north east online - north east india news: Sep 13, 2009

Sunday, September 13, 2009

5 Hong Kong construction workers die in fall down elevator shaft of skyscraper

H
ONG KONG — At least five workers died Sunday in a fall down an elevator shaft of a skyscraper under construction in Hong Kong, police said. One other was injured.

The accident happened at the International Commerce Center in the Kowloon district, which will be 118 stories high when completed next year, making it one of the tallest buildings in world, as well as the tallest in Hong Kong.

Speaking at the scene, Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang said the men fell after a working platform collapsed in the elevator shaft.

Five male workers died, including two declared dead at the scene, said police spokeswoman Anne Lam. One other worker was believed to be receiving treatment at the site.

Police could not confirm a report on the Web site of government-owned radio RTHK that the workers fell from the 30th floor to the 10th floor.

The building’s developer, major Hong Kong property firm Sun Hung Kai, has agreed to pay each of the victims’ families 1 million Hong Kong dollars ($128,000) on top of normal compensation payments, Hong Kong labor secretary Matthew Cheung told local media.

Sukhoi-30 warplanes to be deployed in Tezpur by Oct

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hillong, Sept 13 (PTI) A full complement of the MKI variant of the Sukhoi-30 warplanes will be deployed at the frontline Tezpur air base in Assam by October.

Dismissing reports that infrastructure at the air base is inadequate to deploy the Su-30 MKIs, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Air Command Air Marshal S K Bhan said, "the upgradation work at the air base has been completed and a full complement of the fighter jets would be deployed at the base by October."

"Su-30s have operated from the air base when the planes were formally inducted in the base on June 15," Bhan told PTI.

Asked how many squadrons of the jets will be deployed in the north east, he said it depends on the IAF assessment.

MHA nod to CRPF to set up separate intelligence cell

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ew Delhi, Sep 13 (PTI) The Union Home Ministry has given the much-awaited nod for the setting up of a separate intelligence network for the CRPF to deal with Naxalism and insurgency problems.

Home Ministry sources said that in an order dated September 1, the MHA has given the go-ahead for setting up the intelligence network in all the battalions of the largest paramilitary force in the country, a proposal which has been pending with the Ministry for the last few years.

They said the step was taken as part of the evolving new strategy to take on the Naxals. Earlier, the CRPF had to depend on the intelligence network of the local police.

As per the proposal, each battalion of the force will have an intelligence cell each comprising about 10 personnel.

At present, only the BSF has its own intelligence cell.

Israeli President recovering in hospital after collapse

T
el Aviv (Israel), Sep. 13 (ANI): Israeli President Shimon Peres is recovering in a hospital here after fainting on stage during a conference.

Peres, who was elected president in 2007, is under observation in the cardiology department of the Tel Hashomer hospital in Tel Aviv. Sky News reports.

The 86-year-old has had tests but "feels fine" following the incident at the Yitzhak Rabin Centre.

His spokeswoman Ayelet Frisch said: "The president apparently suffered a drop in blood pressure.
"He is now fully functional and his personal doctor ran a series of tests which were normal. We can relax now. I''ve spoken to him and he''s fully conscious."

The president''s personal doctor, who is also his son-in-law, added: "It was very hot and he was standing for a long time and began to feel weak. He fainted for a few seconds. Now he feels fine, is smiling and speaking on the phone to everyone."

Peres has cancelled some of his official engagements because of the incident, Frisch said. (ANI)

Mongolia President to arrive in Delhi on four-day visit of India

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ew Delhi, Sep.12 (ANI): Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj will arrive in New Delhi on Sunday afternoon on a four-day state visit to India.

President Elbegdorj will commence his official visit to India from Monday. On the first day, he will meet External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna; have delegation level talks with the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh; meet Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari, Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani and call on his Indian counterpart Pratibha Devisingh Patil.

On Tuesday, he will visit Agra, Gaya and Mumbai. On Wednesday, he is expected to meet and interact with captains of Indian industry in Mumbai and is likely to pitch Mongolia as an attractive investment destination. He will leave for Mongolian capital Ulan Batter the same evening.

