Pakistan launched a military operation against militants today in a district that has been covered under a controversial peace deal concluded with the Taliban, suggesting a tougher line by the government -- at least temporarily.
The military said at least 30 militants were killed, including a commander of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban, a Pakistan umbrella group of extremists, as armed helicopters attacked their positions in the Lower Dir district.
The military action in the Lower Dir region could jeopardize the peace pact, under which the Taliban has been allowed to enforce Sharia, or Islamic law, giving it de facto authority in the Swat Valley and nearby areas.
The United States, some Pakistani lawmakers and analysts have criticized the deal, arguing that it could embolden the extremists rather than leading to genuine peace. Some of those fears appeared justified when Taliban fighters moved into the Buner district abutting Swat in recent weeks, hoping to extend their influence.
Government warnings caused the groups to retreat to Swat late last week, although militants were still on the streets when a reporter visited Saturday. Residents said they were local Taliban members.
Sunday's action may have been intended to send a signal to the Taliban. The attack was carried out in the hometown of Maulana Sufi Mohammed, an influential cleric who brokered the deal between the government and the Taliban in Swat.
Also Sunday, the remains of Polish geologist Piotr Stanczak, who was taken hostage and apparently beheaded by Taliban militants, were delivered in a casket to a paramilitary camp, Pakistani officials said.
Stanczak had been kidnapped on Sept. 28. A video released this year showed his apparent beheading, which Polish officials said they believed was authentic. His body will be handed over to Polish authorities. Despite the new military action, government officials said the peace deal remained intact. Under the agreement, Taliban militants were supposed to disarm, although by many indications this has not happened.
A statement by the military today said the Lal Qila area in Lower Dir district was fully secured after the successful operation by the Frontier Corps, a paramilitary unit.
In Islamabad, top Interior Ministry official Rehman Malik warned militants not to challenge government authority.
"Militants have no option but to lay down their arms because the government is serious about flushing them out," he told local television reporters. "Enough is enough."
Analysts said today's operation suggested that the government was now more willing to challenge the militants, although the effects of its actions might be short-lived.
The operation probably won't succeed militarily unless the government sends in significant numbers of infantry, said Tariq Rahman, a professor at Quaid-i-Azam University. And politically, he said, any gains could be temporary because Pakistani society is deeply divided on the topic of fighting Islamic militants.
"Unfortunately, in Pakistani society, there's a view that anyone who uses the name of Islam must be right," Rahman said. "If you start to see a lot of Taliban get killed, you will probably see more criticism against the army."
Today's operation, which took place in an area close to Afghanistan and the Swat Valley, a one-time tourist area, was somewhat unexpected, given that the government has in recent months appeared more interested in negotiating than confronting homegrown militants.
Television footage from the district showed helicopter gunships flying toward the mountains and soldiers guarding a road blocked with paramilitary trucks.
Malik denied that the government launched the military operation at the behest of the U.S. A military statement said the offensive in Lower Dir was carried out at the request of the provincial government and residents.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Depositors fancy PSU banks over multinationals
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Mahua Venkatesh, Hindustan Times
Email Author
New Delhi, April 26, 2009
First Published: 22:02 IST(26/4/2009)
Last Updated: 22:05 IST(26/4/2009)
Print
The global financial meltdown and a consequent wariness among customers towards foreign banks have led to a huge slowdown in their deposit base growth. The surprise winners seem to be sturdy old public sector banks, considered a safe bet in a maze of financial uncertainties.
Once considered unglamorous, public sector banks have spent the past few years dressing up their balance sheets while also picking up tricks in marketing, advertising and customer service from multinational banks.
With a history of highly organised trade unions and complaints of shoddy retail service, public sector have had a legacy of problems, but the global meltdown appears to have given them a new lease of life.
While public sector banks saw a deposit growth of 24 per cent in the previous fiscal year, 2008-09, as compared to 23 per cent in 2007-08, foreign banks saw a mere 7.8 per cent increase in 2008-09 as against 29.1 per cent in 2007-08, according to a Reserve Bank of India data.
