north east online - north east india news: Jan 21, 2010

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Blast in Manipur's Bishenpur district,none hurt

Imphal, Jan 21 (PTI) A powerful bomb, allegedly planted by unknown militants, exploded at the premises of a government office at Bishenpur district early this morning but no casualty was reported, police said.

According to the police, the bomb went off at around 2.20 am at Loktak Development Authority (LDA) office complex at Ningthoukhong, about 40 km from here, damaging a machine and parts of the office building, they said.

No one was injured, they said adding the bomb might have been planted by militants but motive behind the incident was not yet known.

No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the incident so far.

Freelancers hit by media restrictions at Maha Kumbh

Haridwar, Jan 21 (PTI) Strict guidelines introduced for issuing media passes, especially for those from abroad, have hit the freelancers and bloggers covering the Maha Kumbh, leaving many wondering why the new media is not being recognised by the administration.

The police have now introduced fresh guidelines under which passes issued to 23 foreign journalists have been cancelled, officials said.

"The new guidelines says I should have a letter from a media organisation and a press card besides the J (Journalist) visa. I am a freelancer and where do I get these from," Algis Kemezys said trying to convince the local officials here.

Kemezys, a photographer, also runs his own website and had earlier covered the Kumbh 12 years ago.

"Open my website and see it. I have pictures of my last Kumbh on it. Why can't the officials understand the new medium of journalism," he said.

'Maharashtra govt should take back taxi decision'

Patna, Jan 21 (PTI) Maharashtra government's decision to give licences to only those taxi drivers fluent in Marathi was an "attempt to break the unity and integrity of the country," Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today said, demanding immediate withdrawal of the order.

The Maharashtra government's decision was an attack on the federal structure of the society and would have far reaching repercussions on other states, he said here.

Kumar said he would write to Prime Minister Manomhan Singh in this regard as the Constitution provides every citizen of the country the right to move and settle in any part of the country in search of job.

"Earlier, North Indians were beaten up by Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Nav Nirman Sena (MNS) for appearing in Railway and other examinations.

Haiti's mass graves swell; doctors fear more death

Port-Au-Prince, Jan 21 (AP) Workers are carving out mass graves on a hillside north of Haiti's capital, using earth-movers to bury 10,000 earthquake victims in a single day while relief workers warn the death toll could increase.

Medical clinics have 12-day patient backlogs, untreated injuries are festering and makeshift camps housing thousands of survivors could foster disease, experts said.

"The next health risk could include outbreaks of diarrhea, respiratory tract infections and other diseases among hundreds of thousands of Haitians living in overcrowded camps with poor or nonexistent sanitation," said Dr Greg Elder, deputy operations manager for Doctors Without Borders in Haiti.

Hoping to assess the scope of the crisis, World Food Program chief Josette Sheeran planned to visit Haiti today, as did European Union aid chief Karel De Gucht.

Indian army chief meets Nepal PM

Kathmandu, Jan 21 (ANI): Visiting Indian Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor met Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal here today.

During the meeting that lasted nearly 30 minutes, they reportedly discussed Indian military aid to Nepal, mutual benefits, among other issues.

However, General Kapoor did not talk to the media after the meeting, Kantipur reports.

General Kapoor is scheduled to meet Nepal Defense Minister Bidhya Bhandari following the meeting.

Earlier today, he visited the UN peacekeeping operation training centre at Panchkhal, Kavre district.

General Kapoor is scheduled to attend an investiture ceremony where President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav will confer on him the title of Honorary General of Nepal Army later today.

General Kapoor is flying back home on Friday. (ANI)

Air India-Indian Airlines merger slammed

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism & Culture chaired by Sitaram Yechuri puts a question mark on the merger of Air India & Indian Airlines. The 51st report of the committee which deals with issues arising out of the merger & its impact on Civil Aviation Sector says: "The decision to merge Air India & Indian Airlines was taken in haste, without required homework & consultations. As a result the entire process has been unduly delayed. It has given rise to many problems concerning financial, administrative & operational."

The report further states: "Two major objectives of merger 'economies of scale' & 'increased leverage' couldn't be achieved without proper synergies. The Air India fleet consists of Boeing aircrafts being normally used for long distance international destinations, the Indian Airlines fleet consists of Airbus aircrafts which are used for the domestic destinations. Operational crews, engineers &technicians cannot be cross utilized on another."

The entire aircraft acquisition program lacked transparency, says the strongly worded report. "The committee has questioned the logic behind purchasing a large number of aircrafts when the aviation industry was under huge losses due to global economic recession. Reasons for going ahead with purchases by the Ministry despite Air India & Indian Airlines not having the capacity to support it, remains unknown. There was no budgetary provision for this purchased & Rs 50,000 crores had to be raised through loans only. The entire aircraft acquisition program lacked required transparency."

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