Minor fire in children's ward at SSKM hospital

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Sat, 24 November 2012

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23:19 Minor fire in children's ward at SSKM hospital

A fire broke out on Saturday night in the children's ward of state-run SSKM hospital after which some patients were shifted to safer wards.

State Fire Services Minister Javed Khan told PTI that at least two children were shifted from the Alex Ward to other wards as a precautionary measure after a small fire was detected.

"It was a small fire and it has been brought under control. There was no casualty," Khan said.

Meanwhile, hospital superintendent Tamal Kanti Ghosh said the situation was under control.

Four fire tenders had arrived at the spot for the fire, the cause of which is yet to be established.

Oxygen cylinders, saline bottles and medicines have been removed from the affected ward by the nursing staff, he said.

22:58 Major fire at Kolkata's SSKM hospital

Just In: A major fire has been reported at the SSKM hospital in central Kolkata.

The SSKM hospital is the biggest referral hospital in the state.

Officials said many fire tenders have been dispatched to the spot.

Meanwhile, patients are being evacuated from the hospital.

No word yet on any casualties

More details are awaited

22:12 Former PM I K Gujral on ventilator

Former Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral has been admitted to the Medicity Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon with a lung infection and his condition is said to be "serious".

Gujral, 92, who has been unwell for sometime, was put on the ventilator today after his condition deteriorated. He was on dialysis for over a year now and had suffered a serious chest infection some days ago.

His son and MP Naresh Gujral said he was not well and was serious.

Hospital sources said Gujral's condition is "near stable".

Gujral was admitted to the hospital four days ago with complaints of chest pain.

21:01 Denied permission, Kejriwal cancels march

Arvind Kejriwal, who announced his political party on Saturday, cancelled his proposed march in national capital New Delhi on Sunday after he was denied permission by the Delhi Police.

He was to march from Raj Ghat to the Shaheed Bhagat Singh park in ITO area

20:41 Was made to sign on 2G audit report: RP Singh

Former CAG official R P Singh, who has created a storm with his statements on the 2G spectrum allocation audit, has claimed that his superiors gave him "written order" following which he signed on the final report giving a presumptive loss figure of Rs 1.76 lakh crore.

Singh, who headed the CAG team that audited the 2G spectrum allocation, maintained that he had never put the figure of Rs 1.76 lakh crore in his draft report.

"They (senior CAG officials) told me that this is the final report and asked me through a written order to sign on it. So I followed the instruction and I signed the report," Singh told PTI.

He claimed "there was no opportunity to show one's difference of opinion."

"I am their field office. I prepared the report. Why I removed those figures I explained. I gave them the reasons for the removal and thereafter submitted it to the higher authorities. This is their report and their responsibility. They again put those loss figures. What can I do in this?"

To a question whether he had differed on the figures quoted in the CAG's final report, he said it was not a question of difference.

19:10 We're yet to hear from Kingfisher: SBI chief

With barely a week left ahead of the November 30 deadline set by bankers to pump in fresh capital into the grounded Kingfisher Airlines, the lead lender State Bank of India has said it has not heard from the company so far.

"Kingfisher as a company has not given us any information or visibility on capital infusion," SBI chairman Pratip Chaudhuri told reporters on the sidelines of the annual two-day banking summit `Bancon 2012' in Pune.

In an obvious reference to the United Spirit-Diageo deal earlier this month, he said there are reports relating to the

group company, but that cannot be a basis for taking a view on the airline.

Late last month, SBI set a November 30 deadline for Kingfisher to bring in fresh capital and produce a comprehensive revival plan. But airline chairman Vijay Mallya said later that he had no knowledge about any such deadline.

On the day United Spirits sold majority stake to the English liquor major Diageo for over Rs 11,100 crore, Mallya had hinted that the proceeds would not be diverted to the troubled airline, saying "both businesses will be dealt with separately".