“With most banking biggies including Citibank being affected by the global slowdown, consumers in India are turning to the PSU banks, which have gained significantly in the last few months,” a PSU bank executive, who did not wish to be quoted told Hindustan Times.
However, the economic downturn has impacted the overall deposit growth. Deposits growth decelerated to 20 per cent in 2008-09 from 22.5 per cent in the previous year. With inflation touching double-digit figures in 2008-09, PSU banks were also led to offer high interest rates on term deposits.
“Investors opted for bank deposits to park their funds especially with the uncertainty in the stock and real estate markets,” said J. M.Garg, chairman and managing director, Corporation Bank.
Though stock markets have recovered, the general belief in banking circles is that savings are expected to be parked in banks in large quantities in the next two quarters.
Bank deposits are set to see a healthy growth in the coming months, bankers say.
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Mahua Venkatesh, Hindustan Times
Email Author
New Delhi, April 26, 2009
First Published: 22:02 IST(26/4/2009)
Last Updated: 22:05 IST(26/4/2009)
The global financial meltdown and a consequent wariness among customers towards foreign banks have led to a huge slowdown in their deposit base growth. The surprise winners seem to be sturdy old public sector banks, considered a safe bet in a maze of financial uncertainties.
Once considered unglamorous, public sector banks have spent the past few years dressing up their balance sheets while also picking up tricks in marketing, advertising and customer service from multinational banks.
With a history of highly organised trade unions and complaints of shoddy retail service, public sector have had a legacy of problems, but the global meltdown appears to have given them a new lease of life.
While public sector banks saw a deposit growth of 24 per cent in the previous fiscal year, 2008-09, as compared to 23 per cent in 2007-08, foreign banks saw a mere 7.8 per cent increase in 2008-09 as against 29.1 per cent in 2007-08, according to a Reserve Bank of India data.
“With most banking biggies including Citibank being affected by the global slowdown, consumers in India are turning to the PSU banks, which have gained significantly in the last few months,” a PSU bank executive, who did not wish to be quoted told Hindustan Times.
However, the economic downturn has impacted the overall deposit growth. Deposits growth decelerated to 20 per cent in 2008-09 from 22.5 per cent in the previous year. With inflation touching double-digit figures in 2008-09, PSU banks were also led to offer high interest rates on term deposits.
“Investors opted for bank deposits to park their funds especially with the uncertainty in the stock and real estate markets,” said J. M.Garg, chairman and managing director, Corporation Bank.
Though stock markets have recovered, the general belief in banking circles is that savings are expected to be parked in banks in large quantities in the next two quarters.
Bank deposits are set to see a healthy growth in the coming months, bankers say.
Are we going through an issueless election?
Is this an issueless election? Yes, say the media and the politicians, with a sense of helpless injury. On the face of it, they seem to have a point. Clearly, the present aam aadmi pitch of the Congress does not resonate in the manner that ‘G aribi Hatao’ did. The question of black money in Swiss banks does not evoke the kind of moral angst that Bofors did. Politicians who passionately debated the Indo-U.S. deal in Parliament have realised this issue has little effect on the masses. The media has tried but failed to make the global meltdown a factor in our politics. And so, the focus on such things as the antics of Varun Gandhi and the endless, fruitless speculation on post-poll alliances.
In the run-up to this election, two issues appeared to be emerging as possible campaign issues. Pre-election polls, including the one conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) in January, showed that issues like the Indo-U.S. deal, Hindutva and reservations did not excite the people. These surveys showed that unemployment and price rise were overriding concerns with people cutting across classes. In India ‘price rise’ is a way of talking about the lack of purchasing power or insufficient income rather than what economists call ‘inflation.’ But the Opposition reduced this question to inflation. The Centre proved smarter and had ensured that inflation came down to a record low.
