former military officers who have been demanding Musharraf's resignation to remain "within their limits". He said the Pakistan Ex-Servicemen Society was a welfare organisation and should focus on the welfare of retire service personnel.
If they were "so anxious to indulge in politics, they should enter it lawfully", he said. Musharraf was elected with a large mandate and the "unelected ex-servicemen were polluting the environment for free elections through their irresponsible statements", he said. PTI
Private sector has big role in education: Chidambaram
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 3 (PTI) Calling upon the private sector to play a major role in providing higher education, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said as long as regulatory bodies were in place, it did not matter whether institutions were run by government or private bodies.
"Side by side the government, the private sector should come forward to promote education to transform India into a knowledge-based and wealth-creating society," Chidambaram said while inaugurating the 'professorship' instituted by State Bank of Travancore (SBT) for Kerala University's Institute of Management of Kerala.
As long as there were regulatory bodies that established and enforced standards, it would not matter whether institutions of higher education were set up and run by the government or private bodies, he said.
One such institution was the Indian School of Management in Hyderabad which had been rated as one of the top 20 business schools in the country, he said.
Noting the UPA government was committed to carry out the decision to provide 54 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes in higher education, he said achieving this needed capacity expansion of the existing institutions.
Another key area where private agencies could make significant contribution was skill training to help children who did not move beyond school education, to come up in life, he said. PTI
Capitalist investment important for development: Buddhadeb
Kolkata, Feb 3 (PTI) Batting for capitalist investment again, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today said not accepting proposals of US, Japan, China and Germany will "allow others to bypass us leaving us behind" as far as industrialisation is concerned.
"The USA is interested to invest in Information Technology in the country, China has proposed investment in the field of electricity and if we don't accept their proposals then we will be left behind allowing the others to bypass us," Bhattacharjee told a rally organised by the party's youth wing DYFI.
Reiterating that capitalist investment was necessary Bhattacharjee said, "We know with capitalist investment, there will be labour exploitation and personal profit but we don't have any other alternative." Admitting that Nandigram was a mistake, Bhattacharjee said that did not mean the party and the government had retracted from its aim of making a chemical hub.
"We have shifted the proposed chemical hub to Nayachar but we didn't stop (the project) because that will provide one lakh job. The proposed steel plant at Salbani will provide 18,000 jobs. The car factory at Singur has created problem for some people but that will provide 6,000 jobs," he said.
"All these jobs are for the students and youths of our state and we cannot stop our development programme for some reactionary forces," he said.
Urging youths to come forward and reach out to the people so that they can understand the importance of development, he said, "We have become self sufficient in agriculture and we will become the front-runner in industry too. We need the support of the common people." PTI
Govt considering Air India proposal to give shares to workers
New Delhi, Feb 3 (PTI) The government is considering a proposal by Air India to give out some of its equity capital as shares to the firm's employees to encourage their participation in running the national carrier.
"As of now, there is no decision on the proposal by the Nacil, which runs Air India. It is aimed at encouraging the employees participation in running the national carrier. The percentage of the capital share and other details would be announced later," Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Chawla told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on "Fast Growing Civil Aviation: Managing Safety".
The government is likely to issue up to 5 per cent of National Aviation Company India Ltd's (Nacil) equity capital as shares to employees.
To a query whether the national carrier would be privatised, he said, "the government has not yet taken a decision on this." Chawla said the test runs in the newly-constructed Bengaluru and Hyderabad greenfield airports, which will become operational in March-April this year, will start soon.
"Both the airports are ready in terms of quality and air control and test runs are expected to start soon," Chawla said.
Earlier, inaugurating the conference, he said the government was contemplating to separate the role of investigator from the regulator - Director General of Civil Aviation -- in an international context to enhance safety and security of the air passengers.
"We have plans to separate the role of the regulator from the investigator in an international perspective," Chawla said. PTI
Air pollution making Delhi children asthmatic: survey
Diganta Biswas
New Delhi, Feb 3 (PTI) With the continuous exposure to air pollution, the number of children suffering from chronic bronchial asthma is on rise in the national capital, reveals a survey.
"We examined children of age group 7-15 years in nine industrial and residential pockets of Delhi. Among total of 3,456 children examined, 7.7 per cent were diagnosed having asthma, which was highest in industrial areas, 11.8 per cent," says Dr Raj Kumar of Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute, who was associated with the project.
The survey was conducted in Shahdara, Sahibabad, Nizamuddin, Siri Fort, Ashoka Vihar and Janakpuri. Also two rural pockets -- Dhallupura and Jagatpur -- were surveyed.
"Today indoor air pollution level is becoming a matter of concern in big metros like Delhi, which is triggering asthmatic symptoms among the children residing in those areas," Dr Kumar says.
The 4-year-long study was carried out jointly by the representatives of Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute and the Geology Department of Delhi University.
In the last few years, children's health has also deteriorated due to exposure of air pollutants in indoor environments i.e. indoor air pollution, the survey points out.
"Generally people express their concern about outdoor air pollution caused by industrial emissions, but nobody thinks that it can affect children's health inside the home as well," he adds.
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder, with the symptoms of cough, common cold, sneezing and feeling of heaviness on chest, besides breathing problems, doctors say. PTI
Movies on soldiers:remove bureaucratic shackles, say directors
Amit Kumar Das
New Delhi, Jan 26 (PTI) With none of the movies made on the Indian army in the last one decade making it to the box office, national award winning directors say that creative limitations imposed by rules should be removed so as to make movies on the force more interesting and creative rather than just Pakistan bashing.
"Indian soldiers are the most underpaid and overworked group and it is important to address their cause. We need to get deep into the psyche of a soldier and talk about their problems in our films, says National award-winning director Rahul Dholakia, who is making his next film, 'Lamhe' on Kashmir, where he wishes to touch upon the lives of the
soldiers.
Agrees filmmaker Jahnu Baruah of 'Maine Gandhi ko nahi mara' fame.
"You need to depict conflict and war while making films on the Indian soldier. You don't have creative freedom. You can't criticise them, you can't make an anti-establishment film, everything has to be in favour of them," says the nine times National award winning director.
"I have been approached many time to make films on Indian Army but I couldn't because there are a lot of hassles. There is restrictions in everything, one has to get thousands of permission and the most insulting thing is when you have to approve the script by the authorities," adds Baruah.
Interestingly, after Border (1997), no other film on Indian Army has been able to touch a chord with the audience.
Dholakia says that it is time to move on from just Pakistan bashing.
"The problem with Bollywood is that you have to make everything heroic and larger than life. we have to make it war-oriented. My question is why can't We go beyond Pakistan and war," Dholakia says. PTI
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