Tribals appease ‘evil spirits’ as Japanese Encephalitis claims children’s lives

Silence greets visitors at the Potrel and Usakapalli hamlets in Korukonda block of Odisha’s Malkangiri district. These hamlets border Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

After 24 children aged below five died of a disease suspected to be Japanese Encephalitis in less than two months, tribal people — mostly the primitive Koyas — are under the grip of fear of “evil spirits.” They are exposed to poor sanitary conditions as their houses are located near cow and pig sheds. Despite that they believe that these spirits are responsible for snatching away the lives of their young. On Wednesday, the residents of Usakapalli conducted a ritual, with egg, rice and some leaves and herbs, in the house of Irma Podiani, one of the five traditional healers in the hamlet (called disari orgunia ) to keep the spirits away. “We think someone tried to steal the treasure belonging to the village deity ( grama rakhi ). Now she is furious and killed nine children from our village,” Irma told TheHindu .

Superstitions reign supreme in most tribal hamlets in the district, which has 60 per cent Scheduled Tribes out of a population of 4.5 lakh. “What can we do when they ignore our pleas for immediate reference to hospital and fall prey to quacks?” says Dr. S.B. Panda, Chief District Medical Officer. The suspected Japanese Encephalitis deaths were caused within 48 to 72 hours of the children developing symptoms such as vomiting, stomach-ache, fever and convulsions. “I took my son Babuli, 2, on a bike to Balimela, 10 km away. The doctor discharged him after giving a tonic. The next day he died and I had to bury him along with that tonic next day,” said a shell-shocked Irma Sodi (27), a paddy farmer.

Health workers say that despite their efforts to convince the villagers, they consume herbs and leaves given to them by the local healers. In 2009, villagers in Potrel, a village 20 km from Malkangiri, brought a healer from Mathili by pooling about Rs. 40,000 to perform a yagna after 10 children died due to viral fever.

 

Japanese Encephalitis

Japanese encephalitis is a viral disease that infects animals and humans. It is transmitted by mosquitoes and in humans causes inflammation of the membranes around the brain. Intensification and expansion of irrigated rice production systems in South and South-East Asia over the past 20 years have had an important impact on the disease burden caused by Japanese encephalitis. Where irrigation expands into semi-arid areas, the flooding of the fields at the start of each cropping cycle leads to an explosive build-up of the mosquito population. This may cause the circulation of the virus to spill over from their usual hosts (birds and pigs) into the human population.

 

The disease and how it affects people

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a disease caused by a flavivirus that affects the membranes around the brain. Most JE virus infections are mild (fever and headache) or without apparent symptoms, but approximately 1 in 200 infections results in severe disease characterized by rapid onset of high fever, headache, neck stiffness, disorientation, coma, seizures, spastic paralysis and death. The case fatality rate can be as high as 60% among those with disease symptoms; 30% of those who survive suffer from lasting damage to the central nervous system. In areas where the JE virus is common, encephalitis occurs mainly in young children because older children and adults have already been infected and are immune.

 

The cause

The virus causing Japanese encephalitis is transmitted by mosquitoes belonging to the Culex tritaeniorhynchus and Culex vishnui groups, which breed particularly in flooded rice fields. The virus circulates in ardeid birds (herons and egrets). Pigs are amplifying hosts, in that the virus reproduces in pigs and infects mosquitoes that take blood meals, but does not cause disease. The virus tends to spill over into human populations when infected mosquito populations build up explosively and the human biting rate increases (these culicines are normally zoophilic, i.e. they prefer to take blood meals from animals).

Distribution

Japanese encephalitis is a leading cause of viral encephalitis in Asia with 30,000-50,000 clinical cases reported annually. It occurs from the islands of the Western Pacific in the east to the Pakistani border in the west, and from Korea in the north to Papua New Guinea in the south. Because of the critical role of pigs, its presence in Muslim countries is negligible. JE distribution is very significantly linked to irrigated rice production combined with pig rearing.

Scope of the Problem

Japanese encephalitis is a patchy disease and important outbreaks have occurred in a number of places in the past 15 years, including South India (Arkot district in Tamil Nadu) and in Sri Lanka (Mahaweli System H).

Interventions

An effective killed vaccine is available for Japanese encephalitis, but it is expensive and requires one primary vaccination followed by two boosters. This is an adequate intervention for travellers, but has limited public health value in areas where health services have limited resources. An inexpensive live-attenuated vaccine is used in China, but is not available elsewhere. Chemical vector control is not a solution, as the breeding sites (irrigated rice fields) are extensive. In some rice production systems faced with water shortages, however, certain water management measures (alternate wetting and drying) may be applied that reduce vector populations. Personal protection (using repellents and/or mosquito nets) will be effective under certain conditions. Eliminating the pig population is often a measure taken in the wake of outbreaks. Certainly, the introduction of pig rearing as a secondary source of income for rice-growing farmers in receptive areas must never be encouraged.

 

US Election results

 

Divided States of America gives Obama second chance

Ultimately Mr. Obama’s victory came down to a solid “ground-game” lead over Mr. Romney in battleground States, which Team Obama likely consolidated over the summer by focusing on voter mobilisation efforts in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Colorado, Virginia, New Hampshire and Iowa.

The President also scored strongly with his support base comprising women, youth and non-white voters, reports indicated. He defied historical precedent to be re-elected with the highest unemployment rate, 7.9 per cent, “of any President returned to office since Franklin Roosevelt in 1936, and became only the second Democrat since Roosevelt to win another term,” it was noted.

