Officials in Moscow lashed out bitterly at the West today, excoriating NATO for expelling two Russians suspected of spying and for pushing ahead with planned military exercises in Georgia.
In sharp contrast to the Obama administration's call for a "reset" of U.S.-Russian relations and the recent thaw in Russian-NATO ties, it was a day of acrimony and veiled threats as Russian officials resorted to some of their toughest talk in weeks.
Two high-ranking members of Russia's permanent mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization were stripped of their credentials and expelled from Belgium on accusations of espionage, the alliance's leadership announced today. The two were identified as political desk chief Viktor Kochukov and mission attache and executive secretary Vasily Chizhov.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called the expulsions "provocative," and issued a statement warning NATO to "think about the consequences of what happened. We will certainly make our own conclusions from this provocation."
Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's permanent envoy to NATO, said the charges of espionage were false, calling them "unprecedented crude steps aimed to unbalance Russia" and derail newly resumed talks between Russia and the alliance. The expulsions came just as the NATO-Russia Council met for the first time since Moscow's war last summer with Georgia.
"I want to say that, in line with established diplomatic practice, this act will not remain unanswered," Rogozin told the Interfax news agency.
NATO suspended political contact after Russian troops crossed into Georgia last summer -- provoked, Moscow said, by a Georgian assault on the breakaway republic of South Ossetia. Wednesday marked the first day of renewed political discussion between the Atlantic alliance and Moscow. But the talks came amid increased tension over NATO plans to hold military exercises in Georgia beginning next week.
The exercises were scheduled long before last year's war, but officials in Moscow argue that they constitute a potentially destabilizing threat and should be abandoned.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev todaycalled the exercises "an open provocation," and warned the West that it would be responsible for any ensuing troubles.
"It is common knowledge that no exercises shall be held where there was war recently," Medvedev said. "All responsibility for possible negative consequences will lie with the people undertaking the relevant steps."
Against the background of rippling tensions, Russia signed a treaty accepting responsibility for military control of the so-called "borders" dividing Georgia's rebel republics from the rest of the small Caucasian nation.
Last summer's war revolved around the fate of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another republic that has broken with Georgia. Moscow has since recognized the two areas as newly formed, independent countries. Only Nicaragua and the Islamic militant faction Hamas joined Russia in recognizing the rebel territories, but an undeterred Moscow continues to treat the two republics as independent, albeit client, states.
The presidents of the two republics were in Moscow todayto sign the agreement with Medvedev. The treaty gives Russia responsibility for guarding the cease-fire line until the two rebel territories create their own border guard.
The three leaders also signed cooperation agreements linking the security services of the breakaway republics with the Russian FSB, the powerful intelligence service that is the modern-day successor to the KGB.
The deals could further destabilize the already fragile cease-fire in the Caucasus, some Russian analysts warned. Skirmishes have already broken out between Georgian and rebel forces.
"Now if there are any incidents on the cease-fire lines, it will be a direct confrontation between Russia and Georgia," Russian military analyst Pavel Felgengauer said. "Which, of course, would be a good pretext for resuming the war."
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Chrysler bankruptcy deal revealed
US carmaker Chrysler will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection immediately and has formed an alliance with Fiat, President Obama has said.
Chapter 11 protects firms from their creditors, allowing them to rearrange their finances while still trading.
The move came after talks had broken down with Chrysler's lenders late on Wednesday, the White House said.
Chrysler chief executive Robert Nardelli said he will step down after the company emerges from bankruptcy.
Mr Nardelli has been in charge at Chrysler since 2007 but said he felt it would be an appropriate time to leave after bankruptcy.
New Chrysler
The filing for bankruptcy protection will lead to the forming of a new corporate entity.
Details of the new Chrysler include:
Fiat's technology will enable Chrysler to build fuel efficient cars
• Fiat will take a 20% stake, with the possibility of it rising to 35% if performance targets are met. It could reach 51% by 2016 if Chrysler's government loans are fully repaid
• The Treasury will have an 8% stake, a union-run trust fund VEBA will take a 55% stake, and the governments of Canada and Ontario will gain a combined 2% stake
• Current owner Cerberus will forfeit its 80.1% stake
• Daimler will give up its remaining 19.9% stake in Chrysler
• Chrysler bondholders will receive $2bn (£1.35bn) in cash in exchange for forgiving their $6.9bn debt
• The new company will be run by a nine-person board, with six picked by the government and three by Fiat. The board will pick a new chief executive.
'Surgical bankruptcy'
Some Chrysler dealerships will close over time but no jobs will be lost in the short term, President Obama said.
BANKRUPTCY PROTECTION
US bankruptcy protection is called Chapter 11
It gives US businesses time to rearrange their finances while continuing to trade, protected from their creditors
History of Chrysler
Can Fiat save Chrysler?
Q&A: What next for Chrysler?
Chrysler will receive a further $8bn in government aid, up from the $6bn the Treasury had promised it if it had successfully restructured the business by midnight.
The White House described the move as a "surgical short bankruptcy" which should last between 30 and 60 days.
President Obama said the "necessary steps" had been taken to give Chrysler "a new lease of life".
He added that he had "every hope" that Chrysler will become "stronger and more competitive" now that it had Fiat on board.
"It's a partnership that will give Chrysler a chance not only to survive, but to thrive in a global auto industry," he said.