The governments of the two countries are expected to sign a civil nuclear agreement, besides ink bilateral pacts on health and statistics. India may also sanction a stabilization loan to Mongolia.

This is President Elbegdorj''''s first official visit abroad after assuming office in June 2009, indicating the importance that Mongolia attaches to its relations with India.

Mongolia which boasts of having nearly six percent of the world’s uranium reserves.

Mongolia is not a member of 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), but is affiliated to the Vienna-headquartered International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and last year supported India’s bid for a "clean waiver" on conducting civil nuclear trade internationally notwithstanding the fact that New Delhi is not a signatory to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) or the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Nuclear experts in India point out that Mongolia''''s huge uranium reserves could boost and energize the country’s starving civil nuclear fuel cycle.

Mongolia''''s proposed decision to supply uranium to India assumes greater significance in the wake of Australia’s reluctance to do so.

Australia, which has the world''''s largest uranium reserves, has time and again signaled that it cannot supply uranium to India until the latter signs the NPT. The Group of Eight (G-8) countries – The United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, Canada, Germany, Italy and Japan – at their last meeting in Italy, moved and approved a resolution to controversially prevent non-signatories of the NPT from accessing enrichment and reprocessing technology.

Experts believe the supply of uranium is more crucial for India than access to enrichment and reprocessing technology. India started reprocessing in 1964 and is enriching its fuel since the 1970''''s and has a full fuel cycle.

Mongolia recently signed an inter-governmental agreement with Russia to establish a joint venture to develop, produce and process uranium. If the atomic energy agreement with India is inked during the Mongolian President’s visit, India will become the second country to have uranium-linked cooperation with the Eurasian nation, the other being China. (ANI)

North Korean ready for third nuclear test: Reports

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yongyang, Sep. 13 (ANI): North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has reportedly instructed party and military leaders to start preparing for a third nuclear test with the use of enriched uranium.

Fox News quoted Kim as saying that the "emphasized the importance of improvement of nuclear technologies with the aim of attracting the U.S. to direct bilateral talks."

According to sources, the meeting between Kim and military leaders and high-ranking officials of North Korean regime took place on August 26 in the port city of Wonsan.

Sources added that the date of nuclear test could be September 20, which marks the official end of the "150-Day Battle.”

Another date being speculated as the possible test date is October 10 when the Labor Party of Korea was found.

Earlier, U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley had said that Washington was preparing to accept Pyongyang''s offer for one-on-one talks as part of efforts to resume the six-nation negotiations.

But he insisted there has been no shift from previous U.S. statements that Washington would only meet with North Korea as part of the six-nation process.

In April, Pyongyang had pulled out of the talks with the U.S., South Korea, China, Russia and Japan in protest of international criticism of what it claimed to be a satellite launch, but which other nations suspected was a test of long-range missile technology.

Subsequently, North Korea conducted a nuclear test that drew U.N. sanctions. (ANI)

Government to build memorial for Bhopal gas tragedy victims

B
hopal, Sep 13 (ANI): Union Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh said on Saturday that the government is planning to construct a memorial for the victims of the 1989 Bhopal Gas tragedy.

More than 3,500 people died in the days and weeks after toxic fumes spewed out of a pesticide plant of Union Carbide in Bhopal on the night of December 2, 1984.

The year 2009 marks 25th anniversary of one of the world''s worst industrial disasters.

Activists put the toll at 33,000 and say toxins from thousands of tonnes of chemicals lying in and around the site have seeped into ground water.

Speaking to newsmen after visiting the abandoned plant Ramesh said, : "Government has prepared to construct a memorial for benefit of the people of Bhopal at the Union Carbide plant. The total cost of this proposal is about 110 crores.”

He added that the government would clear the debris of the plant by early next year.

It was estimated that about 350 tonnes of tarry waste lie in plastic sacks in the Union Carbide plant.

The Union Carbide in 1984 accepted moral responsibility for the tragedy and established a $100 million charitable trust fund to build a hospital for victims.

