First keyhole cardiac surgery done at Chennai GH

Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (GH) has joined the league of hospitals performing minimally-invasive cardiothoracic surgeries in the city. Surgeons at the hospital performed a minimally-invasive surgery on a 17-year-old girl for an atrial septal defect last month.

Doctors said this was the first minimally-invasive surgery performed at GH. It was performed in place of the regular sternotomy in which the sternum – chest bone is cut open. The hospital got special instruments for the surgery.

“In sternotomy and open heart surgery, the patient cannot lift weights or climb stairs for six months. It is painful, requires blood transfusion and leaves a scar,” said K.S. Ganesan, professor of cardiothoracic surgery, GH.

For M. Valarmathi, a resident of Alevalam, Tiruvarur district, the procedure not only corrected her congenital ailment but also left her almost scar-less. Her family was unaware of the condition until she started to complain of giddiness. The girl, who discontinued her studies after class XI, was referred to GH.

She had problems of weight loss and weighed only 35 kg. After examining her, doctors planned the procedure and a seven-member team performed the surgery on October 22.

“We made a four-centimetre incision. The hole in her heart measured five cm. We collapsed the function of the right lung and stopped the heart for 20 minutes. The patient was on the heart-lung machine and we corrected the defect by closing it using a patch in a three-and-a-half-hour long surgery,” Dr. Ganesan told reporters on Wednesday.

The procedure was cosmetically superior as it left no scar, said Raja Venkatesh, head, department of cardiothoracic surgery. It minimised the duration of hospital stay as well as chances of infections.

“Open heart surgery would have required at least four to five units of blood for transfusion but as we did a small incision, there was no need for blood transfusion. The surgery costs around Rs. 5 lakh in private hospitals,” Dr. Ganesan added.

Minimally-invasive surgeries can be performed for mitral valve replacement, aortic valve replacement and coronary artery bypass graft, he added.

Valarmathi, who lost her father when she was about two years old, is supported by her uncle. “I want to continue my studies and will join class XII,” she said.

Anand Prathap, resident medical officer, said the surgery was covered under the Chief Minister’s comprehensive health insurance scheme.

Robotic device

The department has requested the government to purchase a Rs. 20-crore robotic device to perform cardiothoracic surgeries. “We are also likely to get left ventricular assistive devices and an Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation machine used for those with massive infarction and acute respiratory distress syndrome,” Dr. Ganesan said.

More: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/first-keyhole-cardiac-surgery-done-at-chennai-gh/article5348144.ece

Pneumonia, diarrhoea kill 400,000 children in India annually

India continues to lose more than 400,000 children before their fifth birthday due to two easily preventable diseases - pneumonia and diarrhoea - according to a new report released on Tuesday.

Many Indian children do not have access to life saving treatment and preventive measures, says the Pneumonia and Diarrhoea Progress Report 2013 published by the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, US.

The report said India continues to have the largest number of pneumonia and diarrhoea cases in the world.

The country continues to lose more than 400,000 children before their fifth birthday due to these two easily preventable diseases. Many more children suffer from severe illness.

While India has made some progress in coverage of pneumonia interventions and is poised to protect more children from pneumonia and diarrhoea with the upcoming national scale up of pentavalent vaccine, its coverage levels for both pneumonia and diarrhoea remain below targeted levels, the report said.

Pneumonia and diarrhoea continue to be the leading killers of children under the age of five worldwide.

According to the latest estimates by UNICEF, pneumonia and diarrhoea together claimed the lives of more than 1.7 million children under five in 2012 alone.

"India has taken a few steps in addressing the pneumonia disease burden by introducing the Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) vaccine in nine states. The National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) has now recommended the vaccine for a national scale up," N.K. Ganguly of the National Institute of Immunology said.

However, India still needs to include other vaccines such as rotavirus and pneumococcal in its national programme while simultaneously strengthening its health systems and improving access to other preventive interventions and treatment solutions, he said.

More: http://www.dnaindia.com/health/report-pneumonia-diarrhoea-kill-400000-children-in-india-annually-1918147

Seven selected for Infosys prize

The Infosys Science Foundation, on Tuesday announced the Infosys Prize-2013 with an increased prize money of Rs 55 lakh per awardee, up from Rs 50 lakh. Infosys chief N Narayana Murthy pointed out that there's a need to increase the quantum of research in the country.

"There is some really good research being done but the numbers aren't too big. The governments should focus on creating more avenues for the young to pursure research. Internationally, our institutions are not ranked too highly. I think the first Indian institute to be listed in a set of top 500 such institutions is placed at the 250th or 300th place. This needs to change," he said.

On the collaboration between industry and academia, Murthy applauded their efforts. "Indian industry as well as higher education institutions are pretty young compared to other countries like Japan, China or those in Europe. For such a young age, they've have demonstrated a pretty good relationship," he said.

Marking the fifth anniversary of the Infosys Science Foundation, prizes were given in six categories: humanities, life sciences, social sciences, engineering and computer science, physical science and mathematical sciences.