'Hedge fund block'
The deal will need to be ratified by the bankruptcy court.
While Chrysler's main banks, holding 70% of the debt, accepted this proposal, it was rejected by hedge funds that hold a sizeable proportion of its remaining debt. Hedge funds are private investment funds that typically attract rich private investors.
Their stance in the negotiations was criticised by President Obama.
"A group of investment firms and hedge funds decided to hold out for the prospect of an unjustified taxpayer-funded bailout," he said.
"They were hoping that everybody else would make sacrifices and they would have to make none. Some demanded twice the return that other lenders were getting. I don't stand with them."
Chrysler is owned by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, which bought an 80.1% stake from Germany's Daimler for 7.4bn euros ($9.9bn; £6.6bn) in 2007.
Cerberus will forfeit its stake as part of the deal.
Italian partner
The partnership with Fiat will create the world's sixth largest carmaker.
Italy's Fiat will not have to pay anything for its share, which will give it access to the North American marketplace. It will also have the right to appoint three company directors.
In return, Chrysler will be able to take advantage of Fiat's expertise in making smaller, more fuel-efficient cars in its existing US factories.
No Chrysler plants in the US will close.
Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne said he would spend time meeting Chrysler employees and touring its facilities over the next few weeks.
"While our agreement must necessarily go through the US legal system for a few weeks, we will be preparing ourselves to re-emerge quickly as a reliable and competitive automaker," he said.
The Treasury will provide Chrysler with $3.3bn in working capital to support it through the Chapter 11 process.
It will also extend a $4.7bn loan to the new company, once it has emerged from bankruptcy, repayable over the next eight years.
Chrysler's financial arm - that makes loans to buyers and to dealers - will be merged into GMAC Financial Services. GMAC is the finance arm of General Motors (GM) but was bailed out by the government in December. The new GMAC will get government support.
Chrysler, the smallest of the US "Big Three" carmakers after GM and Ford, secured a $4bn loan from the US government at the start of the year, and has since gained $500m mor
Chapter 11 protects firms from their creditors, allowing them to rearrange their finances while still trading.
The move came after talks had broken down with Chrysler's lenders late on Wednesday, the White House said.
Chrysler chief executive Robert Nardelli said he will step down after the company emerges from bankruptcy.
Mr Nardelli has been in charge at Chrysler since 2007 but said he felt it would be an appropriate time to leave after bankruptcy.
New Chrysler
The filing for bankruptcy protection will lead to the forming of a new corporate entity.
Details of the new Chrysler include:
Fiat's technology will enable Chrysler to build fuel efficient cars
• Fiat will take a 20% stake, with the possibility of it rising to 35% if performance targets are met. It could reach 51% by 2016 if Chrysler's government loans are fully repaid
• The Treasury will have an 8% stake, a union-run trust fund VEBA will take a 55% stake, and the governments of Canada and Ontario will gain a combined 2% stake
• Current owner Cerberus will forfeit its 80.1% stake
• Daimler will give up its remaining 19.9% stake in Chrysler
• Chrysler bondholders will receive $2bn (£1.35bn) in cash in exchange for forgiving their $6.9bn debt
• The new company will be run by a nine-person board, with six picked by the government and three by Fiat. The board will pick a new chief executive.
'Surgical bankruptcy'
Some Chrysler dealerships will close over time but no jobs will be lost in the short term, President Obama said.
BANKRUPTCY PROTECTION
US bankruptcy protection is called Chapter 11
It gives US businesses time to rearrange their finances while continuing to trade, protected from their creditors
History of Chrysler
Can Fiat save Chrysler?
Q&A: What next for Chrysler?
Chrysler will receive a further $8bn in government aid, up from the $6bn the Treasury had promised it if it had successfully restructured the business by midnight.
The White House described the move as a "surgical short bankruptcy" which should last between 30 and 60 days.
President Obama said the "necessary steps" had been taken to give Chrysler "a new lease of life".
He added that he had "every hope" that Chrysler will become "stronger and more competitive" now that it had Fiat on board.
"It's a partnership that will give Chrysler a chance not only to survive, but to thrive in a global auto industry," he said.
'Hedge fund block'
The deal will need to be ratified by the bankruptcy court.
While Chrysler's main banks, holding 70% of the debt, accepted this proposal, it was rejected by hedge funds that hold a sizeable proportion of its remaining debt. Hedge funds are private investment funds that typically attract rich private investors.
Their stance in the negotiations was criticised by President Obama.
"A group of investment firms and hedge funds decided to hold out for the prospect of an unjustified taxpayer-funded bailout," he said.
"They were hoping that everybody else would make sacrifices and they would have to make none. Some demanded twice the return that other lenders were getting. I don't stand with them."
Chrysler is owned by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, which bought an 80.1% stake from Germany's Daimler for 7.4bn euros ($9.9bn; £6.6bn) in 2007.
Cerberus will forfeit its stake as part of the deal.
Italian partner
The partnership with Fiat will create the world's sixth largest carmaker.
Italy's Fiat will not have to pay anything for its share, which will give it access to the North American marketplace. It will also have the right to appoint three company directors.
In return, Chrysler will be able to take advantage of Fiat's expertise in making smaller, more fuel-efficient cars in its existing US factories.
No Chrysler plants in the US will close.
Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne said he would spend time meeting Chrysler employees and touring its facilities over the next few weeks.
"While our agreement must necessarily go through the US legal system for a few weeks, we will be preparing ourselves to re-emerge quickly as a reliable and competitive automaker," he said.
The Treasury will provide Chrysler with $3.3bn in working capital to support it through the Chapter 11 process.
It will also extend a $4.7bn loan to the new company, once it has emerged from bankruptcy, repayable over the next eight years.
Chrysler's financial arm - that makes loans to buyers and to dealers - will be merged into GMAC Financial Services. GMAC is the finance arm of General Motors (GM) but was bailed out by the government in December. The new GMAC will get government support.
Chrysler, the smallest of the US "Big Three" carmakers after GM and Ford, secured a $4bn loan from the US government at the start of the year, and has since gained $500m mor
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Hijack leads to train collision, 4 die
Four passengers were killed and 11 others injured when an “unidentified” person hijacked a suburban train and drove it at high speed, resulting in a head-on collision with a goods train hauling empty oil wagons at Vyasarpadi Jiva railway station here early on Wednesday.
The condition of five of those injured, including a couple of women, was said to be critical.
According to railway sources, the collision took place minutes after the suburban train rolled out of the Moore Market Complex (near Central Railway Station) at around 4.50 a.m. The Electrical Multiple Unit (EMU) jumped the red signal and took the wrong line. The train sped past the Basin Bridge Junction, the next scheduled stop, and rammed the goods train.
A huge ball of fire engulfed two coaches immediately after the collision. The other coaches were thrown off the track.
Fire fighters rushed to the scene, put out the flames and began rescuing passengers along with Government Railway Police and Railway Protection Force personnel.
The first coach, including the driver’s cabin or the motor-cab, was ripped apart. The impact of the collision was such that a major portion of the Vyasarpadi Jiva station, foot over-bridge and railway track was damaged. The driver’s cabin was flung metres away.
Investigators were unable to confirm whether the suspect was among the deceased. Two of the four bodies were badly crushed and trapped in the mangled remains of a coach.
The driver and guard of the goods train escaped with minor injuries as they jumped out.
Some persons standing on the platform were among the injured. They were shifted to the Perambur railway hospital.
Intelligence warning
An intelligence agency official said they had warned the GRP, RPF and railway authorities of the possibility of sabotage on railway premises by sympathisers of Eelam Tamils and Muslim fundamentalists.
M.S.Jayanth, who is holding additional charge as General Manager of Southern Railway, said it appeared that the suspect was well-versed with the operation of EMU. It required four keys to operate an EMU. How he managed to get the keys was a mystery. Commissioner of Railway Safety K.J.S.Naidu would conduct an enquiry.
Southern Railway has preferred a complaint with the police that an “unauthorised” person started the train and drove it in a rash and negligent manner leading to the incident.
The Perambur railway police have registered a case under various provisions of the IPC, including Section 304 (A) (Causing death by negligence), Superintendent of Police (Railways), S.Manoharan, said.
Another suburban train and the Mettupalayam-Chennai Bluemountain Express were some distance ahead of the accident scene, approaching Chennai, on the same track. “The speed of the EMU service at the time of the collision was 92 kmph. The goods train was pushed behind by about 200 metres from the collision spot. One 140-tonne crane was moved in for relief and restoration works. The motorman (driver) and guard of the train had not taken charge when the train was hijacked. We hope to restore normal train services by Wednesday night,” Chief Mechanical Engineer V.Carmelus told The Hindu.
Mr.Carmelus said the Station Master of Basin Bridge Junction had noticed that there was neither a motorman nor guard in the speeding train, and alerted the control room.
“We could have stopped the train by switching off the power supply…but there was hardly any time for that,” he said.
According to Inspector General of Police (RPF) G.M.P.Reddy, suburban train platforms are not covered by the surveillance camera network.
Three of the deceased were identified as Joseph Antonyraj (40) of Rajamangalam in Villivakkam, Arockianathan, an employee of the Railway Hospital at Erode, and Mohanraj (35) of Avadi. The identity of the fourth deceased is yet to be established.
The police suspect he was the person who drove the train.
Case transferred
Director-General of Police K.P.Jain issued orders later in the night transferring the case to CB-CID for investigation
The condition of five of those injured, including a couple of women, was said to be critical.
According to railway sources, the collision took place minutes after the suburban train rolled out of the Moore Market Complex (near Central Railway Station) at around 4.50 a.m. The Electrical Multiple Unit (EMU) jumped the red signal and took the wrong line. The train sped past the Basin Bridge Junction, the next scheduled stop, and rammed the goods train.
A huge ball of fire engulfed two coaches immediately after the collision. The other coaches were thrown off the track.
Fire fighters rushed to the scene, put out the flames and began rescuing passengers along with Government Railway Police and Railway Protection Force personnel.
The first coach, including the driver’s cabin or the motor-cab, was ripped apart. The impact of the collision was such that a major portion of the Vyasarpadi Jiva station, foot over-bridge and railway track was damaged. The driver’s cabin was flung metres away.
Investigators were unable to confirm whether the suspect was among the deceased. Two of the four bodies were badly crushed and trapped in the mangled remains of a coach.
The driver and guard of the goods train escaped with minor injuries as they jumped out.