National security
The other possible election issue was national security. This has a wider appeal than the Congress was willing to initially grant. The ruling party was on the back foot on this question and the BJP seemed well positioned to exploit it. Yet, the ruling party succeeded in deflecting the issue. It moved closer to the BJP on matters of internal security. On the external dimensions of this question, the Centre knew that the Indian public tends to trust its rulers on foreign policy matters. It used deft, low key diplomatic manoeuvres to diffuse the issue.
There is no nationwide overarching theme in this election. That does not mean there are no issues. As the principal arena of political contestation has shifted to the State level, so have the major issues. The unfolding human tragedy in Sri Lanka is the latest example of one that could have serious implications for this election, but only at the State level. The same could be said of a number of issues that have come up in various States. Statehood or autonomy issues are present in Telangana in Andhra Pradesh, in the Gorkha and Rajbanshi-dominated belt in West Bengal and in the Naga dominated hills of Manipur. Some State-level issues have generated intense feelings and sometimes caused political realignment: Nandigram and Singur in West Bengal, reservations for Marathas in Maharashtra and for Gujjars in Rajasthan, and allegations of caste or communal bias in the functioning of State governments in Haryana, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. Elections have turned into a referendum on the State government in Punjab, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Serious allegations of corruption have put the ruling parties in the dock in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Punjab and Assam, while the issue of public morality works for the ruling parties in Orissa, Rajasthan and Tripura.
Concrete issues
If we get closer to voters, we will find more concrete issues at the constituency level. As and when we read a serious constituency report, a dying genre in Indian journalism, we find a long list of local developmental issues. This would typically include the state of bijli, sadak, pani, the unfulfilled promises of the ruling party, issues of administrative high-handedness, and the economic plight of specific sections of society. These issues are rarely reflected in the national media. But they do influence election outcomes in a big way. In fact, these quotidian issues have an even greater chance of making a difference in those elections, in which real local concerns are not swept away by a national wave.
The absence of an overarching theme does not mean an issueless election. We need not feel regretful about this. It is true that national mega-issues such as Garibi Hatao are ways of highlighting State level and local problems. At the same time, national issues such as Kargil and the assassination of Indira Gandhi tend to displace local issues. On balance, if all politics is local, there is something to be said for political competition taking place around local issues — especially in a country like ours where most States are bigger than many countries in the world.
The problem is that State and local level issues championed by parties are sometimes unconnected to the most significant ground level issues. Take, for example, Salwa Judum in Chhattisgarh. Future generations will wonder how democratic India went through this electoral exercise without so much as discussing one of the worst cases of human rights violations. The ruling party as well as its rivals have joined hands in not talking about it. The media has chosen the convenient path of silence. The same can be said about the plunder of natural resources in the mineral-rich States such as Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. The entire political class is a party to this corporate loot and therefore does not wish to talk about it. The Muslim political elite has blocked any discussion about the plight of Pasmanda Muslims. The Dalit and OBC elite refrain from speaking up about sharing benefits of reservation with the most deprived castes within their groupings.
The disconnect
Instead of bemoaning the lack of national issues, we should be worried about this disconnect between real issues on the ground and those that get framed in political contestation. If this is what we mean by issueless elections, then there is a real and serious problem. Once we recognise the problem, we understand who is responsible for this disconnect. Responsible are the media and the political class, which protest the most about issueless elections. Serious problems do not automatically become election issues. They need to be publicised for people to take notice.
The media plays a critical role in setting the agenda for politics, but it has been systematically inattentive to some issues. Partly, this is due to the constraints of satisfying the demands of its consumers. But this is often to do with unrelated things such as cost-cutting drives, the fact that some newspapers are controlled by politicians, and the blatant selling of news space to parties and candidates. Thus, instead of uncovering the real issues and forcing politicians to confront them, the media ends up masking them.
Also, a problem becomes an election issue when political organisations highlight it to create public awareness and offer solutions to it. Most of the major political parties shy away from this difficult task. It is not that their manifestos are silent on these questions. The problem is that political parties do not wish to mobilise people on the basis of them.