18:38 Modi set for sweeping victory in Gujarat: Poll

BJP and Narendra Modi look set for a comfortable victory in Gujarat, winning even more seats than last time.

In the opinion poll conducted by ABP News-Nielsen for the upcoming state elections in December, BJP is projected to win a massive 124 seats in the 184-member Assembly. In 2007, BJP had won 117 seats.

Congress's fortunes are far from any revival. The poll shows Congress slumping to only 51 seats, down from its 2007 tally of 59 seats.

Keshubhai Patel's newly formed outfit Gurajat Parivartan Party will get only three seats. Independent and others get four seats, including two seats to NCP.

18:24

Ardeshir Cowasjee was more than just a columnist for a Pakistani newspaper. He was the conscience of a nation.

Cowasjee passed away today

Read one of his remarkable columns HERE

18:02 BJP free to expel me anytime, says Yeddyurappa

Remaining firm on floating his party, former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has said that the BJP was free to expel him any time.

"I have not set any deadline for the party to act against me. Why wait, let them expel me tomorrow itself", Yeddyurappa said when reporters sought his reaction over his successor D V Sadananda Gowda's demand for disciplinary action against him.

Yeddyurappa, who has been criss-crossing parts of the state ahead of the launch of his new regional outfit Karnataka Janata Party, said he was not floating the new party banking on the support of BJP legislators.

"I am depending upon the people support. Much before the launch of the new party, there has been a overwhelming support from people", he said.

Arvind Kejriwal also said that all the accounts of the Aam Admi Party would be completely transparent.

He added that there would be no family or dynasty rule in his party.

"If a candidate is granted tickets to contest the election, we will ensure that no member of his family is given a ticket for the same election," said the activist.

Kejriwal added that the party believed that major decisions about national issues should be decided through a referendum.

Any Indian who was above the age of 18 and agreed with the party's principles could become a member of the Aam Admi Party, activist Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday.

He added that women and youth would be given special prominence within his party.

The executive bodies and committees in the party would have the right to recall, he said.

The party would also appoint Lokayuktas at the district and the state level.

17:18 We want villagers to take decisions: Kejriwal

Arvind Kejriwal said that the panchayat system implemented in India's villages had become thoroughly corrupt.

"We want villagers to take decisions about the village, not the panchayat," said Kejriwal.

Similarly, at the municipal level, he said all municipal wards should be divided into mohallas or colonies, where members of respective colonies took decisions about their area.

Arvind Kejriwal said the norms or rules laid down by the Constitution was no longer being followed.

"We had dreams about India, but we could not implement those," he said.

He added that in the last two years, since he started his fight for the Lokpal Bill, he had been repeatedly disappointed by the various political parties.

"We finally realised that all the parties were corrupt, they were all lying. All the political parties were united in corruption," he said.

17:11 Aam Admi Party will seek Swaraj: Kejriwal

Activist Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said that there will be no posts for a party president or secretary in his Aam Admi Party.

He also pointed out that dozens of people had turned up voluntarily to seek membership of his party.

"Other parties have to conduct membership drives. We are lucky that we have so many enthusiastic members without any such drive," said Kejriwal.

He also said that the aim of his party was to usher in an era of Swaraj.

Full subsidy to food is of`paramount importance for countries like India, Chairman of Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council C Rangarajan has said.

"The target of the government as a part of fiscal consolidation exercise is to bring down subsidies as a percentage of GDP. But providing complete food subsidy is of paramount importance for countries like India," he said.

For this purpose, other subsidies would have to be pruned like those on petroleum products and diesel, which the government had done recently, he said.

16:12 Narayan Rane meets Raj Thackeray

Maharashtra Industries Minister and senior Congress leader Narayan Rane today called on MNS chief Raj Thackeray.

Rane, a former chief minister who left the Shiv Sena some years ago, visited Raj's house in central Dadar area and spent nearly half-an-hour there.

16:11 Namdhari sent to police custody

Namdhari has been sent to five-day police custody by the court in connection to the Ponty Chadha shootout case.

