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Assam flood
situation worsens, death toll mounts
Guwahati, Sept 04 (PTI):
Flood situation in Assam worsened further with Brahmaputra and its
tributaries breaching more embankments as the death toll rose to 16
with the drowning of one person in worst-affected Majuli, the
world’s largest inhabited river island.
Official sources said in Guwahati on Thursday the person drowned in
upper Majuli’s Dangdhora area, raising the death toll in the island
to eight and in the state during the current wave of floods to 16.
Two more main PWD roads in the island have been breached at two
places at Thakur Khute and Totoya while road links between lower,
upper and northern Majuli have been completely disrupted.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, who had made an aerial survey of the
island on Wednesday, has announced that flood victims would be
adequately compensated and from next year all government offices
would have raised platforms.
Nearly two lakh people have been affected and almost the entire
island was under the rising water of the Brahmaputra.
The situation in Lakhimpur district also deteriorated with the
Dikrong river breaching an embankment at Morisapathar-Ahomgaon area
of the district while an embankment of the Brahmaputra was in a
vulnerable condition at Bohori in Barpeta district.
The embankment of the Pahumara river in Barpeta district was made
vulnerable to breaches due to continuous erosion.
The situation in lower Assam’s Rangiya sub-division also remained
critical following breach of four embankments by the Puthimari
river. Road transport remained snapped for the fourth day today as
NH-31, the lifeline of the northeast, was still under flood waters.
The situation in the Kaziranga National Park, famous for its
one-horned rhinos, was also critical with over 50 per cent of the
park area under flood waters.
The animals, including rhinos and elephants, were taking shelter on
the high platforms constructed within the park.
The park authorities have set up barricades along the highway for
limiting vehicles’ speed to 40 kmph for the protection of animals
migrating to the hills of Karbi Anglong.
In
Morigaon district, about 99 villages are affected by the surging
waters of the Brahmaputra and unabated erosion was reported from
several places.
The Brahmaputra was flowing above the danger level in Dibrugarh,
Sonitpur, Dhubri, Jorhat and Kamrup districts and the state’s main
city of Guwahati.
The Buridihing, Subansiri, Puthimari, Pagladiya, Beki and the
Kushiara are also flowing above the danger mark.
Meanwhile, the Army was assisting the government in providing relief
to the affected people across the state.
Kid’s death puts Hyderabad blood bank in tight spot
Hyderabad,
Sept 04 :
Hyderabad
resident Komala’s eight-year-old daughter was accidentally diagnosed
as HIV-infected when she came to a city hospital last month with
acute respiratory distress.
Her parents were also tested but were found HIV negative. That’s
when questions began to be raised about the blood transfusion the
child Pratyusha had received two weeks earlier in Warangal.
Pratyusha died on Wednesday.
“They said your daughter has HIV, you both don’t. They asked us, did
she have any accident, did you give her any blood?” Komala said.
The authorities say it is not possible that Pratyusha contracted HIV
in the last transfusion because the window period for the HIV virus
to show up is at least four weeks.
Besides, the blood donors were screened and were not found HIV
positive. Also, the child’s blood tests revealed low CD4 and
lymphocyte count which means she must have carried the virus for
some time.
However, the two Warangal-based private blood banks have been sealed
and the police have registered a case of attempt to murder under
Section 307.
Interestingly, the state AIDS control authority had cancelled the
license of this bank in 2006 after which they had got a stay from
court.
The fact that Pratyusha carried the HIV virus is a reality. Now, the
inquiry commissioner has been asked to ascertain how that happened.
And this is of prime importance as the confidence in the safety of
blood in blood banks is at stake.
Young MPs hardly
take interest in Par proceedings: Somnath
New Delhi, Sep 04 (PTI) :
Grave concern was voiced today over communal politics and
“racketeers” entering the Rajya Sabha at a meet on Parliamentary
democracy where eminent personalities suggested different forms of
Government in an era of fractured polity. The role of media and the
tendency to sensationalise news was also debated by the speakers at
a round table discussion on “Strengthening Parliamentary Democracy”.
Representatives from political parties, civil society and media made
various suggestions on how best to address the challenges facing the
Parliamentary system.