Later Union Carbide was taken over by Dow Chemicals.

The company also paid 470 million dollars to the Union Government in 1989 in a settlement reached after a protracted legal battle. The victims, on an average, received 25,000 rupees ($640) in case of illness and 100,000 rupees or so in case of a death in the family.

The victims have been demanding action against companies like Dow Chemicals that now owns Union Carbide responsible for the world''s one of the worst industrial disasters and the pathetic condition of victims.

Michigan-based Dow Chemical says it is not responsible for the clean up as it never owned or operated the plant. The Madhya Pradesh Government now owns the abandoned plant.(ANI)

Nepal PM says peace can’t be possible till Maoists shed arms

K
athmandu, Sep 13 (ANI): Nepalese Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal said here on Saturday, that peace cannot be established as long as the Maoist rebels do not surrender all their weapons.

Addressing students Madhav Kumar accused the Maoists, led by former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal '' Prachanda'', of playing divisive politics.

"To enter into a pact with the government and then blame others is bad…Nobody asked Maoists to walk out of the government, they left the government of their own…They are busy in criticizing me and my government, I feel they have deep grudge, that''s why they are speaking ill of me," Madhav Kumar Nepal said.

He added that “Maoists are indulging in conspiracy by playing divisive politics, they are trying to divide the political parties. Their remarks at yesterday''s rally is a clear pointer to this but they will not succeed in toppling the government.”

Thousands of supporters of Nepal''s former Maoist rebels attended a protest rally here on Friday. It is considered as the biggest since the collapse of their government plunged the Himalayan nation into a political crisis.

Over, 15,000 Maoist supporters carried hammer and sickle flags demonstrated in the heart of the capital to press for a return to power.

The Maoists, who headed a government after emerging as the largest political group in last year''s election, resigned in May following a failed attempt to sack the country''s army chief. (ANI)

US clears Hawkeye E-2D aircraft for India

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EW DELHI - The US government has cleared yet another high technology system for India, the “futuristic” shipboard Hawkeye E-2D aircraft for Airborne Early Warning (AEW) and battle management.

The clearance has been described by diplomatic sources as a fallout of the “successful” visit of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the signing of the End User Monitoring Agreement (EUMA) of military equipment being supplied or sold by the US to India.

Like the Boeing P 8I Maritime Multi-mission Aircraft (MMA), of which the Indian Navy has already ordered eight aircraft, the Hawkeye E-2D is the very latest and is yet to be delivered to the US Navy.

India is the second country after the UAE to be cleared by the US State and Defense Departments for sale of this sophisticated system. The US Navy has sanctioned $432 million for trials of the aircraft, currently underway at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland. The Naval Systems Command (NAVAIR) based there provides engineering and testing support for new naval systems and weapons.

The Hawkeye E-2D has been under the US government’s consideration for India for some time. In fact, in 2007, Pentagon sources in Washington had told this writer that the aircraft was being cleared, but apparently the previous version, Hawkeve E-2C, was eventually offered to which the Indian Navy said “No” in informal discussions.

The aircraft is being manufactured by Northrop Grumman, a leading US player in Aerospace, Warships, Missiles, Combat Radars and Electronic Warfare systems.

Northrop Grumman’s programme Manager for International Business Development Tom C. Trudell told India Strategic magazine that the aircraft has “just been cleared by the US government for India” and that a presentation was made to the Indian Navy in August in New Delhi.

Indian Navy officers had witnessed the capabilities of the Hawkeye

E-2C but told the US officials that as the equipment it would buy would be used for years, it must be the best and the latest with future capability insertion potential.

India Strategic quotes unnamed Indian officials as saying that the technology onboard the Hawkeye E-2D is “very tempting” and that although neither the Gorshkov aircraft carrier which India is buying from Russia nor India’s first aircraft carrier indigenously being built would be able to accommodate this aircraft, India’s future aircraft carriers could be a little bigger.

“By the time this aircraft comes, and by the time the Indian Navy gets used to it from initial shore-based operations, plans for two more aircraft carriers could be amended to house this system.”