Most parties tend to highlight issues that involve the least effort. This reflects a decline in the political imagination and of political judgment
experts from the Hindu
In the run-up to this election, two issues appeared to be emerging as possible campaign issues. Pre-election polls, including the one conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) in January, showed that issues like the Indo-U.S. deal, Hindutva and reservations did not excite the people. These surveys showed that unemployment and price rise were overriding concerns with people cutting across classes. In India ‘price rise’ is a way of talking about the lack of purchasing power or insufficient income rather than what economists call ‘inflation.’ But the Opposition reduced this question to inflation. The Centre proved smarter and had ensured that inflation came down to a record low.
National security
The other possible election issue was national security. This has a wider appeal than the Congress was willing to initially grant. The ruling party was on the back foot on this question and the BJP seemed well positioned to exploit it. Yet, the ruling party succeeded in deflecting the issue. It moved closer to the BJP on matters of internal security. On the external dimensions of this question, the Centre knew that the Indian public tends to trust its rulers on foreign policy matters. It used deft, low key diplomatic manoeuvres to diffuse the issue.
There is no nationwide overarching theme in this election. That does not mean there are no issues. As the principal arena of political contestation has shifted to the State level, so have the major issues. The unfolding human tragedy in Sri Lanka is the latest example of one that could have serious implications for this election, but only at the State level. The same could be said of a number of issues that have come up in various States. Statehood or autonomy issues are present in Telangana in Andhra Pradesh, in the Gorkha and Rajbanshi-dominated belt in West Bengal and in the Naga dominated hills of Manipur. Some State-level issues have generated intense feelings and sometimes caused political realignment: Nandigram and Singur in West Bengal, reservations for Marathas in Maharashtra and for Gujjars in Rajasthan, and allegations of caste or communal bias in the functioning of State governments in Haryana, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. Elections have turned into a referendum on the State government in Punjab, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Serious allegations of corruption have put the ruling parties in the dock in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Punjab and Assam, while the issue of public morality works for the ruling parties in Orissa, Rajasthan and Tripura.
Concrete issues
If we get closer to voters, we will find more concrete issues at the constituency level. As and when we read a serious constituency report, a dying genre in Indian journalism, we find a long list of local developmental issues. This would typically include the state of bijli, sadak, pani, the unfulfilled promises of the ruling party, issues of administrative high-handedness, and the economic plight of specific sections of society. These issues are rarely reflected in the national media. But they do influence election outcomes in a big way. In fact, these quotidian issues have an even greater chance of making a difference in those elections, in which real local concerns are not swept away by a national wave.
The absence of an overarching theme does not mean an issueless election. We need not feel regretful about this. It is true that national mega-issues such as Garibi Hatao are ways of highlighting State level and local problems. At the same time, national issues such as Kargil and the assassination of Indira Gandhi tend to displace local issues. On balance, if all politics is local, there is something to be said for political competition taking place around local issues — especially in a country like ours where most States are bigger than many countries in the world.
The problem is that State and local level issues championed by parties are sometimes unconnected to the most significant ground level issues. Take, for example, Salwa Judum in Chhattisgarh. Future generations will wonder how democratic India went through this electoral exercise without so much as discussing one of the worst cases of human rights violations. The ruling party as well as its rivals have joined hands in not talking about it. The media has chosen the convenient path of silence. The same can be said about the plunder of natural resources in the mineral-rich States such as Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. The entire political class is a party to this corporate loot and therefore does not wish to talk about it. The Muslim political elite has blocked any discussion about the plight of Pasmanda Muslims. The Dalit and OBC elite refrain from speaking up about sharing benefits of reservation with the most deprived castes within their groupings.
The disconnect
Instead of bemoaning the lack of national issues, we should be worried about this disconnect between real issues on the ground and those that get framed in political contestation. If this is what we mean by issueless elections, then there is a real and serious problem. Once we recognise the problem, we understand who is responsible for this disconnect. Responsible are the media and the political class, which protest the most about issueless elections. Serious problems do not automatically become election issues. They need to be publicised for people to take notice.