Bera wins, other Indian-Americans lose

Dr. Ami Bera was on the cusp of creating history by becoming only the third Indian-American ever to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, as five others from the community bit the dust in the polls.

Mr. Bera (45) had a lead of just 184 votes against his Republican rival and incumbent Dan Lungren, when all the votes were counted for the Seventh Congressional District in California.

So far only two Indian-Americans have been elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Dalip Singh Saund was the first Indian-American elected to the U.S. Congress in the 1950s, while Bobby Jindal was a House member from 2005 to 2008 before being elected as the Governor of Louisiana.

 

First openly gay Senator

Tammy Baldwin on Wednesday became the first openly gay Senator in the U.S. history when she defeated former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson.

Though 50-year-old Democrat made history, her sexual orientation was largely a non-issue in the race, The Huffington Post reported.

 

Re-election upsets many in Israel

Abiding by political correctness, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has congratulated President Barack Obama on his re-election but there is apprehension in Tel Aviv that the next four years with the second Obama administration may not offer a smooth ride.

While he has avoided taking sides in public during the U.S. presidential campaign, it is well known that the Israeli Prime Minister and Mitt Romney, are old friends. In an article in April, The New York Timesreported that the two have known each other since 1976, when they became colleagues as corporate advisers in Boston Consulting, a U.S. business consulting firm. The Democratic Party criticised Mr. Netanyahu for allegedly intervening and siding with Mr. Romney during the presidential campaign.

Mr. Netanyahu had a difficult relationship with Mr. Obama during his first term. Mr. Obama refused to be pushed by Israel on taking action against Iran, and the White House was miffed by Israeli policy on settlements in the occupied West Bank. In September the President declined to meet Mr. Netanyahu during his visit to New York for the U.N. General Assembly session.

Unsurprisingly, Mr. Netanyahu chose to deliver a terse message of congratulations to Mr. Obama after his re-election. He said the “strategic alliance between Israel and United States is stronger than ever”, and pledged to “continue working with President Obama in order to safeguard the interests crucial for the security of Israel’s citizens”.

Some members of Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud Party were explicit in airing their misgivings about dealing with Mr. Obama.

Israel’s Ynetnews quoted a Likud lawmaker: “Obama is not good for Israel and we’re concerned that he will try to pressure Israel into making concessions because of his chilly relationship with Netanyahu.”

Two-state solution

The Palestinian Authority (PA), which has found little common ground with the Netanyahu administration, was quick to remind Mr. Obama that he should act against Israeli settlement activities and other violations that have targeted the Palestinian people. Top negotiator of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Saeb Erekat hoped Mr. Obama would focus on “democracy, peace and stability in the region in his second term and implement a two-state solution with Israel”.

 

Tigiev stripped of medal

Uzbekistan freestyle wrestler Soslan Tigiev has been stripped of his 2012 Olympics bronze medal after testing positive for a banned substance.

India-ASEAN Cooperation

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
Brunei Darussalam then joined on 7 January 1984, Viet Nam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999, making up what is today the ten Member States of ASEAN.

ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM)
Since ASEAN was established in 1967, the Foreign Affairs Ministers of all the member countries meet annually, with informal meetings and retreats in between. The 45th AMM was held in Phnom Penh on 6-13 July 2012. India will be participating in all the meetings of which it is a member. For example, ASEAN-India Ministerial Meeting, East Asia Summit Ministerial Meeting and ASEAN Regional Forum Ministerial Meeting. Last ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (44th AMM) took place in Bali, Indonesia, 16-23 July 2011.

 

ASEAN Regional Forum
The Twenty-Sixth ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and Post Ministerial Conference, which were held in Singapore on 23-25 July 1993, agreed to establish the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). The inaugural meeting of the ARF was held in Bangkok on 25 July 1994.
Objectives :
The objectives of the ASEAN Regional Forum are outlined in the First ARF Chairman's Statement (1994), namely :

• To foster constructive dialogue and consultation on political and security issues of common interest and concern; and
• To make significant contributions to efforts towards confidence-building and preventive diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific region.

The 27th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (1994) stated that "The ARF could become an effective consultative Asia-Pacific Forum for promoting open dialogue on political and security cooperation in the region. In this context, ASEAN should work with its ARF partners to bring about a more predictable and constructive pattern of relations in the Asia Pacific."

Achievements

• On the tenth year of the ASEAN Regional Forum, the ARF Ministers met in Phnom Penh on 18 June 2003 and declared that "despite the great diversity of its membership, the forum had attained a record of achievements that have contributed to the maintenance of peace, security and cooperation in the region." They cited in particular:
• The usefulness of the ARF as a venue for multilateral and bilateral dialogue and consultations and the establishment of effective principles for dialogue and cooperation, featuring decision-making by consensus, non-interference, incremental progress and moving at a pace comfortable to all.
• The willingness among ARF participants to discuss a wide range of security issues in a multilateral setting and mutual confidence gradually built by cooperative activities and cultivation of habits of dialogue and consultation on political and security issues.
• The transparency promoted by such ARF measures as the exchange of information relating to defence policy and the publication of defence white papers and
• The networking developed among national security, defence and military officials of ARF participants.

