Excelsior... Nation

Mamata Banerjee

Govt expects Mamata
to resume duties

NEW DELHI, Oct 6: Government today said it expects Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee to resume her duties following an assurance from Prime Minister that a "second look" would be given to her demand for a roll back of the hike in the prices of petroleum products after his return from the knee-operation in Mumbai........more

Of ‘Billasura’, ‘Tonysura’ and ‘Veerasura’

CALCUTTA, Oct 6: Mahishasuramardini, who was gifted the mighty trident by Lord Shiva, has used its three prongs to spear the prized heads of ‘Asuras’ - Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and Veerappan. .....more

Action plan against STDs, HIV cases to be formulated

CHANDIGARH, Oct 6: An action plan against increasing number of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) and HIV cases, specially in the developing countries, will be formulated at the 11th regional meeting of international union against Sexually......more

India, Vietnam signs MoU

ALLAHABAD, Oct 6: India and Vietnam have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to work together in the fields of social science, culture.....more

Madhuri Dixit

Right role is yet to
come, says Madhuri

NEW DELHI, Oct 6: Actress Madhuri Dixit says her "great role" ......more

23 million diabetics in India
Health care costs
of diabetes are
crippling patients

Excelsior Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, Oct 6: A disturbing piece of information: World Health Organisation (WHO)......more

Delhi Govt seeks
to enact laws on
earthquake safe buildings

NEW DELHI, Oct 6: The city Government has told the Delhi High Court that there......more

Ch Vidyasagar Rao

Combating cross-border terrorism
India very keen on taking
Israeli assistance: Rao

VISAKHAPATNAM, Oct 6: Union Minister of State for Home Ch Vidyasagar Rao today....more

Govt expects Mamata to resume duties

This was stated by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan after a meeting of Union Cabinet at which Atal Behari Vajpayee briefed on his talks two days back with Banerjee, who along with her Trinamool Congress colleague Ajit Panja has resigned from the ministry on the oil price hike issue.

"I expect her to resume duties" and not do anything else, Mahajan said.

Replying to a volley of questions on the issue, Mahajan said "she has always given positive response to the Prime Minister. This time also I expect she will respond positively".

Stating that Vajpayee briefed the cabinet about his talks with Banerjee, Mahajan said "the Prime Minister has assured Banerjee that the Government will have second look after he returns from his operation in Mumbai and requested her to withdraw her resignation".

He said the Prime Minister told the cabinet that he has conveyed to Banerjee that the Government was monitoring the situation of the oil prices internationally and a "second look" would be given to the issue after his return from operation in Mumbai in two weeks time.

When pressed further to elaborate on the "second look", he said "what is the second look, it is for you to interpret".

Asked what about the roll-back of the hike, Mahajan said "I don’t know".

He replied in the negative when asked whether Prime Minister was despatching another emissary to Calcutta to persuade the sulking Banerjee to resume work.

"I don’t think there will be any need for reaction from the Government," Mahajan quipped when asked whether he would brief the press in the evening after the scheduled press conference of Banerjee at Calcutta this afternoon. (PTI)

Of ‘Billasura’, ‘Tonysura’ and ‘Veerasura’

CALCUTTA, Oct 6: Mahishasuramardini, who was gifted the mighty trident by Lord Shiva, has used its three prongs to spear the prized heads of ‘Asuras’ - Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and Veerappan.

Durga, whose overpowering of Mahishasura symbolises the triumph of good over evil, has chosen to strike ‘Billasura’, ‘Tonysura’ and ‘Veerasura’ drawing huge crowds to gaze at the statuesque ‘Vipasuras’ vanquished by the goddess, in Puja Pandals here.

But the city’s VIPs are stridently vocal against the ‘crude taste’ in depicting the US President and the British premier as ‘Asuras’.

"It is not proper to mix mythology and politics. I don’t see any point in tarring political figures as mythological demons," says senior CPI(M) leader Biman Bose.

"When Clinton ordered carpet bombing in Saddam Hussain’s Iraq, destroying hospitals and killing innocent people he was then playing the role of Asura. Will depicting Clinton as Asura in a Puja Pandal halt such atrocities ?" Bose asked.

If this went on, he posed, what will happen to the goddess? "will her face also be changed... But then some may have thought of Clinton as the symbol of imperialism".

City Mayor and Trinamool Congress leader Subrata Mukherjee said he failed to understand how world leaders like Clinton and Blair had found place in Pandals as Asuras.

"Clinton and Blair are still holding office. They are important political figures. Just because you are opposed to a prominent political figure, this is not the way to vilify him," Mukherjee, organiser of mega-budget Ekdalia Evergreen community puja in South Calcutta, said.

Mukherjee said Clinton and Blair had been dragged into Puja Pandals to raise a controversy. "The only motive here is to gain publicity".