The media plays a critical role in setting the agenda for politics, but it has been systematically inattentive to some issues. Partly, this is due to the constraints of satisfying the demands of its consumers. But this is often to do with unrelated things such as cost-cutting drives, the fact that some newspapers are controlled by politicians, and the blatant selling of news space to parties and candidates. Thus, instead of uncovering the real issues and forcing politicians to confront them, the media ends up masking them.
Also, a problem becomes an election issue when political organisations highlight it to create public awareness and offer solutions to it. Most of the major political parties shy away from this difficult task. It is not that their manifestos are silent on these questions. The problem is that political parties do not wish to mobilise people on the basis of them.
Most parties tend to highlight issues that involve the least effort. This reflects a decline in the political imagination and of political judgment
experts from the Hindu
World 'well prepared' for virus
The international community is better prepared than ever to deal with the threatened spread of a new swine flu virus, a top UN health chief has said.
As the UN warned the outbreak might become a pandemic, Dr Keiji Fukuda said years of preparing for bird flu had boosted world stocks of anti-virals.
Canada is the latest country to confirm cases after as many as 81 deaths in Mexico and 20 cases in the US.
Washington has warned the flu may yet claim American lives.
"I do fear that we will have deaths," Dr Anne Schuchat of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters.
Eight cases have been confirmed among New York students, seven in California, two in Texas, two in Kansas and one in Ohio.
Several countries in Asia and Latin America have begun screening airport passengers for symptoms.
There is currently no vaccine for the new strain of flu but severe cases can be treated with antiviral medication.
Symptom puzzle
Speaking in Geneva, an expert from the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN's health agency, expert said the swine flu virus could be capable of mutating into a more dangerous strain but that more information was needed before raising the WHO's pandemic alert phase.
SWINE FLU
Swine flu is a respiratory disease found in pigs
Human cases usually occur in those who have contact with pigs
Human-to-human transmission is rare and such cases are closely monitored
Keeping a distance in Mexico City
Q&A: Swine flu
UK monitoring swine flu outbreak
Only a handful of the Mexican cases have so far been laboratory-confirmed as swine flu, while in the US confirmed cases had only mild symptoms.
Health experts want to know why some people become so seriously ill, while others just get a bit of a cold, the BBC's Imogen Foulkes reports from Switzerland.
The WHO added that there was no evidence to suggest the outbreak was a bio-terrorist attack.
It is advising all countries to be vigilant for seasonally unusual flu or pneumonia-like symptoms among their populations - particularly among young healthy adults, a characteristic of past pandemics.
Officials said most of those killed so far in Mexico were young adults - rather than more vulnerable children and the elderly.
It is unclear how effective currently available flu vaccines would be at offering protection against the new strain, as it is genetically distinct from other flu strains.
WHO experts will meet again in Geneva on Tuesday to discuss whether to raise the pandemic alert phase.
Sick travellers
H1N1 is the same strain that causes seasonal flu outbreaks in humans but the newly detected version contains genetic material from versions of flu which usually affect pigs and birds.
FLU PANDEMICS
1918: The Spanish flu pandemic remains the most devastating outbreak of modern times - infecting up to 40% of the world's population and killing more than 50m people, with young adults particularly badly affected
1957: Asian flu killed two million people. Caused by a human form of the virus, H2N2, combining with a mutated strain found in wild ducks. The elderly were particularly vulnerable
1968: An outbreak first detected in Hong Kong, and caused by a strain known as H3N2, killed up to one million people globally, with those over 65 most likely to die
It is spread mainly through coughs and sneezes.
The Canadian cases were recorded at opposite ends of the country: two in British Columbia in the west, and four in the Atlantic province of Nova Scotia.