There have been no tenders of RfPs yet for the Hawkeye E-2D, but then companies from worldwide present their wares to various countries either by themselves and at their own cost, or make offerings in response to Request for Information (RfI) which are floated in routine by all the armed forces to know what is available in terms of newer generation of systems.

Future aircraft carriers of the Indian Navy would also have to be equipped with catapult launching systems, for which it is already looking around. India’s second and third aircraft carriers should have this facility along with lifts and adequate open area for what is called free deck takeoff.

The Mig 29Ks that the Indian Navy is buying for Gorshkov, will be launched by a ski ramp.

Tip to tip, the Hawkeye is a bigger aircraft than the Mig 29.

Trudell said that although Northrop Grumman had been allowed to make presentations to the Indian Navy, its sale would have to be direct between the Indian and US government under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme. There are many systems on board, developed for US Navy, which only the US government can clear for transfer to other countries.

The US Navy has initially ordered five Hawkeye E-2Ds under a Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) programme, and the first aircraft should be delivered to the US Navy in 2011.

India can get the aircraft within three years of a contract being signed, said

Trudell.

Coke, Pepsi asked to source sugar from abroad: Minister

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EW DELHI - Concerned over high prices of sugar, low supplies and fall in output because of drought, the government has asked soft drinks manufacturers and bulk users like Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Nestle to buy sugar overseas.

“We have told manufactures like Coca-Cola that you should findsome other mechanism,” said Minister of State for Agriculture, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution K.V. Thomas.

“These companies use large quantities of sugar. We have given this suggestion,” Thomas told IANS, adding that the beverage manufacturers have been asked to respond within a fortnight to the government’s recommendation, sent a couple of days ago.

“They have to,” the minister categorically said when asked if the companies will follow the suggestions made by the government.

Apart from Coca-Cola and Pepsi, other large industrial consumers of sugar include Britannia, Dabur, Amul, Nestl and Cadbury.

India is the second largest producer of sugar in the world after Brazil. India is also the world’s largest consumer, with consumption estimated at 23 million tonnes per annum.

The low output has seen sugar prices double over the past year to Rs.35 a kilogram. In the world market, sugar prices are now at a 28-year high.

According to officials in Krishi Bhavan, the headquarters of the agriculture ministry, the move to ask beverage companies to import sugar was initiated after some states complained the firms were “hoarding” the commodity.

But these companies, which have asked the Confederation of Indian Industry to take up their case, denied the charge and said they just had legitimate stocks for ensuring smooth operations and within permissible limits.

From Sep 15, they can hold only 15 days’ stocks, ministry officials said.

With elections round the corner in three states and the festival season coming up, the government is keen to ensure the price of sugar does not rise further.

The authorities have already started importing sugar since India’s production is expected to have fallen to some 15 million tonnes during the current sugar year, which ends Sep 30, from 26.4 million in the previous year.

Ministry officials said the government has also extended its deadline for tax-free raw imports of raw sugar to December 2010, while refined white sugar can be imported up to a total of one million tonnes till March next year.

Thomas said that while the central government will make every effort to ensure that the people’s mood is not soured during the festive season, the states also had an important role to play.

“Actually, there is slight excess of sugar with states. There won’t be much of a problem if this can be properly managed by state governments.”

Sikkim lifts ban on poultry supply from outside for Army

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nable to ensure supply of chickens and eggs to Army units in Sikkim, the state government today said it would partially lift ban on supply of poultry products from outside for the men in uniform.

The decision to partly lift the ban was taken at a Cabinet meeting yesterday, Animal Husbandry Minister D N Takarpa told reporters here today.

However, the existing ban on poultry products for consumption of general public through retail outlets and markets will continue till further orders, he said.

Sikkim had banned the supply of poultry products from outside in December last year following the outbreak of bird flu in West Bengal. It had then contended that there was an adequate supply of chickens and eggs from the hatcheries within the state to meet the domestic demand, including those for the army units.

The prices of the poultry products had increased three times since the ban was imposed.