In
his opening remarks, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee lamented
that young MPs hardly took interest in what was happening in
Parliament. “It becomes headline news when there is disruption of
Parliament,” he said and added that good debates should also be
published.
Similar views were echoed by Vice Chancellors of JNU and Delhi
University as also eminent jurist Soni Sorabjee and NCW Chairperson
Girija Vyas. Noted lawyer Fali S Nariman regretted that MPs hardly
practised what they preached. “If Parliamentary democracy functions
like this, we may have to think of some other form of Government”.
Eminent journalist Kuldip Nayar said it was a very serious matter
that religion was being exploited to capture the House. “May be
Presidential form of Government would have been better,” he added.
“Rajya Sabha today is a place where millionaires or racketeers come
because they can buy seats. You don’t have to belong to a place or
have a domicile,” he rued.
Excessive speculation in futures trade: UNCTAD
New Delhi,
Sep 04 (PTI) :
Amid a debate in India whether speculators in futures trading are
fuelling food inflation, an UNCTAD report noted that price movements
in global commodity markets do not reflect the fundamentals and show
excessive speculation. “In the recent years speculation may well
have become excessive, amplifying price movements to such an extent
that they no longer reflect market fundamentals,” the UN Trade and
Development Report said.
UNCTAD quoted a report of the US Senate on oil market as saying:
“Although it is difficult to quantify the effect of speculation on
prices, there is substantial evidence that the large amount of
speculation in the current market has significantly increased
prices”. Several analysts have estimated that speculative purchases
of oil futures have added as much as 20-25 dollar per barrel to the
current price of crude oil, it said. Back home the government has
banned futures trade in several commodities such as wheat, rice, tur,
soyaoil, rubber and chana to contain price rise.
Highlighting the impact of futures prices on spot market, UNCTAD
report stated that speculative activities in commodities futures
trading affects spot markets only in terms of price expectations. A
sustained rise in futures prices encourages physical traders also to
engage in speculative activities, it said, adding that futures
prices are one criterion that guides spot prices.
The report pointed that although entry of institutional investors
and wider use of electronic trading have boosted volumes, “the
growing presence of financial investors is most likely adding
volatility to commodities markets. “It causes prices to react
quickly — and often to overreact - to new information in the
market,” it added. According to UNCTAD, investment in commodity
indices is estimated to have surged to 260 billion dollars in 2008
from less than 13 billion dollars at the end of 2003. The report
added that for various reasons, it is difficult to assess the extent
to which price formation is influenced by speculation as
“speculative operations are partly executed over the counter such as
directly between banks and their
clients and therefore are not recorded by commodity exchange
regulators”. It, however, suggested that improved market supervision
and regulation of derivatives trading could limit the impact of
speculation on spot prices.
Live grenades recovered in north Kolkata
Kolkata, Sept 04 (PTI) :
Two live grenades were found at a bathing ghat on the Hooghly in
northern part of the city on Thursday morning.
Two sweepers of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation were cleaning the
Dutta Babu’s ghat when they found the grenades lying in a gunny bag.
The matter was brought to the notice of the North Port police
station immediately and later Army officials were summoned.
The police said the special bomb disposal squad from the Police
Training School was called in after Army officials described the
bombs as live after test. The grenades were then defused.
Police sources said the grenades were very powerful and could have
caused a disaster had they exploded.
Investigation was on, the source said.
Ahmedabad turns to
Ganpati to fight terror
Ahmedabad, Sept 04 :
As
part of the fight against terror, an interesting theme has come up
in the Ganpati pandals of Ahmedabad.
Lord Ganpati, the protector, is defusing bombs in these pandals.
This is the reflection of a city shaken by serial blasts just over a
month ago.
And the organisers say that by doing this, they are praying for
peace.
“We are praying to Lord Ganpati that in our state such religious
festivities are held in a cordial manner and with unity,” said
organiser Kalpesh Sha.
Such pandals are drawing huge crowds and each time the Lord defuses
a bomb, he gets a roaring response.
“We pray to Lord that he protect us the same way the police saved
Surat. Our security is in the Lords’ hand,” says one of the visitors
Vishweshari.
This year’s festival has seen unprecedented police security. But in
a state that’s been under the terror radar, it’s devotees are
turning to Ganesh for divine intervention. | 