Some persons standing on the platform were among the injured. They were shifted to the Perambur railway hospital.
Intelligence warning
An intelligence agency official said they had warned the GRP, RPF and railway authorities of the possibility of sabotage on railway premises by sympathisers of Eelam Tamils and Muslim fundamentalists.
M.S.Jayanth, who is holding additional charge as General Manager of Southern Railway, said it appeared that the suspect was well-versed with the operation of EMU. It required four keys to operate an EMU. How he managed to get the keys was a mystery. Commissioner of Railway Safety K.J.S.Naidu would conduct an enquiry.
Southern Railway has preferred a complaint with the police that an “unauthorised” person started the train and drove it in a rash and negligent manner leading to the incident.
The Perambur railway police have registered a case under various provisions of the IPC, including Section 304 (A) (Causing death by negligence), Superintendent of Police (Railways), S.Manoharan, said.
Another suburban train and the Mettupalayam-Chennai Bluemountain Express were some distance ahead of the accident scene, approaching Chennai, on the same track. “The speed of the EMU service at the time of the collision was 92 kmph. The goods train was pushed behind by about 200 metres from the collision spot. One 140-tonne crane was moved in for relief and restoration works. The motorman (driver) and guard of the train had not taken charge when the train was hijacked. We hope to restore normal train services by Wednesday night,” Chief Mechanical Engineer V.Carmelus told The Hindu.
Mr.Carmelus said the Station Master of Basin Bridge Junction had noticed that there was neither a motorman nor guard in the speeding train, and alerted the control room.
“We could have stopped the train by switching off the power supply…but there was hardly any time for that,” he said.
According to Inspector General of Police (RPF) G.M.P.Reddy, suburban train platforms are not covered by the surveillance camera network.
Three of the deceased were identified as Joseph Antonyraj (40) of Rajamangalam in Villivakkam, Arockianathan, an employee of the Railway Hospital at Erode, and Mohanraj (35) of Avadi. The identity of the fourth deceased is yet to be established.
The police suspect he was the person who drove the train.
Case transferred
Director-General of Police K.P.Jain issued orders later in the night transferring the case to CB-CID for investigation
Newspaper questions Rahul degree, gets notice
The Congress has served a legal notice to a Chennai-based newspaper for its “brazenly desperate attempt to fuel a controversy and malign” party general secretary Rahul Gandhi at the time of elections by questioning his M.Phil degree from Cambridge University.
The article — Rahul Gandhi, spin doctor — was published in The New Indian Express and carried on its website, expressbuzz.com, on April 11. The party said the newspaper had succeeded in defaming Rahul, 38, at the time of elections which had caused him “grave and irreparable harm”.
“Deeply distressed by your wild allegations, sly insinuations and self-serving innuendos, all premised on complete falsehoods and steeped in malice, a legal notice is being issued,” read the notice, copies of which were released to the media by party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
A copy of the letter of Professor Alison Richard, vice-chancellor of University of Cambridge, was attached to the notice. The letter said Rahul was a student of the university as a member of Trinity College from October 1994 to July 1995 and was awarded an M. Phil in Development Studies in 1995.
In fact, Rahul had told mediapersons at Kochi on April 13 that he would serve a legal notice to the newspaper.
“Instead of verifying anything from our client, you wrote the subject article falsely, recklessly and with complete disregard for truth, alleging that our client did not complete his degree,” read the notice settled by Singhvi himself. Singhvi practices in the Supreme Court. It accused the newspaper of bias against Rahul and his family.
“Our client is concerned with the systematic attempts that you have been making to defame him and his family from time to time by false, malicious, scurrilous and defamatory personal allegations. There is a systematic pattern to your devious agenda,” the notice said, demanding an apology from the newspaper
The article — Rahul Gandhi, spin doctor — was published in The New Indian Express and carried on its website, expressbuzz.com, on April 11. The party said the newspaper had succeeded in defaming Rahul, 38, at the time of elections which had caused him “grave and irreparable harm”.
“Deeply distressed by your wild allegations, sly insinuations and self-serving innuendos, all premised on complete falsehoods and steeped in malice, a legal notice is being issued,” read the notice, copies of which were released to the media by party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
A copy of the letter of Professor Alison Richard, vice-chancellor of University of Cambridge, was attached to the notice. The letter said Rahul was a student of the university as a member of Trinity College from October 1994 to July 1995 and was awarded an M. Phil in Development Studies in 1995.
In fact, Rahul had told mediapersons at Kochi on April 13 that he would serve a legal notice to the newspaper.
“Instead of verifying anything from our client, you wrote the subject article falsely, recklessly and with complete disregard for truth, alleging that our client did not complete his degree,” read the notice settled by Singhvi himself. Singhvi practices in the Supreme Court. It accused the newspaper of bias against Rahul and his family.
“Our client is concerned with the systematic attempts that you have been making to defame him and his family from time to time by false, malicious, scurrilous and defamatory personal allegations. There is a systematic pattern to your devious agenda,” the notice said, demanding an apology from the newspaper
Sonia Gandhi, LK Advani's fate to be decided to
The world's biggest electoral exercise enters a decisive stage on Thursday with voting for 107 Lok Sabha seats in the third phase of polling. By the end of the day, two-thirds of 714 million Indian voters spread across nine states and two union territories would have cast their vote.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate LK Advani and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda are among the 1,567 candidates whose electoral fate will be sealed in ballot boxes in this phase.