The local poultry producers, who had immensely benefited from the ban, are putting up pressure on the state government to continue with the restriction.

A boiler chicken in the state now costs Rs 150 per kg and egg Rs 8-10 a piece.

Assam woos Infy and Wipro after Bengal

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ithin days of the West Bengal government scrapping an ambitious information technology (IT) township plan in Rajarhat, on the northern fringes of Kolkata, the Assam government moved in to offer 100 acres to both Infosys and Wipro to set up projects in the state.

Assam IT minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said that government would extend a red-carpet welcome to Infosys and Wipro. “We will offer special incentives to both the IT majors if they want to set up their projects in the state,” Sarma told HT.

The proposed site is close to National Highway 37. An Assam government team will visit the Bangalore headquarters of Infosys and Wipro next week to extend an official invitation.

A few years back, former Infosys chief NR Narayana Murthy, on a visit to Assam, had recommended development of infrastructure in Guwahati, particularly good hotels, before trying to attract IT companies to the state.

Guwahati will have to two five star hotels in place by 2010 Sarma said.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest IT services company, has already set up a temporary plant at the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati. The government recently allotted 50 acres to TCS to set up an IT project at Amingaon.

As part of the Information Technology Policy, 2009, the state has evolved a series of incentives to attract investment.

Normal flights to resume in 24 hours: Jet Airways

A
fter five days of an impasse between the Jet management and the pilots, the crisis is over.

The grounded planes of Jet airways will take-off again. Jet management on Sunday said all was well with the management and the pilots. But in the five days of strike, the company has lost an estimated Rs 200 crore.

PTI adds: Jet Airways' operations on Sunday limped back towards normalcy with about 100 of the nearly 500 agitating pilots reporting for work across the country after an end to their five-day-long stir.

As many as 140 flights, including 10 international ones, remained cancelled on Sunday, a company spokesperson said, noting that 98 pilots had reported fit for work this morning.

The services were expected to be restored by Tuesday, Jet Chief Commercial Officer Sudhir Raghavan told reporters in Mumbai.

He said while the operations involving foreign destinations had resumed on Sunday, flights on the domestic routes were expected to be normal in about two days.

Nearly 500 pilots, who reported "sick" for the last five days, decided to resume their duties after a nine-hour-long meeting with the airlines management in Mumbai on Saturday night.

During the marathon meeting, which ended at around 0230 hrs on early Sunday, the airline management and the agitators reached a settlement under which the four sacked pilots will be reinstated and a consultative group made up of the two sides formed to resolve all issues.

The airlines has started booking of seats for Sunday's flights since this morning, as passengers trickled in following an end to stir.

Jet's ticketing counter at Delhi's IGI airport, which wore a deserted look for the last five days, saw some anxious passengers enquiring about the status of flights.

The airlines also tried to bring in some normalcy by combining Mumbai-Dubai and Dubai-Mumbai flights on international sectors.

The airline also merged some flights on Mumbai-Delhi, Mumbai-Vadodara-Ahmedabad, Bangalore-Mumbai and Mumbai-Hyderabad sectors.

The company spokesperson said the airline will initially schedule its operations on a 12-hour basis and will extend it subsequently after more flights are added to the operations.

In Kolkata, five Jet Airways flights were cancelled Sunday morning. Only two of its flights, including the Kolkata-Dhaka international flight, took off from the eastern metropolis.

Jet operations in Chennai were near normal on Sunday. Barring a flight to Delhi, 27 other flights on national and international routes resumed this morning.

Kuki Inpi sends missive to PM, UN

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UWAHATI: Even as the Centre is preparing a fresh roadmap to bring an end to the decades-old Naga problem with a new set of offers, the Kukis
have tried to internationalize "the attacks by Naga militants on the Kuki tribe in the Nineties" and termed the NSCN (I-M) a "terrorist organization".

Kuki Inpi, the apex body of Kukis in the North-East, has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to solve their problem first before going ahead with any settlement with the NSCN (I-M). What made the Kukis' move all the more significant is that a copy Kuki Inpi's letter to the PM was also sent to UN Secretary General and the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, trying to drag the NSCN (I-M) to the international forum.