Murthy said: "Our desire was to create role models who can attract young people into scientific research. The response we got to lecturers and interactions with people has been good."

Srinath Batni, a trustee, said: "The foundation is taking up a research project that will look into the apprehensions of Indian students in picking research as a career."

The awards will be distributed in February 2014 in Bangalore with Kofi Annan as the chief guest. The seven awardees were picked from 216 nominations.

Ayesha Kidwai, professor of linguistics, JNU, Delhi, told TOI: "It was a very pleasant surprise. Along with a linguistics professor in Delhi University, I run a summer school for Indian and foreign linguistics students that seeks to further research into Indian languages. We don't charge any fees and we've been struggling to raise money for it. The prize money will help enormously in sustaining this initiative."

The awardees:

* Engineering and computer science

V Rama Gopal Rao | professor in the department of electrical engineering and chief investigator, Centre of Excellence in Nanoelectronics, IIT, Bombay

Citation: Wide-ranging contributions to nanoscale electronics for insightfully integrating chemistry with mechanics and electronics to invent new functional devices, and for innovation and entrepreneurship in creating technologies and products of social welfare.

* Humanities (linguistics)

Ayesha Kidwai | professor, School of Language, Literature and Cultural Studies, JNU, New Delhi

Citation: Exceptional contribution to theoretical linguistics. Her research on syntactic relations between Hindi and Urdu has related wider debates in linguistics to the study of Indian languages and has extended our understanding of India's linguistic diversity.

* Humanities (archaeology)

Nayanjot Lahiri | professor, department of history, University of Delhi

Citation: Outstanding contribution towards integration of archaeological knowledge with the historical understanding of India from the earliest times... exceptional scholar of proto-historic and early India, and her wide-ranging work on the past and the present illuminates many aspects even of contemporary Indian life.

* Mathematical Sciences

Rahul Pandharipande | professor, department of mathematics, Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule, Zurich

Citation: Profound work in algebraic geometry, in particular on Gromov-Witten theory for Riemann surfaces, for predicting the connection between Gromov-Witten and Donaldson-Thomas theories, and for his recent work with Aaron Pixton that establishes this connection for Calabi-Yau 3-folds.

* Social Sciences (sociology and anthropology)

Aninhalli R Vasavi | senior fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi

Citation: Distinctive and pioneering research that spans a remarkable range covering four main areas: Agrarian society at the intersection of economy, culture and environment; school education in varied regional contexts; globalisation and its impact on the moral economy of urban occupations; and social sciences as seen from the vantage point of Indian languages and regional cultures.

* Life Sciences

Rajesh S Gokhale | director, CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhi

Citation: For work in lipid metabolism in M. tuberculosis. He discovered fatty acyl AMP ligases in M.tuberculi, their role in the generation of lipid components of its cell wall and of their existence in other organisms, where they play a role in complex organic biosynthesis.

* Physical Sciences

Shiraz Naval Minwalla | member, School of Natural Sciences, Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton, and professor, department of theoretical physics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai

Citation: Pioneering contributions to the study of string theory, quantum field theory and gravity, and for uncovering a deep connection between the equations of fluid and superfluid dynamics and Einstein's equations of general relativity.

Jury chair

Humanities: Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen

Life Sciences: Inder Verma | American Cancer Society Professor in Lab of Genetics, Salk Institutefor Biological Sciences

Social Sciences: Kaushik Basu | Chief Economist and Senior V-P, World Bank

Engineering and Computer Science: Pradeep K Khosla | Chancellor, University of California, San Diego

Physical Sciences: Shrinivas Kulkarni | Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Science, California Institute of Technology

Mathematical Sciences: Srinivasa S R Varadhan | Prof of Maths New York University

More: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Seven-selected-for-Infosys-prize/articleshow/25660789.cms?

Mangalyaan instrument test next week

After having successfully tackled a momentary glitch in Mangalyaan's orbital manoeuvres on Monday, Isro scientists have postponed a crucial exercise. The exercise is to test the five instruments aboard the Mangalyaan before the orbiter embarks on its long journey to Mars in early December. The instruments were to be activated on Monday this week for a brief while to ensure that they work fine. But this procedure will now be carried out next week.

Mangalyaan had completed its first three of the total six planned manoeuvres within Earth's influence. It's fourth manoeuvre which was conducted early morning on Monday had failed.

Isro Ahmedabad's Space Applications Center ( SAC) has played a pivotal role in designing three of the five payloads that are on the orbiter. They include the Mars Colour Camera (MCC), Methane Sensors for Mars (MSM) and the Thermal-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS). While the colour camera will send back the first 'colour' images by any Isro satellite from outer space, the methane sensors will send back signals of methane presence around Earth.

"The exercise of activating the instruments on board has been postponed as we wanted to be doubly sure that the apogee-raising manoeuvre happens flawlessly," says a senior Isro official.