Namdhari has denied admitting to shooting at Hardeep.

15:42 Namdhari was the main conspirator: Police

S S Namdhari was earlier sacked from the post of Uttarakhand Minorities Commission chairman.

Namdhari was the main conspirator in the shoot-out, the police told the court.

Sukhdev Singh Namdhari has been charged with attempt to murder in connection with the Ponty Chadha murder case.

Liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his brother Hardeep were killed in a shoot-out at their farmhouse on November 17.

Namdhari, who was arrested on Friday, admitted that he fired at Ponty's brother Hardeep.

The police have sought custody of Namdhari, who was an aide of Ponty's.

14:58 Kasab was hanged like Bhagat Singh: Ramdev

Baba Ramdev on Saturday lashed out at the Congress Party over the new controversy on the CAG's report and said the party is trying to regain its lost credibility by defaming the constitutional audit body.

Talking to reporters over the fresh row of allegation and counter allegations, Ramdev said, "This is the CAG, which exposed so many corruption cases. The institution is working with immense credibility, but due to its exposures, the people have lost their faith in the Congress, and to regain that faith, they are attacking the CAG".

He also said the government was afraid.

"Kasab was hanged like Bhagat Singh, he should have been hanged publicly. Instead, this will make him a hero,' said Ramdev.

A former British defence minister stunned peers after he suggested that a neutron bomb could be used to create a 'cordon sanitaire' (quarantine line) in troubled border regions like the one between Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to a report.

During a debate in the House of Lords on multi-lateral nuclear disarmament, Lord Gilbert said the use of such weapons could 'greatly reduce problems of protecting those borders'.

The Labour minister said that what used to be called a neutron bomb, and was actually an enhanced radiation reduced blast weapon, could have 'many uses' today.

Chinese leaders, who have been decrying corruption and doing very little about it for decades, can have a little more hope this time around as Xi Jingping embarks his political journey as China's new President, experts have said.

Though China's fight against curbing corruption would be a huge challenge, Xi's warning during the first meeting of the newly chosen 25-member Politburo last weekend can act as a ray of light for the ordinary Chinese citizen's single biggest complaint.

"All behavior that violates party discipline or the law should be punished without mercy," Xi had said.

13:50 Make 21st century an era of peace: Dalai Lama

Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama today called upon humanity to make the 21st century an era of peace, unlike the 20th which witnessed much violence and bloodshed.

The Dalai Lama said peace would not come just by resolutions passed by the United Nations but through compassion in the minds of each and every individual.

"Peace will not come just by the United Nations passing resolutions. It would come only with compassion and respect for the feelings of others," he said.

13:49 BJP not allowing Parliament to work: Congress

Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal has alleged that the BJP and other opposition parties were not allowing Parliament to proceed on the issue of FDI even though the government was ready for a debate.

Jasiwal said the government was ready for a debate under Section 184, but the BJP and other opposition parties were stalling Parliament.

He alleged that the BJP was unnecessarily protesting in the name of FDI and coal block allotment, even when the states have been given a free hand on whether they implement FDI or not.

A MiG 21 Bison aircraft of the IAF crashed near Naliya town in Kutch district in Gujarat on Saturday.

No casualties have been reported from this incident.

Activist Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday revealed that his new party will be called the 'Aam Aadmi Party'.

Kejriwal and his associated also adopted the new party constitution.

13:13 Pak reels under violence: 7 killed in blast

Seven people have been killed and several others injured in a blast at Dera Ismail Khan in Pakistan, according to media reports.

Further details are awaited.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has expressed optimism that an agreement on the European Union's 1 trillion Euro draft budget for 2014-2020 could be reached early next year.

In spite of the failure of the EU leaders to reach a deal on the budget at their two-day special summit, which concluded in Brussels on Friday, their discussions showed "great potential for an agreement and a good basis to continue our work", she said.

Therefore, "we are optimistic that an agreement could be possible early next year," she told a news conference after the meeting.