Stakes are high for both national parties. The phase will account for 372 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats. After Thursday, voting on just 171 seats will remain during two phases on May 7 and May 13 respectively.
Of the 107 seats in this phase, the BJP is defending 43 against 25 of the Congress. A 14.40 crore-strong electorate will vote on Thursday. Gujarat’s 26 parliamentary seats go to the polls, besides 11 and 16 in Karnataka and MP respectively. Voting will also take place in 10 constituencies in Maharashtra, 14 in West Bengal, 11 in Bihar and 15 in UP. Also going to the polls are Dadra and Nagar Haveli (one), Daman & Diu (one), Sikkim (one) and Jammu & Kashmir (one).
Voting in the remaining two phases is in states not considered BJP strongholds.
In Gujarat, the BJP is riding high on the popularity of Chief Minister Narendra Modi. The party is also seeking to capitalise on its prime ministerial candidate, LK Advani, contesting from Gandhinagar.
In 2004, the BJP had won 14 seats from the state, while the opposition Congress had surprised pollsters by winning 12. This was the best Congress performance in a decade.
In West Bengal, reformist Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee faces an acid test, with voting scheduled in 14 of the state’s 42 seats. Of the 14 seats, the Left has a challenge to retain 11, while the Congress is defending just the three it won last time.
In Madhya Pradesh, besides the Guna and Ratlam constituencies (from where Jyotiraditya Scindia and Kanti Lal Bhuria respectively are the Congress candidates), the constituencies going to poll in this phase are considered BJP strongholds.
The Karnataka battle promises to be an interesting one as well. The 11 seats in this phase include Shimoga where warhorse S Bangarappa of the Congress is facing BS Yedurappa’s son BY Raghvendra.
In Bihar, JD (U) President Sharad Yadav is contesting the Madhepura seat, while BJP’s Shah Nawaz Hussain is the candidate from Bhagalpur.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate LK Advani and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda are among the 1,567 candidates whose electoral fate will be sealed in ballot boxes in this phase.
Stakes are high for both national parties. The phase will account for 372 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats. After Thursday, voting on just 171 seats will remain during two phases on May 7 and May 13 respectively.
Of the 107 seats in this phase, the BJP is defending 43 against 25 of the Congress. A 14.40 crore-strong electorate will vote on Thursday. Gujarat’s 26 parliamentary seats go to the polls, besides 11 and 16 in Karnataka and MP respectively. Voting will also take place in 10 constituencies in Maharashtra, 14 in West Bengal, 11 in Bihar and 15 in UP. Also going to the polls are Dadra and Nagar Haveli (one), Daman & Diu (one), Sikkim (one) and Jammu & Kashmir (one).
Voting in the remaining two phases is in states not considered BJP strongholds.
In Gujarat, the BJP is riding high on the popularity of Chief Minister Narendra Modi. The party is also seeking to capitalise on its prime ministerial candidate, LK Advani, contesting from Gandhinagar.
In 2004, the BJP had won 14 seats from the state, while the opposition Congress had surprised pollsters by winning 12. This was the best Congress performance in a decade.
In West Bengal, reformist Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee faces an acid test, with voting scheduled in 14 of the state’s 42 seats. Of the 14 seats, the Left has a challenge to retain 11, while the Congress is defending just the three it won last time.
In Madhya Pradesh, besides the Guna and Ratlam constituencies (from where Jyotiraditya Scindia and Kanti Lal Bhuria respectively are the Congress candidates), the constituencies going to poll in this phase are considered BJP strongholds.
The Karnataka battle promises to be an interesting one as well. The 11 seats in this phase include Shimoga where warhorse S Bangarappa of the Congress is facing BS Yedurappa’s son BY Raghvendra.
In Bihar, JD (U) President Sharad Yadav is contesting the Madhepura seat, while BJP’s Shah Nawaz Hussain is the candidate from Bhagalpur.
UK buys 60m face masks as new cases of swine flu emerge
Three new British cases of swine flu were confirmed yesterday as the Department of Health stepped up its emergency response with plans to purchase additional stocks of antiviral drugs and face masks.
All three - a 12-year-old girl from Paignton, Devon, a 41-year-old woman from Redditch, Worcestershire, and a 22-year-old man from north-west London - had recently returned from Mexico.
The child was on the same flight into Birmingham as the Scottish honeymoon couple who tested positive earlierthis week. Her school has been closed for a week.
The number of suspected cases had risen to 78 by early yesterday afternoon, but the figure fluctuated as some were discounted after negative test results and others emerged.
Before the World Health Organisation last night declared a pandemic alert phase five, its second highest alert level, the UK health secretary, Alan Johnson, revealed an array of measures to combat the disease in Britain, including obtaining extra supplies of antiviral drugs to protect 50 million people - more than three-quarters of the population.
Current UK stockpiles of Tamiflu and Relenza are enough to cover 33 million.
The Department of Health could not give a figure for the cost of additional drugs. Prior to this week it had already spent £500m in "pandemic preparedness" - a sum that includes previously purchased antiviral drugs, vaccines and advance supply agreements for emergency medicines.