On Monday, Isro reported a halt in the flow of the liquid engine, which had had slowed down the orbit-raising operation, as an apogee of only 71,623km could be achieved against the desired orbit of 1 lakh km. The rocket firing imparted a velocity of 35 metres per second to the spacecraft, which was one-third of what was needed to achieve the desired orbit.

More: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Mangalyaan-instrument-test-next-week/articleshow/25720266.cms

I never sought John Wright's apology: Sourav Ganguly

Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly Wednesday denied that he had wanted then coach John Wright to apologise to Virender Sehwag for having grabbed the dashing batsman by the scruff of his collar during an ODI match in England in 2002.

"I was not even present when the incident took place. I later came to know of the incident from Harbhajan Singh in the team bus. So I was surprised by Mr. Shukla's comments," Ganguly told news channel ABP Ananda.

At the India Today Salaam Sachin Conclave Tuesday, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice president Rajeev Shukla had narrated an incident that happened during the match at the Oval during Ganguly's tenure as captain.


Ganguly denied that he had wanted Wright to apologise to Sehwag for having grabbed the batsman by the scruff of his collar during an ODI in England in 2002.

"An irate Wright had once grabbed Sehwag by the scruff of his collar after Viru got out and came back to the pavilion. Sehwag and Ganguly made it clear that the team will not leave the dressing room unless Wright apologises.

"That's when Sachin (Tendulkar) stepped in and took me (Shukla) aside, making it clear that no way Wright should be forced to apologise in front of the whole team as it would demean his authority," Shukla said.

Ganguly said: "There was no question of me insisting on John's apology as I was not even present then. It is a very old incident. I don't think there was any need for him to narrate it."

More: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/cricketnext/i-never-sought-john-wrights-apology-sourav-ganguly/434033-78.html

World Chess Championship: Viswanathan Anand salvages lost position to settle for 4th draw

Defending champion Viswanathan Anand survived by the skin of his teeth, steering the fourth game of the World Chess Championship to a gruelling draw against Magnus Carlsen of Norway, here on Wednesday.

With eight games still to come in the 12-game affair, the scores are tied at 2-2 and the battle is really heating up if the last two games are any indication.

Anand was pushed to the wall for the first time in the match and this happened soon after he was seen pressing for a win in the third game that ended in a draw yesterday. It showed that Carlsen has got steely nerves.

The Norwegian also changed his opening with black and it turned out to be a good ploy after his Caro Kann in the first black game.

The Berlin defense became famous after Vladimir Kramnik used it successfully to beat Russian compatriot Garry Kasparov in the Braingames World Championship match in 2000 at London and since then it has found a stronghold in the elite chess circles.

Anand himself has played the opening with black successfully and he definitely had an idea up his sleeves. However, Carlsen was the first to spring a surprise as early as on move 10 when he moved his Bishop.

While it was not a new move, it was indeed a surprise as it had been played just four times prior to this and three out of those four games were played by Jon Ludvig Hammer, trusted friend and second of Carlsen. More recently, Navara David of Czech Republic also played it successfully to get a draw with Lenier Perez Dominguez of Cuba.

Anand did not get much out of the opening and, while looking for complications, sacrificed a pawn on the queen side, that to the bare eye looked like a poisoned pawn.

Known to never avoid complications, Carlsen took the bait and it was backed by some brilliant intuition as the later part of the game revealed.

More: http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report-world-chess-championship-viswanathan-anand-salvages-lost-position-to-settle-for-4th-draw-1918745

International Children's Film Fest opens up in Hyd tomorrow

Promising to be a rich ensemble of films from across the globe, the 18th International Children's Film Festival of India (ICFFI) would get underway here tomorrow. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy would inaugurate the week-long event in the presence of Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tiwari, veteran lyricist Gulzar and Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor. 

State Information and Cinematography Minister D K Aruna said the government had made elaborate arrangements for the jamboree. About 200 films from 48 countries would be screened in 12 theatres across the city during the festival and an estimated 1,50,000 children are expected to turn up. The minister said 3-D movies would be shown for the first time, along with 20 best films sourced from Cannes, Berlin and Toronto international festivals. Czech films will be the "Country Focus" in the festival, which would showcase a diligently curated package of children's films from the Czech Republic, right from 1950s to some of their recent productions. 

Debates and open forums would also be conducted on topics like film-making, animation, script-writing and child rights as part of the festival. "The Children's Film Society of India has selected 'Gopi Gawaiya Bagha Bajaiya' for screening at the inaugural of the Children's film festival of India," said an official release. The 78-minute animation film, directed by Shilpa Ranade, is the fabulous story of Gopi and Bagha, a pair of musicians gifted with magical powers by the King of Ghosts, which has been a stellar success, it said. The film is the Hindi version of the iconic film-maker Satyajit Ray's popular Bengali film 'Gupi Gayen Bagha Bayen'. The special film will be the main attraction at the inaugural event at Lalit Kala Thoranam tomorrow, the release added.

Read more at: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/world-news/international-childrens-film-fest-opens-uphyd-tomorrow_989459.html?utm_source=ref_article

Anurag Kashyap, Kalki Koechlin separating

Director Anurag Kashyap and his actress wife Kalki Koechlin have announced that they are taking time apart from their more than two-year-old marriage.