Eminent film-maker Mrinal Sen, when asked for his comments, said "i can’t even think of such things. This speaks of sheer bankruptcy in political ideals and artistic ideals. This is nothing but a stunt and I don’t want to waste my time pondering over such foolish ideas. Where are we heading for?" Jnanpith Award winning poet Subhas Mukherjee pilloried the depiction of the `Vipasuras’, saying "it is not just a shame, but a national shame".

Mukherjee said the crux of the idea was not conducive to maintaining amicable international relations.

"One is the president of the United States, and the other is the Prime Minister of Britain. The portrayal of Durga slaying them is reprehensible and in very poor taste," the poet added.

On forest brigand Veerappan, who is still holding matinee idol Rajkumar hostage, Biman Bose said instead of putting up clay images of the sandalwood smuggler, who has eluded the police forces of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the organisers should involve themselves vigorously in campaigning for his capture.

A senior Calcutta police officer said on condition of anonymity that Veerappan was an ‘evil force’ and his depiction as asura was "not wrong".

"When the people see that all forces including the administration, the police and the special task force have failed to nab Veerappan, what else can they do but turn to durga who embodies the forces of good conquering evil?" he wondered.

An eminent film personality, who did not wish to be named, said "I don’t believe two State Governments cannot arrest a criminal like veerappan whose hideout must be known. When a scribe frequently visits him as a go-between, why can’t the powers that be get hold of the moustachioed brigand?" (PTI)

Action plan against STDs, HIV cases to be formulated

More than 300 enterologists, gynaecologists, paediatricians, epidemiologists, epidermologists, health educators and social scientists from India and abroad would participate in the three-day meeting. The meeting is organised by the Department of Dermatology, Venerology and Leprology of the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh.

The 24th National Conference of Indian Association for the study of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and AIDS will be held along with the regional meeting, a pgimer release yesterday said.

As poor countries with their meagre resources are struggling hard to reduce the spread of stds and provide primary care to the patients with AIDS, the conference will suggest better methods to achieve the best results with limited resources. The meet will also discuss the role of NGOs in the care of terminally AIDS patients. (UNI)

Right role is yet to come, says Madhuri

NEW DELHI, Oct 6: Actress Madhuri Dixit says her "great role" is yet to come and she is still searching for it.

"It is still to come. I’m looking for it.... Searching for the right role, something exciting," she said in an interview in "Face to Face" on the BBC when asked if she had got her one great role which at the end of the day great actresses get identified with like Rekha in "Umrao Jaan" and Nargis in "Mother India".

To a question if it would be a particular director, script or something tangible within her, she said it will be a combination of all these.

"I don’t think that Rekha when she did "Umrao Jaan" or Nargis when she did "Mother India" were aware that these would become landmarks in their career," she said.

Madhuri, who shot to fame in the early eightees going on to become the hearthrob of millions, said she still felt like a juvenile while facing the camera and got butterflies in her stomach.

"I still feel passionately about my work. It is the perfectionist in me," she said.

To her the character which came closest to her was Nisha in "Hum Apke Hain Kaun". "I was brought up with traditional values in a joint family."

Madhuri admitted that she was suspicious initially about her first hit number "Ek Do Teen Chaar" and said "I thought what kind of a song it was. It was just counting...... But it was great fun when I did it." (PTI)

23 million diabetics in India
Health care costs of diabetes are crippling patients

Excelsior Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, Oct 6: A disturbing piece of information: World Health Organisation (WHO) expects a phenomenal increase in the number of diabetics in India by 2025. Equally disturbing is the report that India is set to become the ‘diabetic capital’ of the world.

By the year 2025, India is likely to have the largest number of diabetic subjects in the world. Estimates of the WHO reveal that there are, at present, 23 million diabetics in India and this number will increase to 57 million-an increase of 148 per cent-by 2025.

An International Conference on Diabetics and Nutrition from a South Asian Perspective, which was held in Goa recently, was told that health care costs of diabetics are crippling a number of patients across India.

In fact, Mr N Cache Pillai, head of the endocrinology department at Delhi’s premier and referral and research facility, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), told the Goa meet: "More than half of India’s 2.5 million diabetics are too poor to afford the rapidly-escalating cost of insulin therapy. Even for those who can afford it, the supporting services are often unreliable".

If epidemiological studies in India are any guide, there has been an increase in diabetes patients from 8.2 to 11. 6 per cent in urban areas and from 1.5 to 2.75 per cent in rural areas. And according to Mr Chandrakant S Pandav of the AIIMS’ centre for community medicine, there is a paucity of information in India on the economic costs of diabetes.

A study in Bangalore district shows that the annual economic burden of a diabetic patient is Rs 35,714. This includes routine treatment, monitoring and laboratory and hospital costs. Indirect costs arise from absenteeism, lowered productivity and disability benefits.

Compared to this, the direct cost of diabetes care in some other countries is 330 dollars in Argentina, 675 dollars in France and 3,535 dollars in Denmark. And according to studies presented at the Goa meet, diabetes eats up 5 per cent of the income of high-end families, while caring for a single diabetic patient could require up to 25 per cent of the earnings of low-income families.