The Kuki Inpi blamed NSCN (IM) for "killing hundreds of people belonging to the (Kuki) community in Manipur and Nagaland between 1992 and 1997". It said over 900 Kuki tribals, including women and children, have been killed during the period by the Nagalim guards, an NSCN (I-M) sponsored militant outfit.

Over 360 Kuki villages in Manipur were burnt down and uprooted and about 100,000 Kukis were internally displaced.

A fight over land in Manipur led to a bloody ethnic clashes for five long years and claimed over 2,000 lives.

The R K Dorendra Singh-led Congress government was dismissed and the state was placed under President's Rule on December 31, 1993, in the wake of escalation in the Naga-Kuki

clashes.

Kuki Inpi wants the Centre to solve Kuki problem first as a pre-requisite to any settlement with the NSCN (I-M). "If the Kuki problem is not settled first, the Centre should be responsible for what will follow in the future," it added.

Saying it's not too late to solve the Kuki problem, the Kuki Inpi said the Centre should first restore all the Kuki villages that have been uprooted. It also demanded settlement of all the one lakh displaced Kukis in their original areas.

Observers say that the Kuki Inpi's move "is very wise" because restoring of any uprooted Kuki villages in Manipur will directly hit the NSCN (I-M)'s demand for "Greater Nagalim".

Many areas of the "Greater Nagalim", as demanded by the Naga rebels, in Manipur were once settled by the Kukis.Today, the Kukis are an unhappy lot with the Centre for allegedly ignoring their problems and going ahead with the NSCN (I-M) talks.

The Kuki Inpi said over 60 memoranda have been submitted to Central leaders, including the President and the PM, but in vain.

According to the organization, all trouble began on October 22, 1992 when the United Naga Council of Manipur served a quit notice on the Kukis, leading to the bloody ethnic clashes.

Four IRB jawans killed in Manipur ambush

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MPHAL: Four India Reserve Battalion (IRB) personnel were killed and six others injured in an ambush by militants at the remote Karong Chingjin
village in Manipur's Imphal East district on Saturday.

Police said around 11 am, the militants fired bullets and rockets at two vehicles carrying 14 personnel from 6 IRB to the state capital from the Maphpou post. The securitymen were accompanying an ailing jawan.

While four jawans were killed on the spot, six others suffered injuries. The hurt were taken to two government hospitals here. The IRB soldiers also fired in retaliation, but it's not known whether the rebels suffered any casualties.

Following the incident, security reinforcements were rushed to the area. Manipur IGP (law and order III) V Zathang and SP (Imphal East) Th Radheshyam Singh were overseeing the combing operation against the rebels. No militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the attack. Police registered an FIR and probe is on.

Nigerian held with heroin in Guwahati

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UWAHATI: Custom sleuths on Saturday caught a Nigerian national with heroine worth about Rs 1 crore from Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi
International airport here.

Customs officials said Dike (30), a drug peddler, was arrested at the airport with a little over 500 gm of heroin when he was about to board a flight of a private airline to Delhi.

Acting on a tip-off, Customs sleuths launched a manhunt and detained the Nigerian with the help of CISF personnel. "Based on our intelligence inputs, we intercepted the man and seized heroin hidden in some buttons of women's garments. He had come to Guwahati a few days ago and was returning to Delhi with the drugs. We are interrogating him," said a Customs official.

Custom officials suspect his links with international drug trafficking racket active in the North-East. Sources said the Nigerian might have collected the heroin from North-East based drug suppliers for smuggling it out of the country.

According to intelligence agencies, drugs like heroin and morphine are smuggled in through the Indo-Myanmarese border in Manipur and are smuggled out via Guwahati. NCB officials said Guwahati has turned into a transit route for international drug smugglers.The route came to the fore when CID officials in May arrested two persons with 2 kg of morphine while they were on their way to hand the stuff over to a drug supplier in Guwahati. The arrested persons Sweet Hussain and Mohammad Amu said they had brought the drugs from Imphal.