The couple, whose marriage was said to be in trouble, issued a joint statement today asking for privacy and to deny that they were divorcing.

"Me and Kalki are separating, we are taking time off from each other to figure things out. We are not divorcing. We request the media to please respect our privacy and give us our space and not speculate. Thank you, Kalki and Anurag," the statement from the couple read.

Kalki, 29, who is an Indian of French descent, and Kashyap, 41, noted for his films 'Black Friday', 'Gulal' and 'Gangs of Wasseypur', met and fell in love while working on 'Dev D' in 2009.

Kalki played Chandramukhi in Anurag Kashyap's modern take on Sarat Chandra's classic 'Devdas'.

The two finalised their romance by getting married in April 2011.

Anurag was previously married to Aarti Bajaj with whom he has a daughter while it is Kalki's first marriage.

Google India celebrates Children's Day with Pune student's winning entry doodle celebrating Indian women

November 14 is celebrated as Children's Day in India.

The Google doodle

The Google India homepage on Thursday, November 14, 2013 shows Google written with characters that well and truly are Indian.

The doodle is titled 'Sky's the limit for Indian women' and has been designed by Gayatri Ketharaman from Pune for the fifth edition of Doodle 4 Google competition. The theme this year was celebrating Indian women.

Ketharaman, a 10th standard student from Bishop's co-education school, Pune was selected from among 12 finalists chosen from different parts of India by the national jury which included actress Kirron Kher and political cartoonist Ajit Ninan.

Today's doodle has G written with a young girl character who is seen leaping in the air with a dupatta and a musical instrument behind her indicating that she is dancing. The two Os are written with a Re 1 coin that has a graduation cap on it while the other O is balance by a house on a beam balance. The other G shows a rocket headed to space, the Mars Mission comes to mind as do Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams, Indian women who went to space. L is created by an athlete running on track which is formed by the dupatta. And E is created by a policeman's hat.

The doodle is well intricate with India and all she aims to be as a country as well as the hopes and aspirations of citizens especially young women. A creative amalgamation of characters and Indianness makes the doodle very relatable and the message comes out clearly.

The Indian woman in her different roles with elegance, gait as she plays her many roles balancing her professional and personal life with excellence.

November 14 is India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's birthday and in the country Children's Day is celebrated to commemorate his great love for children.

Google4Doodle is a competition that happens every year. Google invites students from standard 1 to 10 to share their creativity by doodling the Google logo. Google 4 Doodle 2013 is the fifth year of the competition in India.

More: http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report-google-india-celebrates-children-s-day-with-pune-student-s-winning-entry-doodle-celebrating-indian-women-1918833

With 243 million users by 2014, India to beat US in internet reach: Study

Internet penetration in the country may not have crossed 16% of the population yet, but in absolute numbers this percentage works out to nearly 10 times the population of Australia.

By October, the nation had crossed the 200 million mark, says a report released by theInternet and Mobile Association of India (IMAI) and IMRB. The report estimates 243 million internet users in the country by June 2014, overtaking the US as the world's second largest internet base after China.

The US currently has an estimated 207 million internet users, while China has 300 million. The 205 million internet users that the IMAI reports for India are not all active users (those who use the internet at least once a month). "There is every reason to believe that they will turn into active users in the near future," says Nilotpal Chakravarti, associate vice-president, IAMAI.

While Indians primarily use the internet for communication, largely in the form of email, social media is also an important driver of internet use in India. This facet of the IMAI report can be corroborated with data from other sources such as Facebook, according to which India had 82 million monthly active users by June 30, 2013, the second largest geographical region for Facebook after the US and Canada. Facebook does not operate in China.

Internet penetration in India is driven largely by mobile phones, with some of the cheapest and most basic hand-sets today offering access to the internet. India has 110 million mobile internet users of which 25 million are in rural India. The growth of internet penetration in rural India is driven largely by the mobile phone; 70% of rural India's active internet population access the web via mobile phones. This may have to do with the difficulty in accessing PCs.

Forty-two percent of rural India's internet users prefer using the internet in local languages. The high prevalence of content in English is a hurdle for much of rural India.

College-goers remain the largest users of the internet in India, followed by young men.

While the IMAI report paints an optimistic picture of internet use in the country, another report by the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, ranked India 145 of around 200 countries for the percentage of individuals using the internet.

Chakravarti, however, insists that India's performance when it comes to internet penetration is an achievement, given the country's current infrastructure.

More: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/internet/With-243-million-users-by-2014-India-to-beat-US-in-internet-reach-Study/articleshow/25719512.cms

Tractors save the day for Mahindra & Mahindra in Q2

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) reported a 9.7% year-on-year growth in standalone net profit in July-September quarter at `989.5 crore, largely driven by the strong tractor sales and higher demand in the rural region.

Operating profit margins for M&M (standalone) expanded 142 basis points yoy to 12.8%, driven by price hikes and lower raw material costs.