India-ASEAN Cooperation

• Our relations with ASEAN have grown since we became its Sectoral-level partner in 1992, an event which coincided with our own economic reforms process. These events enabled us to re-fashion our ‘Look East’ policy with ASEAN. The essential ingredient of this policy was the renewal of our civilisational linkages with our neighbours in South East and East Asia and the need to integrate with South East and East Asia whose economies have immense potential as partners for a dynamic Indian economy on a high growth path. This relationship has been growing steadily and has acquired qualitatively new dimensions, particularly since 2002, when we began our annual Summit level dialogue with ASEAN.
• ASEAN-India cooperation now covers a wide field, including Trade & Investment, Science & Technology, Information and Communication technology, biotechnology, advanced materials, space sciences and their applications, tourism, human resource development, transport & infrastructure, health and pharmaceuticals. Several new initiatives were announced at the last India-ASEAN Summit in October 2010.
• An important cornerstone of our engagement with ASEAN in terms of parliamentary contacts was reached when India was granted observer status at the 31st ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly at Hanoi in September 2010. This gave impetus to the people to people contacts between the people of the vibrant member states of ASEAN and the largest democracy in the world, India.
• Over the past few decades, together we have added strategic importance to our developing ties. India’s participation in the ASEAN Regional Forum and ADMM+ process has added depth to our relationship. India strongly supports various initiatives taken to improve connectivity between countries in the region. We are committed to bringing India and ASEAN even closer to each other through exploring our synergies to realize full potential of our relationship.
• ASEAN-India Agreement on Trade-in-Goods is a major step forward in this direction and we are looking forward to concluding the Agreement on Trade in Investment and Services. We would like to work with ASEAN to bring about our vision of regional economic integration and put together a Comprehensive Economic Partnership in East Asia.
• In this quest for enhanced regional co operation and integration, we are engaged with several ASEAN countries’ through forums such as BIMSTEC, Mekong Ganga Cooperation, and East Asia Summit. Our participation in the East Asia Summit is a natural corollary of our growing multi-faceted engagement with ASEAN and our common desire for enhancing economic cooperation in East Asia which we consider an open and inclusive process.
• India and ASEAN have adopted a draft Plan of Action for 2010-15 in October, 2010 at India-ASEAN Summit at Hanoi.
• We are celebrating the 20th anniversary of ASEAN –India dialogue partnership and 10th anniversary of ASEAN –India summit level partnership hence 2012 marks the commemorative year of the partnership between ASEAN and India. India is going to host this commemorative summit in December 2012.

12th IOR-ARC Council of Ministers Meeting

The 12th Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Co-operation (IOR-ARC) Council of Ministers meeting was held in Gurgaon on November 2, 2012

 

Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Co-operation (IOR-ARC)

IOR-ARC, a regional cooperation initiative of the Indian Ocean Rim countries, was established in Mauritius in March 1997 with the aim of promoting economic and technical cooperation. IOR-ARC is the only pan-Indian ocean grouping. It brings together countries from three continents having different sizes, economic strengths, and a wide diversity of languages, cultures. It aims to create a platform for trade, socio-economic and cultural cooperation in the Indian Ocean rim area, which constitutes a population of about two billion people. The Indian Ocean Rim is rich in strategic and precious minerals, metals and other natural resources, marine resources and energy, all of which can be sourced from Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), continental shelves and the deep seabed.
Presently it has 19 members- Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Malaysia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, UAE and Yemen. There are five Dialogue Partners namely China, Egypt, France, Japan and UK and two Observers namely, Indian Ocean Research Group (IORG) and Indian Ocean Tourism Organisation (IOTO), Oman.
The objectives of the Association are as follows:

• To promote the sustained growth and balanced development of the region and of the Member States, and to create common ground for regional economic co-operation.
• To focus on those areas of economic co-operation which provide maximum opportunities to develop shared interests and reap mutual benefits.
• To explore all possibilities and avenues for trade liberalisation, to remove impediments to, and lower barriers towards, freer and enhanced flow of goods, services, investment, and technology within the region.
• To encourage close interaction of trade and industry, academic institutions, scholars and the peoples of the Member States without any discrimination among Member States and without prejudice to obligations under other regional economic and trade co-operation arrangements.
• To strengthen co-operation and dialogue among Member States in international fora on global economic issues, and where desirable to develop shared strategies and take common positions in the international fora on issues of mutual interest; and
• To promote co-operation in development of human resources, particularly through closer linkages among training institutions, universities and other specialised institutions of the Member States.

The Association has its own Charter and guidelines to include projects in its Work Programme.
Structure:
The apex body of the IOR-ARC is the Council of (Foreign) Ministers (COM). The meeting of the COM is preceded by the meetings of the Indian Ocean Rim Academic Group (IORAG), Indian Ocean Rim Business Forum (IORBF), Working Group on Trade and Investment (WGTI), and the Committee of Senior Officials (CSO). The Secretariat of IOR-ARC is located at Port Louis, Mauritius.

 

Main decisions of the 11th Meeting of the Council of Ministers:
The 11th meeting of COM was held in Bengaluru on 15 November 2011 where India assumed Chair of IOR-ARC and Australia assumed the Vice Chair. India worked with other members to build consensus on themes of contemporary relevance to all members and for IOR-ARC to focus on in the coming years. Six priority areas were identified to take forward the cooperation under IOR-ARC: (i) Maritime Safety and Security; (ii) Trade and Investment Facilitation; (iii) Fisheries Management; (iv) Disaster Risk Reduction; (v) Academic and S&T Cooperation; and (vi) Tourism Promotion and Cultural Exchanges.