Yamuna river crosses danger mark in Delhi

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EW DELHI - The rain-swollen Yamuna river crossed the danger mark Sunday, increasing the risk of floods in the low-lying areas along its banks, an official said.

The water has reached 205.17 metres, which is well above the danger mark of 204.83 metres, an official of the flood control department told IANS.

He said the water level in the river is expected to rise to 205.45 metres. The water level had crossed 204 metres Saturday, prompting the flood control room to sound an alert.

“Civic agencies have been told to evacuate people from low-lying areas,” said a Delhi government official.

A flood warning was sounded in the capital Friday after continuous rainfall pushed up the water level in the Yamuna. Haryana also released over 400,000 cusecs of water into the river upstream.

Last year, the water level reached 206 metres, leading to the evacuation of people from slum clusters along the river bank.

The Delhi government has said it is fully prepared to tackle any situation.

“We have boats for rescue operations. Relief camps are also being set up in various areas. All the necessary arrangements have been taken care of. Delhi has thousands of people living in low-lying areas near the Yamuna,” said a Delhi government official.

Jet stalemate ends after five days

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UMBAI - Jet Airways pilots ended their five-day-old stir against their management early on Sunday morning with a settlement under which the four sacked pilots would be reinstated and a consultative group made up of the two sides formed to resolve all other issues.

The breakthrough, which came at around 2 a.m. this morning, ends an impasse that began on Tuesday over the sacking of pilots. It was achieved after a meeting here that lasted over ten hours.

Jet Airways Executive Director Saroj Dutta said flight operations of the airline on interantional routes would resume immediately while the domestic services would normalize by noon on Sunday.

Announcing the settlement at a news conference, the pilots union-National Aviators Guild-leader Sam Thomas, flanked by Jet Airways Executive Director Saroj Dutta and NAG President Girish Kaushik, said it has been agreed that the four sacked pilots would be reinstated with immediate effect.

A consultative group would be set up comprising the Jet CEO Hafiz Ali, two directors of the airlines, two representatives of flight operations and five pilots to continue the process of dialogue on all outstanding issues as well those which will come up.

Asked about losses suffered by the ailine during the five days of the agitation, Dutta said no estimates had been done as yet. However, he added that Jet’s daily revenue of eight million dollars “had dropped dramatically” and the number of passengers came down from 23,000 per day to 7,500.

On the contentious issue of the pilots’ right to form a union, Kaushik said there was no question of dissolving the NAG which is already a registered body.

The Registrar of Trade Unions is reviewing the NAG’s registration and if the decision goes against the pilots, they would not pursue it.

“If there is discrepancy, it is left to the Registrar or the law of the land”, Kaushik said.

Thomas added “we will not pursue the matter afresh.”

They said that the Society for Welfare of Indian Pilots, formed about a decade ago, would address welfare issues.

It was made clear that the management would take no punitive action against any one who had participated in the agitation. (ANI)

Delhi Metro derails, junior engineer suspended

D
elhi Metro suspended a junior engineer after a coach derailed in East Delhi on Sunday morning.

Meanwhile, a committee has been appointed to probe second derailment in two months.

The train, which was going from Yamuna Bank to Dwarka Sector-9, derailed between Yamuna bank and Indraprastha metro stations.

The incident happened at 6:04 am but no one was injured in the incident, Metro officials said. 12 passengers were travelling in that coach.

This is the second incident of derailment of metro trains within a span of one month.

On August 12, a coach of a train on the Dwarka-Yamuna Bank line jumped the rails near Dwarka station but no one was injured. There were 39 people on board then.

MCD to be brought under Delhi govt

T
he Municipal Corporaion of Delhi (MCD) will be brought under the Delhi government. It is being seen as a big step before the Commonwealth Games.

MCD is responsible for much of Delhi's sanitation and civic facilities. Many roads and flyovers come under MCD.

Critical areas like property tax collection and commercial development also come under MCD.

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