Despite continuing slowdown in passenger vehicles, the company gained on strong recovery of tractor sales and rural purchases on the back of good monsoon.

“The growth remains weak across all segments of the industry. The only silver lining is agri growth and M&M has done reasonably good with tractors attaining traction and maintaining good run in the festive season,” company’s chief financial officer V S Parthasarathy told analysts in an earnings call.

M&M’s domestic sales stood at 57,549 tractors reporting a growth of 22.3% over the same period last year. Its domestic passenger vehicle sales continued to remain weak on account of the slowdown in the market and slowing demand for UVs. It sold 50,267 units of passenger vehicles during the quarter as against 67,650 units in the same quarter last year.

“The results were driven by a robust growth in the farm equipment segment even though the automotive segment posted a sharp decline in performance,” said Yaresh Kothari, analyst, Angel Broking.

More: http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report-tractors-save-the-day-for-mahindra-and-mahindra-in-q2-1918881

Motorola launches Moto G budget smartphone; coming to India in January

Google-owned Motorola Mobility moved Wednesday launched its entry-level handset— Moto G. Moto G is a low-cost version of its flagship Moto X smartphone.

The handset will sell at less than USD 200 without a contract in the US market, while for an unlocked entry-level Moto G customers will have to pay USD 179.

Across the globe it will be priced at one-third the price of Apple iPhones, Samsung phones.

Moto G runs on a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm processor. The 4.5 inches device comes with 8GB internal storage and a water-repellent coating. The phone sports a 5MP rear camera and 1.2MP front unit and is powered by a 1,950mAh battery.

The phone will include the latest versions of the Google Android operating system.

The Moto G will be available in Brazil and parts of Europe on Wednesday, with availability across Latin America, Europe and Canada in the coming weeks, and in the United States, India, Southeast Asia and the Middle East in the first quarter.

More: http://zeenews.india.com/business/gadgets/gadgets-news/motorola-launches-moto-g-budget-smartphone-coming-to-india-in-january_88760.html

Tata Steel beats St on volumes, realisations

Higher volumes across all regions and better realisation across India and Southeast Asia helped Tata Steel to post a robust second quarter performance, group CFO Kaushik Chaterjee told reporters.

Tata Steel p osted a consolidated net profit of Rs917 crore against a net loss of Rs364 in a year ago quarter and a Bloomberg estimate of Rs383.6 crore. Net profit, however, declined sequentially from Rs1,139 crore.

Deliveries jumped to 6.48 million tonne (MT) from 6.07 MT a year ago. Contribution of Rs180 crore during the quarter from subsidiaries also helped.

Tata Steel’s consolidated operating margins jumped to 10% from 7% a year ago, mainly on prices increases taken in India and Southeast Asia and higher volumes. The company took a price increase of Rs1,500-Rs2,500 on an average in the quarter ended September in India. T V Narendran, managing director, who took charge recently, said the company also went for a hike of Rs 1,500 in October.

Despite second quarter being seasonally weak, Tata Steel managed to have volume growth both in India and Europe. Sequentially, Indian deliveries improved from 2 MT to 2.04 MT while in Europe deliveries jumped 10% to 3.46 MT.

Flat products, mainly used in automobile industry, contributed significantly to volumes.

Narendran said flat product sales increased 35% year on year in Q2. However, long products’ sales of the company remained under pressure as construction demand remains poor in the season. Narendran said the company’s long product operation in India is undergoing 60 days of shutdown from September.

Surprisingly, when other Indian steel players exported more in Q2 to take advantage of rupee depreciation Tata Steel has chosen to focus on domestic market.

“We have commitments to our domestic customer which we are barely able to fulfil sometime. We do export, but we don’t need to export to fill up our bills,” Narendran said.

Its European operations showed significant improvement despite it being a weak quarter.

Stabilisation of operations at its new Port Talbot facility helped the company to have highest like-to-like quarterly production in past five years.

Chatterjee said he expected demand to pick up in H2 and recent price hikes to sustain. Demand in Europe is also expected to pick up.

More: http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report-tata-steel-beats-st-on-volumes-realisations-1918882

Sun Pharma net jumps 3.5 times to Rs 1,560 cr

Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries’ quarterly net profit jumped 3.5 times to R1,559.79 crore owing to a 46% rise in net sales. It reported net sales of R4,192.05 crore in the quarter ended September, compared with sales of R2,857.24 crore posted in the corresponding period last year.

The company swung to a profit in the second quarter after suffering a loss in the last quarter due to the provision of R2,517.41 crore as settlement on a case of patent infringement litigation related to generic versions of Protonix, a drug used to treat heartburn. There were no ‘exceptional items’ recorded in this quarter.

The company’s adjusted earnings per share of R6.6 missed Street expectations of R7.9, according to Bloomberg estimates however its quarterly sales swept past analyst expectations of R3,768.1 crore.

The Mumbai-based pharmaceutical company has not faced any regulatory issues in this quarter which have besieged its peers, Wockhardt and Ranbaxy.