Suspected cases have been detected beyond Mexico, the US and Canada
Ten New Zealand students from a group which visited Mexico have tested positive for Influenza A, making it "likely" they are infected with swine flu
In France, a top health official told Le Parisien newspaper there were unconfirmed suspicions that two individuals who had just returned from Mexico might be carrying the virus
Spain's health ministry says three people who returned from a trip from Mexico with flu symptoms are in isolation and being tested
In Israel, medics are testing a 26-year-old man who has been taken to hospital with flu-like symptoms after returning from a trip to Mexico
Two people in Queensland, Australia, are being tested in hospital after developing flu-like symptoms on returning from Mexico
Mexican shutdown
The BBC's Ros Atkins dons his face mask to explore Mexico City
Officials in Mexico confirmed that 20 people had died from the virus while another 61 deaths were suspected cases of swine flu.
More than 1,300 people have been admitted to hospital with suspected symptoms since 13 April.
With Mexico City apparently the centre of infection, many people are choosing to leave the city, the BBC's Stephen Gibbs reports.
Schools, universities and even most bars and restaurants will remain closed for several days and though Sunday church services are going ahead, priests have been asked to place Communion wafers in people's hands rather than on their tongues.
There are those that are beginning to worry about the effects swine flu is having on their livelihoods and the Mexican economy in general, our correspondent says.
Not knowing exactly how the virus works and how it can be killed off creates a horrible uncertainty
BBC reader Mariana, Mexico City
Read more experiences
Send us your comments
Fear of the virus is expected to persuade many tourists to cancel their holidays and Mexican exports are already beginning to be affected.
The World Bank is providing Mexico with more than $200m in loans to help it deal with the outbreak.
Russia has banned imports of raw pork and pork products from Mexico and the US states of California, Texas and Kansas until further notice as a precaution.
Dr Fukuda said on Sunday there was no proof that eating pork would lead to infection.
"Right now we have no evidence to suggest that people are getting exposed, or getting infected, from exposure to pork or to pigs, and so right now we have zero evidence to suspect that exposure to meat leads to infections," he said.
As the UN warned the outbreak might become a pandemic, Dr Keiji Fukuda said years of preparing for bird flu had boosted world stocks of anti-virals.
Canada is the latest country to confirm cases after as many as 81 deaths in Mexico and 20 cases in the US.
Washington has warned the flu may yet claim American lives.
"I do fear that we will have deaths," Dr Anne Schuchat of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters.
Eight cases have been confirmed among New York students, seven in California, two in Texas, two in Kansas and one in Ohio.
Several countries in Asia and Latin America have begun screening airport passengers for symptoms.
There is currently no vaccine for the new strain of flu but severe cases can be treated with antiviral medication.
Symptom puzzle
Speaking in Geneva, an expert from the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN's health agency, expert said the swine flu virus could be capable of mutating into a more dangerous strain but that more information was needed before raising the WHO's pandemic alert phase.
SWINE FLU
Swine flu is a respiratory disease found in pigs
Human cases usually occur in those who have contact with pigs
Human-to-human transmission is rare and such cases are closely monitored
Keeping a distance in Mexico City
Q&A: Swine flu
UK monitoring swine flu outbreak
Only a handful of the Mexican cases have so far been laboratory-confirmed as swine flu, while in the US confirmed cases had only mild symptoms.
Health experts want to know why some people become so seriously ill, while others just get a bit of a cold, the BBC's Imogen Foulkes reports from Switzerland.
The WHO added that there was no evidence to suggest the outbreak was a bio-terrorist attack.
It is advising all countries to be vigilant for seasonally unusual flu or pneumonia-like symptoms among their populations - particularly among young healthy adults, a characteristic of past pandemics.
Officials said most of those killed so far in Mexico were young adults - rather than more vulnerable children and the elderly.
It is unclear how effective currently available flu vaccines would be at offering protection against the new strain, as it is genetically distinct from other flu strains.
WHO experts will meet again in Geneva on Tuesday to discuss whether to raise the pandemic alert phase.
Sick travellers
H1N1 is the same strain that causes seasonal flu outbreaks in humans but the newly detected version contains genetic material from versions of flu which usually affect pigs and birds.