Economy of the Region

• In 2011, the combined GDP of IORARC member countries increased to an estimated US$ 6.5 trillion from US$ 5.7 trillion in 2010. The combined GDP of IORARC countries is expected to cross US$ trillion by 2016.
• During the period from 2001 to 2011, the total trades of the region more than tripled, from US$ 1.1 trillion in 2001 to US$ 3.5 trillion in 2010. Exports increased from US$ 564 billion in 2001 to US$ 1.8 trillion in 2010. The imports by the member countries have grown from US$ 507.6 in 2001 to US$ 1.7 trillion.
• The share of IORARC region in global trade also increased from 8.6 % in 2001 to 11.6% in 2010.
• India and IORARC Region: India’s total trade with the IORARC region has grown more than eight-fold from US$ 10 billion to US$ 156.3 billion during the period of 2001-2010. India’s exports to the region amounted to US $ 69 billion while imports amounted to US$ 87.3 billion in 2010. India contributed 15.6 % of total intra-regional trade in 2010.

Sonia Gandhi Chief Guest at Convocation of NIFT Rae Bareli

The Union Minister for Commerce, Industry and Textiles, Shri Anand Sharma has said that with the recent policy initiatives and arrival of brands like Zara, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Jimmy Choo, new flavours will be added to the Indian luxury market which will not only give consumers a better choice but also throw open a plethora of opportunities for our young designers for better industry placement in top notch international MNCs. Speaking as the Guest of Honour at the Convocation of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), at Rae Bareli today, Shri Sharma exhorted the young fashion designers to strive for gaining credibility for Indian brands made by Indian people. The UPA Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi was the Chief Guest at Convocation Ceremony and gave away the degrees to 59 new graduates. This was second batch passing out of the institute. She also laid the foundation of the New Building for NIFT Rae Bareli.
Shri Sharma said that the government is committed to invest in the institution building and invest in the young generation. He expressed hope that the young designers will enrich the traditional Indian textiles and will work in close contact with the traditional artisans. “New technology has created new stresses for the traditional artisans, there is need to create new opportunities for them,” said Shri Sharma.
Smt. Sonia Gandhi praised the social outreach programme conducted by the institute for the traditional handloom weavers and expressed hope that the young fashion designer will create their own idioms of Indian beauty and identity in the designs of 21st century. Striking a personal note, Smt. Gandhi recalled that the NIFT was conceived during the tenure of Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi and remembered the personal initiative of the late Prime Minister for the establishment of the institution. Continuing on the personal note, Smt. Sonia Gandhi said that current designers should revisit the appeal of simplicity as some of the recent trends have succumbed to the temptation of over embellishment. ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬“Fashion does not mean opulence. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had an innate sense of fashion and simplicity and her elegance was admired all over the world.”
Secretary Textiles Smt. Kiran Dhingra, President NIFT, Shri Venu Srinivasan also addressed the gathering. Director NIFT Rae Bareli Dr. A K Khare presented the academic report and DG NIFT Shri P K Gera was also present.
Earlier in the day, Smt. Gandhi and Shri Sharma visited the Rae Bareli campus of the Footwear Design and Development Institute and interacted with the faculty and students. She also visited coach factory at Lalganj and waived green flag for the release of new modern coaches. She also laid foundation for the doubling of railway line from Uttaratiya to Rae Bareli. She also distributed job cards for one member of the families who gave land for the project.

India and ASEAN Agree to Explore Cooperation in Renewable Energy

 

The first ASEAN-India Ministerial Meeting on cooperation in Renewable Energy was held in the capital today. Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Minister of New and Renewable Energy while inaugurating the meeting said that this meeting is a unique opportunity to catalize the India-ASEAN Renewable Energy family. He underlined the importance of Renewable Energy in India’s energy security, for achieving its goal of providing reliable energy supply and access through a diverse and sustainable energy mix. He stated that ASEAN member countries and India have several commonalities in their quest for targeting renewable energy. Globally, renewable energy has started making a positive impact on energy supply. The Global Renewable Energy Status Report 2012 reveals that renewable energy has grown to supply 16.7 per cent of the global energy consumption.
Dr. Farooq Abdullah stated that today India stands among the top five countries of the world in terms of renewable energy installed capacity and at present renewable power, with over 26 GW installed capacity, represents about 12.5 percent of the total installed power generation capacity in India. He further said that India aims to achieve about 55 GW of renewable power by 2017. Our renewable energy programme is primarily private sector driven and offers significant investment and business opportunities, he added. The Minister informed that the investment in renewable energy in India has now exceeded US $ 10 billion per year.
This meeting is a beginning to explore new horizons, new pathways to cooperation and new solutions to existing challenges. It aims to foster greater dialogue, greater sharing and increased interactions at institutional as well as industry levels among ASEAN countries and India. Dr. Abdullah, envisioned that every citizen of ASEAN-India region should have access to clean, reliable and affordable energy.
It may be recalled that ASEAN-India partnership has completed 20 years of existance. To celebrate this successful partnership, the Government of India hosted this meeting of the Ministers of Renewable Energy of ASEAN countries and India. The meeting deliberated and discussed the policy and regulatory framework for promotion of renewable energy in ASEAN member countries and India. The issues of financing of renewable energy, cooperation in research and development, technology transfer were some of the issues that came up for discussion.
The meeting was attended by H.E. Shri Pehin Dato Mohammad Yasmin Umar, Minister of Energy, Brunei Darussalam, H.E Shri Dato’ Sri Peter Chin Fah Kui, Minister of Energy, Green Technology & Water, Malaysia and H.E. Mr. Tran Quoc Khanh, Wice Minister of MOIT, Vietnam. The other delegations were headed by respective Ambassadors and High Commissioners. The Ministers of ASEAN member countries presented the present status of renewable energy utilization in their respective countries and all of them reiterated the need for augmenting renewable energy applications in view of ensuing needs and also to curb emission of Green House Gases. Many ASEAN countries sought cooperation in Solar, Wind, Biomass, Small Hydro Technologies including capacity building from India. At the end, the Chairman’s Statement on joint cooperation for renewable energy applications was adopted by the Ministers and Heads of Delegations of ASEAN country and India.
Prior to this meeting, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), organized an ‘ASEAN-India Workshop on Cooperation in Renewable Energy’ of experts and policy planners from ASEAN countries and India on 5-6 November 2012 at Vigyan Bhavan New Delhi. The workshop aimed at sharing of experience among participating countries on development and deployment of renewable energy and to identify the institutions for establishing long term cooperation between institutions in India and ASEAN countries. The workshop was attended by 17 participants from 8 ASEAN member countries with over 170 delegates from all over India and from different streams of renewable energy. Over 30 experts made their presentations on the subjects of Wind, Solar photovoltaic, Solar thermal, Bio-energy, Renewable Energy Resource Assessment Techniques, Off-grid Applications and Micro-grid for Rural Electrification. The major areas of cooperation that emerged in the workshop included Experience sharing in Renewable Energy Resource Assessment using GIS and remote sensing technologies, Sharing of Renewable Energy equipment calibration and testing facilities, protocol and evaluation methods, standards and certification procedures, off-shore power supply and transmission technology utilizing wind and ocean technologies, regional network on R&D on Renewable Energy Technology facilitating sharing of best practices and lessons learnt, exchange of ideas for providing energy access to rural population through promotion of micro-grids/off-grids based on renewable technologies and sharing of experience in financing of renewable energy projects.