Morsi accuses Egypt’s interim leader of treason

In a letter from prison made public by his lawyers on Wednesday, Mohammed Morsi, the former Islamist president of Egypt, heaped scorn on his opponents in the military-backed government, saying that they had committed treason and that Egypt “will not recover” until the “coup” that removed him from power was reversed.

At the same time, Mr. Morsi sought to encourage his supporters who have held protests for months, bedevilling Egypt’s interim authorities, saying that the protesters were “heroes.”

The letter represented Mr. Morsi’s most extensive comments on Egypt’s political crisis since the military took him into custody last July and held him without access to lawyers or his family. His long silence was broken briefly earlier this month, when he appeared in public for the first time since his ouster to stand trial on charges that he incited the murder of protesters.

In his letter Wednesday, which was read at a televised news conference by a lawyer, Mohamed el-Damaty, Mr. Morsi revealed new details about his detention by the military, which he said had “kidnapped” him. Mr. Morsi tried in the letter to quash any speculation that he had been negotiating an end to Egypt’s political impasse with his captors, saying he had not met with any military leaders since being detained.

His comments seemed to further doom any possibility of dialogue: He accused Egypt’s Defence Minister and de facto leader, General Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, of committing “treason against the constitution and the people.” Mr. Morsi briefly mentioned reconciliation, but not on any terms the military was likely to accept; the people, he said, “must know that this coup is a crime.”

The military takeover and Mr. Morsi’s detention set Egypt on a bloody, turbulent course. The authorities embarked on a brutal crackdown on his movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, imprisoning or killing thousands of people. Islamists singled out Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority for retribution, burning and looting dozens of churches and Christian homes and businesses.

And militants, in the Sinai Peninsula and elsewhere, have begun a campaign of assassinations and bombings against the police and the military, prompting fears that an insurgency is gathering momentum.

In his statement, Mr. Morsi said he was detained on July 2, two days after millions of people protested around the country against his rule, and a day before the military formally announced that it had seized power. He said he was first held in the headquarters of the Republican Guard, and after three days was moved to a naval base, along with one of his assistants.

On July 8, the police and the army gunned down at least 60 of Morsi’s supporters who had gathered outside the Republican Guard building, believing incorrectly that the former president was still inside.

At the naval base, Morsi was visited by Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief; by a group of African diplomats; and by “four investigators, whose questions I have refused to answer,” Morsi said. He is now being held near the port city of Alexandria.

It was unclear whether Mr. Morsi’s comments would galvanize what remains of his Islamist movement. The group’s protests have persisted, but are dwindling in size, prompting questions about its strategy. “Rally behind the rights of the country,” Mr. Morsi said. “Not behind a person.”

More: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/morsi-accuses-egypts-interim-leader-of-treason/article15434577/

Trade deal could be bitter medicine

WikiLeaks has exposed details of secret trade negotiations that could leave Australians paying more for drugs and medicines, movies, computer games and software, and be placed under surveillance as part of a US-led crackdown on internet piracy.

A leaked draft of a controversial chapter of the Trans Pacific Partnership free trade agreement reveals the negotiating positions of 12 countries – including Australia – on copyright, patents and other intellectual property issues, with a heavy focus on enforcement measures against internet piracy.

Intellectual property experts are critical of the draft treaty, which they say would help the multinational movie and music industries, software giants and pharmaceutical manufacturers to maintain and increase prices by reinforcing the rights of copyright and patent owners, clamping down on online piracy and raising obstacles to the introduction of generic drugs and medicines.
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Prime Minister Tony Abbott has indicated that he is keen to see the trade talks pushed to a conclusion next month, saying "there’s always horse-trading in these negotiations, but in the end ... everyone is better off"’.

An expert in intellectual property law, Matthew Rimmer, said the draft was "very prescriptive" and strongly reflected US trade objectives and multinational corporate interests "with little focus on the rights and interests of consumers, let alone broader community interests".

"One could see the TPP as a Christmas wish-list for major corporations, and the copyright parts of the text support such a view," Dr Rimmer said.

"Hollywood, the music industry, big IT companies such as Microsoft and the pharmaceutical sector would all be very happy with this."

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade recently excluded journalists from TPP industry briefings held in anticipation of the next round of negotiations, which begins in Salt Lake City, Utah, next week.

Dr Rimmer said that Australia appeared "generally supportive" of the US or otherwise "quite passive" in the negotiations.

The leaked draft shows that the US and Japan oppose wording, supported by most of the other countries, that highlights the importance of "maintain[ing] a balance between the rights of intellectual property holders and the legitimate interests of users and the community".

In April, the then US ambassador to Australia, Jeffrey Bleich, accused Australian consumers of habitually stealing copyrighted content and of being "some of the worst offenders with amongst the highest piracy rates ... in the world".

New federal Attorney-General George Brandis has signalled his intention to introduce more stringent copyright laws to crack down on online piracy.