FLU PANDEMICS
1918: The Spanish flu pandemic remains the most devastating outbreak of modern times - infecting up to 40% of the world's population and killing more than 50m people, with young adults particularly badly affected
1957: Asian flu killed two million people. Caused by a human form of the virus, H2N2, combining with a mutated strain found in wild ducks. The elderly were particularly vulnerable
1968: An outbreak first detected in Hong Kong, and caused by a strain known as H3N2, killed up to one million people globally, with those over 65 most likely to die
It is spread mainly through coughs and sneezes.
The Canadian cases were recorded at opposite ends of the country: two in British Columbia in the west, and four in the Atlantic province of Nova Scotia.
Suspected cases have been detected beyond Mexico, the US and Canada
Ten New Zealand students from a group which visited Mexico have tested positive for Influenza A, making it "likely" they are infected with swine flu
In France, a top health official told Le Parisien newspaper there were unconfirmed suspicions that two individuals who had just returned from Mexico might be carrying the virus
Spain's health ministry says three people who returned from a trip from Mexico with flu symptoms are in isolation and being tested
In Israel, medics are testing a 26-year-old man who has been taken to hospital with flu-like symptoms after returning from a trip to Mexico
Two people in Queensland, Australia, are being tested in hospital after developing flu-like symptoms on returning from Mexico
Mexican shutdown
The BBC's Ros Atkins dons his face mask to explore Mexico City
Officials in Mexico confirmed that 20 people had died from the virus while another 61 deaths were suspected cases of swine flu.
More than 1,300 people have been admitted to hospital with suspected symptoms since 13 April.
With Mexico City apparently the centre of infection, many people are choosing to leave the city, the BBC's Stephen Gibbs reports.
Schools, universities and even most bars and restaurants will remain closed for several days and though Sunday church services are going ahead, priests have been asked to place Communion wafers in people's hands rather than on their tongues.
There are those that are beginning to worry about the effects swine flu is having on their livelihoods and the Mexican economy in general, our correspondent says.
Not knowing exactly how the virus works and how it can be killed off creates a horrible uncertainty
BBC reader Mariana, Mexico City
Read more experiences
Send us your comments
Fear of the virus is expected to persuade many tourists to cancel their holidays and Mexican exports are already beginning to be affected.
The World Bank is providing Mexico with more than $200m in loans to help it deal with the outbreak.
Russia has banned imports of raw pork and pork products from Mexico and the US states of California, Texas and Kansas until further notice as a precaution.
Dr Fukuda said on Sunday there was no proof that eating pork would lead to infection.
"Right now we have no evidence to suggest that people are getting exposed, or getting infected, from exposure to pork or to pigs, and so right now we have zero evidence to suspect that exposure to meat leads to infections," he said.
Security forces regain control of Lal Qila
Security forces have seized control of the Lal Qila after fierce gunbatlle with militants in an ongoing operation in Lower Dir on Sunday.
According to sources, security forces have entered the Lal Qila.
On the other hand, intense firing is underway between militants and FC troops at Kala Daag and Islam Pura.
Meanwhile, ISPR said in a statement that Frontier Corps have launched operation against militants in Dir on the request of the provincial government and people.
Earlier in the day, security forces targeted suspected militants’ hideouts situated in Lal Qila and Islam Pura, killing a large number of militants, including a top commander.
While one security personnel was also martyred in the operation
According to sources, security forces have entered the Lal Qila.
On the other hand, intense firing is underway between militants and FC troops at Kala Daag and Islam Pura.
Meanwhile, ISPR said in a statement that Frontier Corps have launched operation against militants in Dir on the request of the provincial government and people.
Earlier in the day, security forces targeted suspected militants’ hideouts situated in Lal Qila and Islam Pura, killing a large number of militants, including a top commander.
While one security personnel was also martyred in the operation
Narendra Modi must apologise to PM: Congress
The Congress demanded an apology from Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi after a man flung a shoe at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during an election rally in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
"It is absolutely shocking... Modi has to apologise for what has been done to the PM. It is an insult to democracy," said Congress spokesperson M Veerappa Moily.