Judges Appointed to the High Court of Andhra Pradesh

In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of article 217 of the Constitution of India, the President has appointed Shri Justice Gurijala Krishna Mohan Reddy and Shri Justice Kolla Surya Appa Rao, Additional Judges of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, as Judges of that High Court, in that order of seniority, with effect from the date they assume charge of their office.

Shri K.Suresh Presents National Level NSCI Safety Awards, 2011 for Organisations in Manufacturing, Construction and MSME Sectors

National level NSCI Safety Awards, 2011 for organisations in manufacturing, construction and MSME sectors were today presented by the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Govt. of India, Shri Kodikunnil Suresh here at the NSCI Safety Awards Function held in the Auditorium of Scope Convention Centre, New Delhi. Speaking on the occasion Shri Suresh lauded the role of National Safety Council (NSC) for maintaining and implementing effective occupational safety & health management systems. by Shri Ravi Mathur, IAS, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Govt. of India was also present on the occasion. 

National Safety Council (NSC), an autonomous organisation in the field of Occupational Safety and Health, set up by the MOL&E, has been operating the awards scheme since 1998. 

These Awards are given to recognize factories, construction sites and MSMEs for establishing and implementing effective occupational safety & health management systems and achieving outstanding performance during the assessment period. The assessment period for the Award year 2011 for the organisations in manufacturing & MSME sectors was three years, from 2008 to 2010 and for construction establishments one year – 2010. 

The Awards committee, through rigorous assessment criteria has adjudged 61 organizations for four levels of awards from 269 entries. 

In manufacturing sector, the 1st level award, Sarva Shreshtha Suraksha Puraskar, which carries a Golden Trophy and Certificate is won by the Kakrapar Atomic Power Station of Nuclear Power Corporation Ltd. located at Anumala, Tapi, Gujarat under Group C of the awards scheme covering Power Generation – Thermal/Hydel/Nuclear Power Plants of the awards scheme. 

The construction division of Lanco Infratech Ltd, Pathadih, Korba, Chhatisgarh has bagged the Sarva Shreshtha Suraksha Puraskar in the construction sector for their project – Lanco Amarkantak Power Ltd; Unit 3 & 4. 

In MSME sector Nobel Synthetics Pvt. Ltd, Navi Mumbai is the winner of the Sarva Shreshtha Suraksha Puraskar. 

NIFTEM, A World-Class Institution on Food Processing, inaugurated at Kundli, Haryana

If there is one sector that has been growing faster than agriculture as well as manufacturing sectors, has the potential to create jobs in the rural areas, bridge the gap between the price paid by the consumer and that received by the farmer and create value addition and earn foreign exchange by export of value-added farm produce, it is the Food Processing Sector. In addition, this sector does not only remain a bridge between farmers and entrepreneurs, it converts the farmer into an entrepreneur.

This was stated by the Agriculture and Food Processing Industries Minister, Shri Sharad Pawar after inaugurating NIFTEM, a world-class institution in food processing sector, at Kundli, Haryana, today. Haryana Chief Minister, Shri Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Minister of Water Resources Shri Harish Rawat, Ministers of State Shri Tariq Anwar and Shri C D Mahant, Member of the Planning Commission, Shri Arun Maira, and local Members of Parliament and Legislative Assembly were present on the occasion.

While highlighting the huge potential of this ‘sunrise sector’, Shri Pawar also spoke about the challenges the sector faces and how NIFTEM will help the sector to grow. “Though a sunrise sector, it is facing various bottlenecks like lack of infrastructure, packaging and grading centres quality control and testing facilities. However, I consider, lack of human resource as one of the most important impediments in the development of this sector. Many entrepreneurs meet me and tell how difficult it is to get skilled manpower to work. It is in this background, the foundation of NIFTEM was laid. This institute is expected to bring a pioneering work in development of Human Resource in the food processing sector,” he said.