The leaked treaty text also reveals new American and Japanese proposals designed to enhance the ability of pharmaceutical manufacturers to extend and widen their patents on drugs and medicines.

Proposals with the potential to impact significantly on Australia’s Pharmaceuticals Benefits Scheme include a requirement that patents be available for new uses of existing drugs, effectively allowing for the "ever-greening" of existing patents.

The proposals also include compensation to companies for delays in the granting or extension of patents, and measures to ensure data exclusivity.

This would enable companies to prevent competitors, specifically manufacturers of generic medicines, from using past clinical safety data to support approval of new products.

Australia is recorded as having indicated opposition to these proposals, but the strength of this is unclear as neither the former Labor government nor the new Coalition government has publicly challenged the US position.

The draft text also shows that Australian negotiators have not sought any specific exemption to protect Australia’s tobacco plain-packaging laws from the treaty’s strong protection for the rights of trademark owners.

The Australian Greens spokesman on communications and the digital economy, Scott Ludlam, described the treaty as "hugely dangerous" and said people should be "deeply concerned about what is being negotiated".

Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson on Wednesday moved a motion that calls on Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb to table the draft text of the TPP agreement in the Senate.

However, a spokesman for Mr Robb said the treaty negotiations would remain confidential but insisted there had been "a lot of consultation across all industry sectors that could be impacted by the agreement".

WikiLeaks has condemned the TPP negotiations as a "corporatist trade deal".

Donation pledges to WikiLeaks exceeding $US73,000 ($A78,000) have been crowdsourced to support the publication of the TPP negotiating text.

The full text of the leaked negotiating text can by found at www.wikileaks.org.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/trade-deal-could-be-bitter-medicine-20131113-2xh4p.html#ixzz2kaoKxg2H

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's ex-staffers detail erratic behavior in documents

Explosive new allegations surfaced about embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford in court documents released Wednesday -- the same day the city council voted to ask him to take a leave of absence.

The court report, more than 500 pages long, alleges a pattern of drug use, and erratic and sometimes abusive behavior by the mayor. A judge ordered the report's release late last month.

The documents include police interviews with former staff members, information obtained from surveillance crews and cameras, and even an examination of the mayor's garbage.

The documents were used by Canadian police to get a search warrant for Alexander Lisi, Ford's friend and occasional driver, whom police accuse of marijuana possession and trafficking.

Several staffers said they were asked to buy alcohol for the mayor. One incident described by a former staffer alleged that Ford, while driving, stopped the vehicle, guzzled some vodka, and drove on.

Chris Fickel, who worked as a special assistant to Ford, said the mayor would ask him to perform odd jobs at his house. Fickel said he would be called "to change light bulbs in the front lawn, change batteries in his children's toys, buying cartons of cigarettes, bleach, laundry detergent and diet Coke for the mayor's wife."

One staffer told police the mayor was inebriated on St. Patrick's Day in 2012 and got into a physical altercation with two staff members. He alleges the mayor was verbally abusive and inappropriate with a female staff member.

Another staffer said the same night, he saw a woman who may have been an escort or prostitute in the mayor's office.

Ford's former press secretary George Christopoulos also said women often came to the mayor's office, "and told staffers that they have smoked a joint with the mayor on the street outside of the bar. These women were told by the mayor that they could have a job." Christopoulos would then have to interview these women and try to talk them out of a job.

None of the allegations against Ford has been proven, and he faces no criminal charges.

Ford vows to stay on the job

Despite the Toronto City Council's motion, the mayor of Canada's largest city insists he will stay on the job.

Wednesday's vote is largely symbolic -- it does not have the power to force Ford from his post.

The tense council meeting came more than a week after Ford admitted smoking crack cocaine.

Days after that admission, a new video showed a ranting, swearing Ford threatening to kill someone.

During Wednesday's meeting, Ford made a further confession to the council.

He said he has purchased illegal drugs within the past two years, while he was in office.

Despite his escalating troubles, Ford insists he has been a good mayor and that voters will decide during next year's election whether to keep him.

"I have made a mistake. I am human," he said. "I apologize. I want to move on."

Ford said that he is being subjected to a "public flogging" and that the experience has been the most humiliating thing in his life, maybe the worst week in his life next to his father's death.

Despite the admission of drug use and of heavy drinking, Ford flatly denied that he is addicted to alcohol or drugs.

"The reason I drank or did drugs was not because of stress, it was out of sheer stupidity," he said. "That's all it was."

Ford's brother, Councilor Doug Ford, and other family members have defended the embattled mayor.

On Wednesday, Doug Ford appeared on CNN and blamed the scandal on politics.

"Rob does not come into work drunk," he told CNN. "He said he's tried illicit drugs under a drunken stupor."

"And he's not doing drugs. And he's not drinking. So he's moving in the right direction, in my opinion, but the public flogging, never seen anything like it. This man has apologized profusely. He's asked for forgiveness, and the rest is sheer politics down here."