Moily said such incidents are the manifestation of "hate politics" promoted by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gujarat.
"The manner in which hate politics is being initiated by the BJP is reflected in this way. People of Gujarat are excellent but Modi has nurtured such kind of hate politics... parties should resolve to shun hate politics," he said.
Asked if the BJP was behind the incident, Moily said: "It has to investigated."
Targeting the law and order situation in Gujarat, Moily said: "It (such incidents) reflects the kind of bad governance and law and order situation in the state."
Congress spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Rajiv Shukla described the incident as condemnable and said such incidents should not be given importance
"It is absolutely shocking... Modi has to apologise for what has been done to the PM. It is an insult to democracy," said Congress spokesperson M Veerappa Moily.
Moily said such incidents are the manifestation of "hate politics" promoted by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gujarat.
"The manner in which hate politics is being initiated by the BJP is reflected in this way. People of Gujarat are excellent but Modi has nurtured such kind of hate politics... parties should resolve to shun hate politics," he said.
Asked if the BJP was behind the incident, Moily said: "It has to investigated."
Targeting the law and order situation in Gujarat, Moily said: "It (such incidents) reflects the kind of bad governance and law and order situation in the state."
Congress spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Rajiv Shukla described the incident as condemnable and said such incidents should not be given importance
Baitullah despatches 300 terrorists to attack Pak cities
Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud plans to carry out terror attacks in major cities, including Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Lahore, and has dispatched his top five commanders along with 300 terrorists and suicide bombers to execute the mission. The five Taliban commanders will supervise the terrorist operations planned by Mehsud and the Taliban Himayat Tehrik in these cities, Interior Ministry sources said on Sunday.
The Taliban commanders who had left North Waziristan on the mission were identified by intelligence agencies as Shikaari, Inayatullah, Walid, Mujahid and Abdali,sources said. A security official said the Taliban commanders had left North Waziristan Agency for Islamabad on April 11 along with an explosives-laden Toyota Corolla car with the registration number IDG-8720.
The sources, quoting an intelligence report, said about 300 terrorists and suicide bombers would reach Islamabad with the five commanders. However, law enforcement agencies are unaware whether the militants have reached their destination or postponed their operation, the official said.
Interior Secretary Kamal Shah confirmed the report and said foolproof security measures have been adopted to thwart the threats. "The law enforcement agencies have chalked out counter strategies to deal with the situation," he said.
Shah said troops from the Northern Areas Scouts will reach Islamabad within two days to help the civil administration in maintaining peace. It would be the prerogative of the police chief to deploy the troops "where he thinks it necessary", he said.
The daily quoted its sources as saying that an intelligence agency had informed the government regarding the Taliban activities. It had warned that simultaneous suicide bombings followed by sniper attacks could be carried out by the Taliban.
The Taliban commanders who had left North Waziristan on the mission were identified by intelligence agencies as Shikaari, Inayatullah, Walid, Mujahid and Abdali,sources said. A security official said the Taliban commanders had left North Waziristan Agency for Islamabad on April 11 along with an explosives-laden Toyota Corolla car with the registration number IDG-8720.
The sources, quoting an intelligence report, said about 300 terrorists and suicide bombers would reach Islamabad with the five commanders. However, law enforcement agencies are unaware whether the militants have reached their destination or postponed their operation, the official said.
Interior Secretary Kamal Shah confirmed the report and said foolproof security measures have been adopted to thwart the threats. "The law enforcement agencies have chalked out counter strategies to deal with the situation," he said.
Shah said troops from the Northern Areas Scouts will reach Islamabad within two days to help the civil administration in maintaining peace. It would be the prerogative of the police chief to deploy the troops "where he thinks it necessary", he said.
The daily quoted its sources as saying that an intelligence agency had informed the government regarding the Taliban activities. It had warned that simultaneous suicide bombings followed by sniper attacks could be carried out by the Taliban.
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