The further doses would "come through over the coming weeks", Johnson promised. The level of antiviral protection available was already far higher than any other country in the world, he added.
There is no evidence that providing the public with face masks would do anything to prevent the spread of the disease, but Johnson said 60m face masks would be ordered for "frontline" NHS staff, who may require several changes of mask in the course of their work.
There are signs of increased public demand for face masks. One online distributor, Windsor-based Surgical Face Masks, stopped taking orders yesterday, claiming to have been deluged by up to 5,000 orders since Saturday.
A factory in County Durham making face masks, run by the company 3M, has increased production to 24 hours a day, seven days a week to meet demand from the NHS.
The health secretary said: "To keep the public informed, a mass public health campaign will begin [today], with print, TV and radio adverts. The adverts will warn the public about swine flu and remind people to cover their noses and mouths with tissues [when they sneeze or cough] and then throw the tissue away."
The slogan will be "Catch It, Bin It, Kill It", referring to the advice to use throwaway paper tissues when ill, and to wash hands regularly. An information leaflet will be posted through people's doors next Tuesday.
The Department of Health has set up a telephone line for the public to ring for updates on the situation. The number is 0800 1513513.
Health Protection Agency staff are also being sent to UK airports that have direct flights to Mexico to hand out advice to passengers. Airlines are being asked to keep passenger seating records, normally purged after 24 hours, for a longer period to trace potential infection contacts.
"The virus is giving us more time than we would normally expect in a flu epidemic," said Sir Liam Donaldson, the chief medical officer. "It's possible it will evolve as it passes through the population." It could yet become more virulent. To be effective, he said, antiviral drugs have to be administered within 24 hours of the first symptoms appearing.
The decision to close the school in Devon until next Tuesday is in line with Health Protection Agency and WHO guidelines: seven days is the incubation period for the flu.
Fears of a fresh outbreak of swine flu in Scotland subsided yesterday after health authorities said 13 of the suspected cases had proven negative.
The Scottish health secretary, Nicola Sturgeon, said tests on eight of the nine people who had been in contact with the first Britons to catch it, Iain and Dawn Askham, had shown they did not have the same virus.
In a further development, tests on five of the 14 further suspected Scottish cases which came to light on Tuesday were also negative, while another two suspected cases were no longer of concern.
The minister said, however, that a further 24 suspect cases from across Scotland were under investigation, in Ayrshire and Arran, Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Lanarkshire, Highland and Lothian.
All those involved had travelled in Mexico and other affected areas. Added to the outstanding tests on the first wave of suspicious cases, there were now 32 cases under investigation in Scotland. However, the lack of any further transmission of the virus so far within Scotland should give affected families and authorities in England some reassurance after three confirmed cases came to light in Torbay, London and Birmingham, she later told reporters.
"I do think the experience we've had to date, and I stress to date, does give cause for optimism, not just in Scotland, but in other parts of the UK," she said.
However, she warned it was still possible further cases would emerge. Sturgeon said she had spoken to Iain Askham, now entering his sixth day in an isolation ward, by telephone: "He said he was feeling well, he was feeling better. I think they're looking forward to getting back to normal, although when I said that to him he said he had forgotten what normal felt like."
All three - a 12-year-old girl from Paignton, Devon, a 41-year-old woman from Redditch, Worcestershire, and a 22-year-old man from north-west London - had recently returned from Mexico.
The child was on the same flight into Birmingham as the Scottish honeymoon couple who tested positive earlierthis week. Her school has been closed for a week.
The number of suspected cases had risen to 78 by early yesterday afternoon, but the figure fluctuated as some were discounted after negative test results and others emerged.
Before the World Health Organisation last night declared a pandemic alert phase five, its second highest alert level, the UK health secretary, Alan Johnson, revealed an array of measures to combat the disease in Britain, including obtaining extra supplies of antiviral drugs to protect 50 million people - more than three-quarters of the population.
Current UK stockpiles of Tamiflu and Relenza are enough to cover 33 million.
The Department of Health could not give a figure for the cost of additional drugs. Prior to this week it had already spent £500m in "pandemic preparedness" - a sum that includes previously purchased antiviral drugs, vaccines and advance supply agreements for emergency medicines.
The further doses would "come through over the coming weeks", Johnson promised. The level of antiviral protection available was already far higher than any other country in the world, he added.
There is no evidence that providing the public with face masks would do anything to prevent the spread of the disease, but Johnson said 60m face masks would be ordered for "frontline" NHS staff, who may require several changes of mask in the course of their work.
There are signs of increased public demand for face masks. One online distributor, Windsor-based Surgical Face Masks, stopped taking orders yesterday, claiming to have been deluged by up to 5,000 orders since Saturday.
A factory in County Durham making face masks, run by the company 3M, has increased production to 24 hours a day, seven days a week to meet demand from the NHS.
The health secretary said: "To keep the public informed, a mass public health campaign will begin [today], with print, TV and radio adverts. The adverts will warn the public about swine flu and remind people to cover their noses and mouths with tissues [when they sneeze or cough] and then throw the tissue away."
The slogan will be "Catch It, Bin It, Kill It", referring to the advice to use throwaway paper tissues when ill, and to wash hands regularly. An information leaflet will be posted through people's doors next Tuesday.
The Department of Health has set up a telephone line for the public to ring for updates on the situation. The number is 0800 1513513.