The summit ended in a deadlock as the EU leaders could not bridge the differences between the richer nations, which are the largest contributors of the EU funds and the poorer nations, which are the main beneficiaries, over whether to increase the budget or to reduce it.

Economic growth is likely to be 5.5 per cent in the second quarter of the current financial year, Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said.

11:32 DMK may seek discussion on 2G scam

The DMK is likely to seek a discussion on the 2G scam in Parliament, according to media reports.

The party's decision comes in the wake of a senior official of the Comptroller and Auditor General questioning the CAG report's assessment of the loss incurred in the 2G scam.

DMK leader and then telecom minister A Raja was forced to resign over the 2G scam. He was subsequently arrested and spent over a year in Tihar Jail before being released on bail.

Activist-turned-politicians Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan are likely to announce the name and constitution of their political outfit on Saturday.

This will be the first meeting of its national council and the members are expected to ratify the name and elect a 30-member national executive.

It will be the highest decision-making body for the party. The party will be formally launched on November 26 at Jantar Mantar.

Kejriwal and others plan to submit their paperwork, including a videotape of Saturday's meeting, 300 affidavits, and other formalities within the next week to the Election Commission for registration of the party's name.

India has strongly protested against China's attempt to show Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin in Jammu and Kashmir as its territory in its newly launched e-passports.

It has also imprinted its own map on visas being issued to Chinese nationals.

"We are not prepared to accept it," said External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.

"We, therefore, ensure that our flags of disagreement are put out immediately when something happens. We can do it in an agreeable way or you can do it in a disagreeable way," he added.

The family of a teenage girl Yusara Khan, who was killed by a man when she asked him not to urinate outside the gate of their house, has demanded the arrest of the accused at the earliest.

In this shocking incident, that took place in Delhi's Hazrat Nizamuddin area on Wednesday, Yusara was shot dead by Javed and his accomplice in her house in a fit of anger.

Her mother, Sadmani, who intervened after Javed shot at her daughter, was critically injured and the two were rushed to the trauma centre of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences by the neighbours.

Yusara's father said that the accused left in a fit of rage after his daughter objected to him relieving himself outside their house and threatened her with dire consequences.

03:53 Abbas determined to seek UN nod for Palestine

After bitter rival Hamas held its own in a fierce battle with Israel, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has no choice but to override U.S. objections and seek U.N. recognition of a state of Palestine next week, his aides said Friday.

But even such recognition, likely to be granted, may not be enough for the Western-backed backed proponent of non-violence and a peace deal with Israel to stay relevant and counter the soaring popularity of Gaza's Hamas militants.Abbas '" formally the leader of all Palestinians but only in charge in parts of the West Bank '" was in trouble even before being relegated to the role of spectator as Israel and Hamas fought for eight days, starting Nov. 14, then negotiated a truce with the help of Egypt that could lead to easing Israel's long-standing Gaza border blockade.

Bryce Bayer, a retired Kodak scientist and the inventor of a widely used color filter array that bears his name, has died. He was 83.Bayer, of Brunswick, Maine, died Nov. 13, a spokeswoman for Direct Cremation of Maine confirmed Friday.

The cause of death wasn't released.His Bayer filter was patented in 1975 and is incorporated into nearly every digital camera and camera phone, Rochester, N.Y.-based Kodak said in a 2009 press release announcing Bayer's receipt that year of the Royal Photographic Society's Progress Award.

Read full report here

Another person has died of a mysterious respiratory virus and three more cases have been discovered in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the World Health Organisation said today. "This brings the total of laboratory-confirmed cases to six," the Geneva-based UN agency said in a statement.

A Saudi man died from the novel coronavirus in June and a Qatari man was hospitalised in London with the virus after a trip to Saudi Arabia. The WHO has previously confirmed that the new strain was part of the coronavirus family, which also includes the deadly SARS virus as well as the common cold.