Shri Pawar said that NIFTEM will provide one-stop solution to the food processing sector. He elaborated: “Besides developing world class managerial talent and advanced knowhow in the area of food science, food technology and management, it will function as a knowledge repository in the food processing domain, conduct frontier area research for development of the sector and facilitate business incubation services. The Institute will offer high quality education, research and management programme specific to the food industry, provide referral advice on food standards, disseminate knowledge on the food sector and provide business incubation facility.
-2- The Institute will also provide other core activities to bridge the skill gap between demand and availability, provide complete spectrum of consultancy services to food processing industries, strive for promoting Innovation in the sector and work for upgradation of SME clusters.”
One important aspect of its functioning is that it has ‘theme centres’ on different sectors such as dairying, cereal-based products, animal protein, beverages, confectionery, and fruit and vegetable based foods. There are also themes cutting across these sectors, e.g. management, packaging, food standards and testing, Shri Pawar said.
Earlier, Minister of Water Resources, Shri Harish Rawat expressed the hope that NIFTEM will bridge the serious shortage of skilled manpower in this sector.
The MOS, Shri Tariq Anwar emphasised the need for modernising the complex distribution system of farm commodities. Chancellor of the institute, Shri Rakesh Kacker gave details of the state of art facilities created at the institute.
NIFTEM or the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management has recently been conferred Deemed University status. The institute has begun its first academic session this summer. It confers B. Tech. (Food Technology and Management), M. Tech. and Ph. D. in the area of Food Technology and Management. The Minister informed that the first academic session, which began this summer, has 115 students in B. Tech and 88 in M. Tech, and these students ranked quite high in competitive examinations.

 

Highlights on Telecom Subscription Data

Broadband subscription reached 15.08 million in September 2012 from 14.82 million in August 2012.

The number of telephone subscribers in India decreased to 937.70 million at the end of September, 2012 from 939.57 million at the end of August 2012, thereby registering a monthly growth rate of -0.20%. The share of urban subscribers has declined to 63.53% from 63.77% whereas share of rural subscribers has increased to 36.47% in the month of September 2012. With this, the overall Teledensity in India reached 77.04 at the end of September 2012 from 77.28 of the previous month.

Subscription in the urban areas decreased from 599.20 million in August 2012 to 595.69 million at the end of September 2012. Subscription in rural areas increased from 340.37 million to 342.01 million during the same period. The monthly growth rate of urban and rural subscription is -0.59% and 0.48% respectively. The overall urban Teledensity has decreased from 162.35 to 161.13 and Rural Teledensity increased from 40.20 to 40.36.

Vice President Presented with ‘Bharat Scouts and Guides Flag Sticker’

The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari was presented with the ‘Bharat Scouts and Guides Flag Sticker’ by the Scouts and Guides on the occasion of its Foundation Day here today. The Vice President wished them with good success in life. Shri Rameshwar Thakur, President, Bharat Scouts and Guides and Shri Lalit Mohan Jha, the National Commissioner were present on the occasion.
The Bharat Scouts and Guides is the largest youth organisation in the country functioning as a purely voluntary and non-political organisation since 7th November 1950. All the different scouts and guide associations merged together to form a unified organisation called Bharat Scouts and Guides. Every year 7th November is celebrated as ‘Foundation Day’. It is also being celebrated as the ‘Bharat Scouts and Guides Flag Day’ since its golden jubilee in the year 2000.

President dedicates new integrated terminal building of Swami Vivekananda Airport to the nation

 

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee dedicated to the nation a new Integrated Terminal Building of Swami Vivekananda Airport at Raipur today (November 7, 2012).Shri Pranab Mukherjee urged the youth of Chhattisgarh to learn from the ideals of Swami Vivekananda and equip themselves in every possible way to contribute to the development of the State. He was addressing the students at Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama at Narayanpur in Chhattisgarh today.

 

On the occasion, the President laid the foundation stones of two 500 – seat Hostels of the Tribal Welfare Department and an also that of an Industrial Training Institute Building of Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama. He also handed over the keys of eight buses to Secretary, Ramakrishna Mission, Narayanpur. Besides, keys of five bicycles were also handed over by the President to the students.

The tragic fight that changed the sport

 

Thirty years ago this month, South Korean boxer Kim Duk-Koo entered a Las Vegas ring for a world championship bout that would end with his death, trigger at least one suicide and change the sport forever.

For a generation of South Koreans, millions of whom watched live on television, the fight between Kim and world lightweight champion, Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, remains a powerful memory.

Now a new book and accompanying documentary that coincide with the 30th anniversary, hope to shed fresh light on the bout, its tragic aftermath and the impact it had on the lives and families of its two protagonists.

For Kim, then 23 and fighting for the first time in the United States, the glitz of Caesar’s Palace with its celebrity audience including the likes of Frank Sinatra was a different universe from his impoverished upbringing in Korea.

“I remember when we landed in Las Vegas for the fight,” his trainer, Kim Yoon-Gu, now 56, recalled. “The city was all lit up at night. It was like landing on a garden of flowers in the desert. We’d never seen anything like it,” he said at the boxing gym he runs in Seoul.

US boxing commentators had pretty much written Kim Duk-Koo off before the November 13, 1982 clash with Mancini, a powerful 21-year-old from Youngstown, Ohio making his second defence of the world title.

But Kim was confident. Before leaving Seoul he had a carpenter rig up a mock coffin which he said he would use to bring back Mancini after the fight.