Health Protection Agency staff are also being sent to UK airports that have direct flights to Mexico to hand out advice to passengers. Airlines are being asked to keep passenger seating records, normally purged after 24 hours, for a longer period to trace potential infection contacts.
"The virus is giving us more time than we would normally expect in a flu epidemic," said Sir Liam Donaldson, the chief medical officer. "It's possible it will evolve as it passes through the population." It could yet become more virulent. To be effective, he said, antiviral drugs have to be administered within 24 hours of the first symptoms appearing.
The decision to close the school in Devon until next Tuesday is in line with Health Protection Agency and WHO guidelines: seven days is the incubation period for the flu.
Fears of a fresh outbreak of swine flu in Scotland subsided yesterday after health authorities said 13 of the suspected cases had proven negative.
The Scottish health secretary, Nicola Sturgeon, said tests on eight of the nine people who had been in contact with the first Britons to catch it, Iain and Dawn Askham, had shown they did not have the same virus.
In a further development, tests on five of the 14 further suspected Scottish cases which came to light on Tuesday were also negative, while another two suspected cases were no longer of concern.
The minister said, however, that a further 24 suspect cases from across Scotland were under investigation, in Ayrshire and Arran, Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Lanarkshire, Highland and Lothian.
All those involved had travelled in Mexico and other affected areas. Added to the outstanding tests on the first wave of suspicious cases, there were now 32 cases under investigation in Scotland. However, the lack of any further transmission of the virus so far within Scotland should give affected families and authorities in England some reassurance after three confirmed cases came to light in Torbay, London and Birmingham, she later told reporters.
"I do think the experience we've had to date, and I stress to date, does give cause for optimism, not just in Scotland, but in other parts of the UK," she said.
However, she warned it was still possible further cases would emerge. Sturgeon said she had spoken to Iain Askham, now entering his sixth day in an isolation ward, by telephone: "He said he was feeling well, he was feeling better. I think they're looking forward to getting back to normal, although when I said that to him he said he had forgotten what normal felt like."
Civilians Flee as Pakistani Forces Hit Resistance
The Pakistani forces air-dropped commandos into the main town in Buner on Wednesday and quickly retook control of it from Taliban militants who flooded into the area last week, the military said. But the district was far from recaptured and the military may be in for a hard fight.
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Pakistani Military Moves to Flush Out Taliban (April 29, 2009) Villagers who fled the fighting and made it to this village on the plains said the military was bombing in Buner with fighter jets and firing rockets from helicopter gunships as Pakistani troops battled the Taliban on the ground for a second day.
Despite a curfew imposed by both the Taliban and the army, one villager, Walayat Khan, a cowherd in his 20s who did not know his exact age, said everyone was trying to get out of the district.
Some people were leaving on foot, as few vehicles were available. Those who left were forced to use back roads since the Taliban and military forces had blocked the main arteries leading into and out of Buner.
Mr. Walayat left his village, Kowgah, at dawn with 18 members of his family, mostly women and children, after jets bombed two nearby villages held by the Taliban on Tuesday afternoon. He left his brother and elderly father behind in the house, he said.
“Jets dropped bombs three times,” he said. “There was smoke and dust; I could not tell if they hit houses. We packed our things and then started moving because we thought they might hit us as well.”
Coming after intense criticism, both here and in Washington, of the military’s inaction, the air and ground campaign against the Taliban was the most intense waged by the army in six months.
Commandos of the Special Services Group were air-dropped into Daggar, the administrative center of Buner, a district of about one million people just 60 miles from the capital, Islamabad, the military said.
The use of the American-trained special counterterrorism forces, jets and mobile units was a sign of the military’s seriousness of purpose in this fight, said a former government official, who did not want to be identified while discussing national security matters.
No civilians were displaced in Daggar, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, the military spokesman, said at a news briefing in Rawalpindi. That part of the operation appeared to have gone fairly smoothly.
But elsewhere heavier fighting was reported. Military units backed by paramilitary forces were deployed in a three-pronged attack against the Taliban in Buner from neighboring districts, General Abbas said.
Those forces met fierce resistance in areas in the north, south and west of Buner — in Nawagin, Pir Baba and Sultanwas, where the Taliban have established positions, he said.
“We are facing stiff resistance in the area of Ambala,” General Abbas said, referring to the area near Mr. Walayat’s village, where local people said the Taliban were firmly entrenched and blew up a bridge on Tuesday to block the army’s advance.
Taliban were also reported to be patrolling a key road in the north near the Pir Baba shrine and the boundary with the Swat Valley, which is a stronghold for the militants. They were also firing on helicopters from the mountains, local reporters said.
Heavy fighting was also under way in Karakar, in the north of the district, where the Taliban were holding hostage about 70 police officers and members of the Frontier Constabulary. Eighteen of the men were later released, General Abbas said, without providing more details.
He said the army was concerned about hurting civilians. “Our constraint is that we are launching an operation in an area where militants have held the local population hostage,” he said. “We are trying to ensure there is minimum collateral damage and minimum displacement of local people.”
Civilians driving on the roads, including students, were wounded when their vehicles came under fire, local reporters said. Several civilians, including a child hit by a bullet, were taken to the hospital in Swari, reporters for the newspaper Dawn said.