Syria said today that plans by Turkey to site Patriot missiles along its border was "a new act of provocation," while allies Iran and Russia warned the move would complicate the situation and could spark a regional conflagration.

Turkey turned to its NATO partners earlier this week to request the deployment of the surface-to-air Patriot missiles to protect its troubled border with Syria, which is engulfed in a war that has cost some 40,000 lives. In its first reaction, the Syrian foreign ministry accused Ankara of causing "tension and destruction."

03:49 Egypt: high-wire acts

Fresh from a week in which he was declared the chief beneficiary of Israel's eight-day war in Gaza, Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi lost no time in turning his replenished guns on foes closer to home. Some of the elements of the decree he issued on Thursday were popular, even among those revolutionary groups who have bitterly opposed him on other issues.

Sacking the prosecutor general, Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud, a Mubarak-era hatchet man whose blatantly tainted actions resulted in cases collapsing against attackers of demonstrators, is one. Offering cash to the victims of military and security forces' brutality and retrials was another.

Read full report here

02:03 Support for Hamas remains strong in Gaza

Rain poured down on the city Thursday as people cleaned up from the aftermath of the violent conflict between the Israeli military and Hamas that ended with a cease-fire Wednesday night.

"It's complete destruction," Omar Esbeh said, looking at the ruins of a building that was obliterated in an Israeli airstrike this week near his hummus and falafel shop.

"The one thing I really relied on is gone now," he said of the restaurant, closed because of the damage.

Read full report here

Upbeat about ties with India, Japan is hoping that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will visit the country in near future to boost economic and military ties. "Indo-Japan relations are now 60 years old and are expected to grow further in future.

We hope Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will visit the country in the near future," Kazushige Hiraishi, vice consul at the consulate general of Japan in Mumbai, said today.

Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik accused prison officers of trying to drive him to suicide in conditions he describes as "a mini Abu Ghraib." Breivik wrote a 27-page letter addressed to prison officials, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press today.

"If it wasn't for the fact that I am an exceptionally patient person, I would most likely have lost my mind in pure frustration," Breivik said in the letter dated October 15 that was updated on October 26 and October 30.

"Anyway, there are limits to what a person can take." Breivik wrote that he is frustrated that guards do not cooperate with his carefully planned daily schedule, where he times his various activities down to the minute.

The United States is concerned about Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi's decision to assume sweeping powers, the U.S. State Department said on Friday.

Mursi on Thursday issued a decree that puts his decisions above legal challenge until a new parliament is elected, causing angry protests by his opponents and violent clashes in central Cairo and other cities on Friday.

00:52 Bomb in Palestinian camp in Damascus kills 4

A bomb blast in a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus killed four people and seriously wounded a member of a faction that has backed Syrian President Bashar Assad in the country's bitter civil war, activists said today.

Syria's Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, lashed out at neighboring Turkey, which has sheltered anti-Assad fighters. The ministry denounced Turkey's request for NATO Patriot surface-to-air missiles along its border with Syria as "a new provocative step."

Turkey made the request earlier this week to bolster its defenses and prevent a spillover of the Syrian civil war onto its territory. The Damascus explosion late yesterday in the Yarmouk camp targeted the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, the Palestinian group said.

Lawmakers from Russia's ruling party today submitted a bill to parliament that would qualify media companies that receive funding from abroad as foreign agents, along the lines of hugely controversial legislation on NGOs.

The bill, submitted to the State Duma lower house by United Russia MPs Yevgeny Fedorov and Anton Romanov, would make media houses that receive over 50 percent of their income from abroad bear the label of "foreign agent".

00:41 Top headlines in the past 24 hours

Former CAG official questions Rs 1.76 lakh cr 2G spectrum loss

Savita's abortion request missing from hospital files

CBI chief post row: Delhi top cop withdraws plea from CAT

CAG row: Sonia says BJP exposed, govt demands answers

India, China entangled in another map row

Anti-Thackeray FB comment: IG report indicts police

PM rejects BJP demand for delaying CBI chief appointment

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