A brutal fight

The fight when it came was a particularly brutal one. For 13 rounds, the two men went toe-to-toe in a slugging match that left both with badly swollen faces and struggling to see through bruised, puffed-up eyes.

At the end of the 13th, Kim Yoon-Gu tried to lift his fighter, telling him Mancini was exhausted and exhorting him to put in one last effort to finish him off.

“He clenched his teeth, nodded and said ‘Yes, I’ll do that’. And that was it. That was the last thing he ever said,” Kim said.

At the beginning of the 14th, Mancini connected with a straight right that snapped Kim’s head back and sent him crashing to the canvas.

The Korean managed to haul himself up by the ropes to beat the count, but referee Richard Green stepped in to stop the fight.

Kim Yoon-Gu had been tending to his corner and missed the actual knockout blow, but when he saw Kim on the ground, he knew at once that the fight was over.

“He was obviously hurt, but at that time we had no idea it was so serious,” he said.

Back in his corner, Kim collapsed and was taken from the ring on a stretcher to hospital where he was diagnosed with a blood clot on the brain and underwent emergency surgery.

He lapsed into a coma from which he never recovered and four days later he died.

On the flight back to South Korea, a traumatised Kim Yoon-Gu locked himself in the toilet. “I cried and cried until we landed. I thought about quitting the sport entirely. In the end, I decided to stick with it, but it was a very, very difficult time,” he said at his gym where photos and posters of Kim Duk-Koo adorn the walls.

Redemption

The consequences of the Kim-Mancini bout were far-reaching and tragic in their own right. Four months after her son’s death, Kim’s distraught mother killed herself by drinking a bottle of pesticide.

Four months after that, referee Richard Green also took his own life, although there was no indication that his suicide was linked to the outcome of the fight for which he was never held in any way responsible.

Mancini, a devout Catholic, endured a prolonged period of depression and, although he fought again, was never the same boxer. “In all the obvious ways, he was haunted,” American sportswriter Mark Kriegel, author of a new biography of Mancini titled “The Good Son”.

“He also got over it. The complications for Ray have more to do with the fact that the rest of the world didn’t get over it and continued using that fight as a kind of reference point for his life,” said Kriegel.

Kriegel’s book, and an accompanying documentary of the same name, climax with an emotional reunion in June last year between Mancini and Kim’s family.

Kim’s fiancé, Lee Young-Mee, had been pregnant at the time of the 1982 title fight and seven months later gave birth to a son, Kim Jiwan, now 29.

While being interviewed by Kriegel for the book, Jiwan had suggested a trip to the United States to meet with Mancini.

“As full of duty and obligation as Ray was, he wasn’t going to turn down a request from the son of the man who, without intention, died at his hands,” said Kriegel.

At the meeting in Mancini’s home, Jiwan admitted to the ‘hatred’ he once felt for the boxer, before absolving him of any blame. “I think it was not your fault,” he said.

The Kim-Mancini bout proved to be a watershed in boxing, triggering a series of major changes to the sport. Championship bouts were reduced from 15 to 12 rounds, the standing eight-count was introduced and the medical tests required of boxers before a fight were overhauled. — AFP

Order of Australia award

Sri Lankan Chief Justice impeachment process begins

Sri Lankan Parliament has begun the process to impeach Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake as the Executive and Legislature gave vent to their collective displeasure over her “stepping out of line”.

There are 14 charges against the top judge, including improper conduct, amassing wealth and property, and non-declaration of assets.

Last month, Ms. Bandaranayeke locked horns with the Legislature and the Executive over a Bill that sought to take away some of the powers vested in the Provinces. The Bill places powers to spend about LKR 80 billion on development on a single Ministry controlled by Basil Rajapaksa, a brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The Tamil National Alliance challenged the Bill, and the Chief Justice held that the Bill had to be approved by all nine Provincial Councils. This created problems for the government as the Northern Province does not have an elected council. The Northern Province Governor gave his consent to the Bill, which was challenged in court. Supreme Court ruled that certain provisions of the proposed Bill required a two-thirds majority to be passed in Parliament.

Political opponents believe that the stand-off over the draft legislation is the reason behind the impeachment move. Democratic People’s Front leader Mano Ganesan tweeted: “Rajapaksa’s cat is out. Regime is impeaching CJ, for ruling against Divineguma bill which is eating up the power share concept…World is calling Rajapaksa to share power. Instead of sharing, he is taking back what is already shared by law.” Ms. Bandaranayeke, an academic who became a Supreme Court judge with no experience either on the bench or at the bar, was hand-picked to be the first woman Chief Justice in May last year. Though many crucial verdicts went in favour of the government under her watch, her ties with the President nosedived in the last few months: a judicial officer issued a press statement complaining of interference, and the government held that she had over-stepped her authority.

On Monday, three senior Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka also appealed for saner counsel to prevail. The Speaker, Chamal Rajapaksa, another brother of the President, will now constitute a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) of not less than seven MPs — including four from the ruling party — which will go into the allegations. The findings of the PSC will be tabled in Parliament, and the House will debate the issue. The ruling alliance, the United People’s Freedom Alliance, has a two-thirds majority in the House. The motion needs to be passed by a simple majority. The decision will then be communicated to the President.

Women activists protest against bar on praying near tomb at Haji Ali

The Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) has protested against the diktat by trustees of the Haji Ali Dargah, a landmark shrine just off the city’s coastline, which prevents women from entering the sanctum sanctorum and praying at the tomb of the famous Sufi saint Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari.

The organisation surveyed 20 dargahs here and found that seven of them had imposed restrictions on women visiting tombs inside. It wrote to the State government and the Minorities Commission on Tuesday appealing for their intervention.