People were unhappy with the military operation, Mr. Walayat said. But his relatives in the neighboring district of Swabi who gave shelter to the extended family said they supported it.
They live less than six miles from the boundary with Buner and said Taliban militants had come into their area just two days ago.
“People are happy with the operation because the government gave them a deadline to leave and the people are saying that the Taliban really want to take over Tarbela dam and Islamabad,” said Yaqoub Khan, 42, a farmer who has made space in his house for 18 relatives who fled the fighting.
“If they had not come, the Taliban would have established positions here in this village by now,” he said.
Killings by the Taliban have shocked the local people, another relative said. Five days ago militants cut the throats of eight local policemen operating a post in the village of Chingalay in the south of Buner, just a few miles from Sheikh Jana.
“They cut their tongues out as well,” said Afsar Khan, 47, who saw the bodies of two of the policemen when he attended their funerals nearby.
Yet he said he doubted the military would be able to stop the Taliban advance. “This thing will expand,” he said. “It started from Afghanistan, then we saw Bajaur, Swat. Buner was the only place they could not gain a foothold,” he said.
But the local resistance in Buner to the Taliban also failed. “We expect this thing will come here as well,” he said.
Skip to next paragraph
Related
Pakistani Military Moves to Flush Out Taliban (April 29, 2009) Villagers who fled the fighting and made it to this village on the plains said the military was bombing in Buner with fighter jets and firing rockets from helicopter gunships as Pakistani troops battled the Taliban on the ground for a second day.
Despite a curfew imposed by both the Taliban and the army, one villager, Walayat Khan, a cowherd in his 20s who did not know his exact age, said everyone was trying to get out of the district.
Some people were leaving on foot, as few vehicles were available. Those who left were forced to use back roads since the Taliban and military forces had blocked the main arteries leading into and out of Buner.
Mr. Walayat left his village, Kowgah, at dawn with 18 members of his family, mostly women and children, after jets bombed two nearby villages held by the Taliban on Tuesday afternoon. He left his brother and elderly father behind in the house, he said.
“Jets dropped bombs three times,” he said. “There was smoke and dust; I could not tell if they hit houses. We packed our things and then started moving because we thought they might hit us as well.”
Coming after intense criticism, both here and in Washington, of the military’s inaction, the air and ground campaign against the Taliban was the most intense waged by the army in six months.
Commandos of the Special Services Group were air-dropped into Daggar, the administrative center of Buner, a district of about one million people just 60 miles from the capital, Islamabad, the military said.
The use of the American-trained special counterterrorism forces, jets and mobile units was a sign of the military’s seriousness of purpose in this fight, said a former government official, who did not want to be identified while discussing national security matters.
No civilians were displaced in Daggar, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, the military spokesman, said at a news briefing in Rawalpindi. That part of the operation appeared to have gone fairly smoothly.
But elsewhere heavier fighting was reported. Military units backed by paramilitary forces were deployed in a three-pronged attack against the Taliban in Buner from neighboring districts, General Abbas said.
Those forces met fierce resistance in areas in the north, south and west of Buner — in Nawagin, Pir Baba and Sultanwas, where the Taliban have established positions, he said.
“We are facing stiff resistance in the area of Ambala,” General Abbas said, referring to the area near Mr. Walayat’s village, where local people said the Taliban were firmly entrenched and blew up a bridge on Tuesday to block the army’s advance.
Taliban were also reported to be patrolling a key road in the north near the Pir Baba shrine and the boundary with the Swat Valley, which is a stronghold for the militants. They were also firing on helicopters from the mountains, local reporters said.
Heavy fighting was also under way in Karakar, in the north of the district, where the Taliban were holding hostage about 70 police officers and members of the Frontier Constabulary. Eighteen of the men were later released, General Abbas said, without providing more details.
He said the army was concerned about hurting civilians. “Our constraint is that we are launching an operation in an area where militants have held the local population hostage,” he said. “We are trying to ensure there is minimum collateral damage and minimum displacement of local people.”
Civilians driving on the roads, including students, were wounded when their vehicles came under fire, local reporters said. Several civilians, including a child hit by a bullet, were taken to the hospital in Swari, reporters for the newspaper Dawn said.
People were unhappy with the military operation, Mr. Walayat said. But his relatives in the neighboring district of Swabi who gave shelter to the extended family said they supported it.
They live less than six miles from the boundary with Buner and said Taliban militants had come into their area just two days ago.
“People are happy with the operation because the government gave them a deadline to leave and the people are saying that the Taliban really want to take over Tarbela dam and Islamabad,” said Yaqoub Khan, 42, a farmer who has made space in his house for 18 relatives who fled the fighting.
“If they had not come, the Taliban would have established positions here in this village by now,” he said.
Killings by the Taliban have shocked the local people, another relative said. Five days ago militants cut the throats of eight local policemen operating a post in the village of Chingalay in the south of Buner, just a few miles from Sheikh Jana.
“They cut their tongues out as well,” said Afsar Khan, 47, who saw the bodies of two of the policemen when he attended their funerals nearby.
Yet he said he doubted the military would be able to stop the Taliban advance. “This thing will expand,” he said. “It started from Afghanistan, then we saw Bajaur, Swat. Buner was the only place they could not gain a foothold,” he said.
But the local resistance in Buner to the Taliban also failed. “We expect this thing will come here as well,” he said.
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