Researchers from the United States have pointed out that the economic burden of diabetes is increasing as the epidemic grows. And Mr James L Emerson of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International has been quoted as having told the conference: Burgeoning health care costs are directly related to new cases and serious complications including blindness, end-stage kidney disease, amputations, neuropathy, cardio-vascular disease and pregnancy complications". In US, these costs approach 100 billion dollars per year.

Delhi Govt seeks to enact laws on
earthquake safe buildings

NEW DELHI, Oct 6: The city Government has told the Delhi High Court that there was an immediate need to enact a law to make earthquake safety norms binding on all buildings in the city as it lies in 4th seismic zone, prone to tremors with intensity as high as 8 on the Richter scale.

The legislation should include amendments to the Town and Country Planning Act, Master Plan development rules, land use zoning, empowering development authority to exercise necessary control and incorporation of earthquake safety requirements in building bylaws of local bodies, National Capital Territory (NCT), Urban Development Principal Secretary, Suman Swarup, said in an affidavit.

The affidavit was filed following the court’s notices to several Central and NCT Government agencies directing them to submit replies regarding steps taken to make the buildings in the Capital earthquake proof, following opinion by experts that between 15 to 20 lakh people might perish in Delhi in the event of a strong quake.

The issue was brought before the High Court in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking direction to the concerned authorities to take necessary steps to enforce the earthquake safety norms in all the houses in the Capital and its suburbs, especially in high rise buildings.

The city Government also said there was need to upgrade the earthquake resistance of the existing buildings, particularly in schools, hospitals, cinema halls, telephone exchanges, water tanks and fire stations.(PTI)

The Government said there was no legal regime for safety development under which the regulatory agencies had to be given "defined responsibilities" and made accountable for the measures implemented by them.

"All housing schemes in the Capital should have mandatory provision of introducing earthquake resistance techniques ... And the house owners should be encouraged to strengthen their houses with retrofittings," it said adding the suggestions mentioned in the affidavit were based on a report of a group of experts, received by the Government in May this year.

Meanwhile, Metrology Director M C Chopra in his affidavit stated that his department had recently approved a proposal for natural hazard assessment of Himalayas, providing "sharper focus to some selected aspects of earthquakes."

The project included setting up of six new Seismological observatories in north-eastern region, geotechnical probe of landslies, setting up of composite multi-parameter geophysical laboratories, initiation of geophysical research at Allahabad.

Following the Chamoli earthquake, a Task Force set up by Department of Science and Technology had recommended setting up of an Earthquake Risk Evaluation Centre (EREC) at a strategic location in north India, which would have a multi-disciplinary team of scientists.

The main task of EREC would be to update earthquake risk maps and figures for quake prone areas or sites, corresponding Seismic hazard and vulnerability maps, the affidavit said.(PTI)

Combating cross-border terrorism
India very keen on taking Israeli assistance: Rao

VISAKHAPATNAM, Oct 6: Union Minister of State for Home Ch Vidyasagar Rao today said India was "very keen" on taking Israeli assistance to combat cross-border terrorism.

Replying to queries at a press conference here, he said during the recent visit of Home Minister L K Advani, Israel had expressed its readiness to extend assistance on security related aspects.

Referring to the hostage crisis involving Kannada film star Rajkumar, he said "we are always to ready to help the two states."

Denying reports that the intelligence wings of the states and the centre were not coordinating, particularly in exchanging information on ISI and other terrorist outfits, he said the Centre had been sharing information with the states on a regular basis.

Besides sharing a part of the security expenditure of the states, the Centre had increased the annual budget for modernising the police force from the earlier Rs 200 crores to Rs 1000 crores. The budget would be reviewed every three years and the allocation arrangement would continue for a decade, Mr Rao added.

Now it was for the State Governments to come out with concrete schemes and seek funds for the purchase of modern weapons, vehicles, communication systems and training personnel to meet the requirements, Mr Rao said.

While the north-eastern states and Jammu and Kashmir were given total reimbursement, other Naxal infested states like Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar were getting funds to some extent. The terrorist menace could be tackled if the states came out with comprehensive development schemes.

Complimenting Andhra Pradesh Police for inducing confidence among the public against the Naxals, he said the mindless violence and ‘boycott calls’ by the Naxalites had not deterred the people from participating in the elections. Neither it had prevented the Government from pursuing developmental programmes, he added.

Mr Rao also urged Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to evolve comprehensive schemes to make use of the 1.35 crore farm labourers in the state for watershed development programmes.

He said Andhra Pradesh topped other states by implementing 24 per cent of 10,000 watershed programmes in the country followed by 17 per cent in Madhya Pradesh, ten per cent in Uttar Pradesh, 8.6 per cent in Gujarat and seven per cent in Tamil Nadu.

He also called for amending the laws to ensure decentralisation and provide more powers to the panchayats. (UNI)