The Haji Ali Dargah is a complex housing the tomb of Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari and a mosque. It is 550 years old and built on rocks off the sea and was given its present-day shape in the early 19th century. Its website proclaims that “people from all parts of the world without restrictions of caste, creed and religion visit the dargah to offer their prayers and for the fulfilment of their wishes by the blessings of the saint Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari. Some pray for wealth, others for health, children, marriages, etc, have their wishes being granted at all the times.” Between 10,000 and 15,000 visitors go there daily and the number swells to over 20,000 during festivals.

The Haji Ali Dargah Trust was, however, quick to clarify that the rule on refusal of permission for women was nothing new. Mohammed Ahmed Taher, an administrative officer of the Trust, told The Hindu that the Islamic Sharia says that women must not visit graves, even those of a Sufi saint. “We have not banned women from entering the dargah at all. They can go right up to the grave but there is a restricted area for them from where they can offer flowers and chaddars,” he said. Men, however, can go right up to the tomb and offer prayers.

Disputing this, Noorjehan Safia Niaz of the BMMA told The Hindu that in March 2011, a group of women from her organisation visited the dargah, a symbol of an inclusive culture and syncretism, and went right up to the tomb. “I remember as a child often visiting the dargah and offering prayers. There was no such restriction at that time,” she said. This July, when a few women from the BMMA went there they found a three-foot-high steel barrier on three sides of the grave and women were not allowed to go beyond that. Men, who enter through a separate door, were allowed to go close to the tomb, she said. “How can the trust become so regressive in this day and age?” she asked. Muslim women are already barred from going to the mosque or the cemetery, she said. Now there is one more restriction they have to put up with. If women can go to the Kaaba in Makkah, why not to dargahs, Ms. Niaz asked.

In July, the BMMA met a senior member of the Trust who indicated that sometimes women do not dress “appropriately” when they visit the tomb. The Koran has advised people to do good and stay away from evil, and so the Trust had decided to restrict women from approaching the tomb, he had said. Ms Niaz confirmed that the new rule was introduced about a year ago and the trustee had said this should have been done long back but they had deferred it.

Why can’t women visit graves and who has formulated this Sharia law, Ms Niaz asked. She slammed this move saying, “This move is going against the spirit of Islam which gives equal rights to women.” She said the famous Maqdoom Shah Baba Dargah in Mahim, too, was discouraging women from offering prayers at the tomb. When some women went there, they were told that it may not be proper for them to visit the tomb of the Sufi saint. Some dargahs in Versova and in South Mumbai also have started disallowing women from offering prayers.

Mr. Taher said though women were allowed at the Kaaba in Makkah they had to face restrictions in Madinah. The Trust was conducting itself according to Islamic law and there was nothing new in all this, he reiterated.

The chairperson of the Maharashtra Minorities Commission, Munaf Hakim, said that this was a religious matter and a decision of the Trust, and it was not within the purview of the government. He said he had not yet received any memorandum for intervention.

India, Canada attempt to remove mistrust

 

India and Canada attempted to remove overhangs of mistrust that have affected their relationship, at a meeting here on Tuesday between Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Stephen Harper.

Both sides succeeded in finalising the mechanism that could lead to Canadian uranium being shipped to India for the first time after New Delhi carried out a nuclear explosion in 1974 using plutonium allegedly diverted from a Canadian test reactor.

However, India’s concerns about the revival of Sikh separatist activity in some Canadian provinces did not find adequate resonance with the visiting delegation, which felt it was a fringe movement on which a vigilant eye was adequate.

The two sides also signed a social security agreement which had been in the works for some time.

Mr. Harper’s first public engagement on Wednesday, an address to the business community, will be eagerly watched to assess how he assuages fears of doing business in Canada after setbacks to takeover attempts in the petroleum sector by Malaysian and Chinese state owned enterprises (SOEs).

In the interactions in the run-up to Mr. Harper’s visit, Ontario had welcomed investments by Indian companies in its petroleum sector. But with the red flag to the two SOEs after his administration had earlier allowed $30 billions of Chinese investments, New Delhi will want to know the environment under which its SOEs will not face hurdles.

India fielded Minister of State in the Foreign Office Preneet Kaur, who is from Punjab, to flag its concerns over increasing public demonstrations of support by the Canadian Sikh community for Khalistan, in areas such as British Columbia.

Touching on the “revival of anti-India rhetoric in Canada,” Ms. Kaur told Mr. Harper that her home State had got back “a good situation of peace and progress” after a long time and added that “we would like that to continue.”

India believes Canada-based Sikh extremists had bombed an Air India plane killing 331, besides supporting the bloody movement for Khalistan that was waged in Punjab till the early nineties. But Mr. Harper said the view widely shared in Canada was that such people were marginal and referred to the presence of a large number of Indian-Canadians in his team who shared his goal of more vigorous ties with India. In Canada, some parties want India to prosecute the killers of about 3,000 Sikhs in 1984 and feel organisations based there are well within their rights to peacefully articulate the need for a separate homeland.

While the nuclear cooperation agreement was signed two years ago, both sides have since quibbled over the extent of Canadian oversight over the use of uranium shipped to Indian nuclear power plants. It was unclear whether this agreement would immediately lead to firming up of business plans but Mr. Harper’s statement indicated that business interests had won over non-proliferation concerns. “It is expected to generate millions of dollars in new business contacts between our countries and to create high-quality new jobs here at home,” Mr. Harper said.