More: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/13/world/americas/canada-toronto-mayor/

Prince Charles: The heir at 65

Unlike the Queen, who had to demonstrate wisdom beyond her years when she acceded the throne aged just 25, Prince Charles has had to live most of his life preparing for the day he will be King.

At times that may well have been frustrating, but it has also allowed him to speak out on matters which are important to him in a way the constraints of kingship would not have allowed.

The Queen is now 87 years old and the process of handing over duties to her son is well under way. This week is an important sign of that transition.

For the first time since 1973, the Queen will miss the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

The official reason for her absence is to protect her from the long-haul flight to Sri Lanka, but it is also a chance for the Prince of Wales - who will represent her - to take his place on a global stage.

Over the coming months and years other duties which the Queen currently performs which involve travel or physical exertion will be taken on by the Prince.

However, it still may be many years before he becomes King.

Long letters

His apprenticeship has been a long one, but he has used the time both publicly and privately to promote issues he believes to be important.

The Prince of Wales attended this year's State Opening of Parliament

Long before environmental concerns such as climate change became part of the mainstream political agenda he was pressuring the establishment to take them seriously.

He has made his views known on issues as diverse as GM crops, alternative medicines and modern architecture. Government ministers have had to become used to receiving long letters from him detailing his views.

And he has become used to being accused of inappropriate meddling.

In a sense he symbolises the practical, welfare monarchy”Vernon BognadorConstitutional expert

His need to find a role has undoubtedly changed other's lives too, for the better, through the hundreds of charities he supports.

Chief among them is the Prince's Trust, which he founded in 1976 and which has helped three quarters of a million young disadvantaged people to gain work experience and forge careers.

According to the constitutional expert, Vernon Bognador, his achievements to date have helped shape and change the modern monarchy.

"It is no longer a mystical or magical monarchy, it has become a practical or utilitarian monarchy and people judge it in terms of its contribution to society and public welfare.

"The Prince of Wales is very much attuned to that mood. In a sense he symbolises the practical, welfare monarchy - and that's the particular contribution he's been able to make."

When he does become King, the time he will be able to devote to his passions will be severely curtailed.

In a recent profile in the magazine Time, Catherine Mayer wrote that he was "impatient to get as much done as possible before, in the words of one member of his household, "the prison shades close".

'King in waiting'

While Buckingham Palace disputed any suggestion that the Prince sees kingship as a prison, it is true that his duties will have to come first.

As well as discovering a role beyond that of the "King in waiting", the Prince has also had to come to terms with the impact his position inevitably has on his private life.

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall leave the christening of Prince George at St James's Palace in October

Combining the two cannot have been easy but after the break-up of his marriage to Diana, Princess of Wales, and her untimely death, he does seem to have found stability and happiness with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

Both his sons are growing into their respective roles and as he said to the waiting press, he was "overjoyed" at the arrival of his first grandchild, Prince George.

His delight was clear from the accompanying photographs.

Now a pensioner - although he is donating his state pension to an unnamed charity supporting older people - Prince Charles can celebrate a happy family and marriage in the knowledge that as Prince of Wales he has contributed much to British society.

That is a good basis for the job he will inevitably have and has spent much of his life preparing for.

More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24870823

Logistical Hurdles Paralyze Relief Effort at the Center of a Typhoon’s Fury

Typhoon gridlock threatened rescue operations in the most devastated part of the Philippines on Wednesday, with aid piling up but few ways to distribute it, plentiful gasoline but no merchants willing to sell it, and an influx of emergency volunteers but no place to house them.

The intensifying frustrations of delivering aid after Typhoon Haiyan struck last week elicited a plea from the top United Nations relief official to the mayor of Tacloban, imploring him to persuade gas station owners to open so relief convoys could begin a large-scale expansion into the flattened port city of 220,000 and interior regions of Leyte Province. The gas stations have fuel in their tanks, but the owners fear theft and violence if they reopen.

“We have to have fuel, so we have to have some kind of refueling center,” Valerie Amos, the United Nations official, told the mayor, Alfred S. Romualdez, at a public meeting after she flew here for an assessment.

Mr. Romualdez told Ms. Amos that the city could not easily cope with the influx of aid workers, as practically no vehicles were available to bring them in from the airport, while food and drinking water were running out. “I’m asking those who come here, ‘Please be self-sufficient, because there’s nothing,’ ” he said.

The mayor’s best advice to residents was to leave and find shelter with relatives if they could, saying that the local authorities were struggling to provide food and water and faced difficulties in maintaining law and order.

The paralysis was epitomized by the first attempt in Tacloban to conduct a mass burial of typhoon victims, whose corpses had been putrefying for days on the streets and under piles of debris. The attempt ended in failure as trucks carrying more than 200 corpses were forced to turn back when they faced gunfire at the city limits. The identities of the gunmen were not clear.

Covered with black plastic tarpaulin, the bodies were returned to a makeshift outdoor morgue at the foot of the hill topped by City Hall, where they emitted a powerful odor in the tropical heat.

Tacloban’s paralysis was acknowledged later in the day by the United States government, which is playing a major role in the emergency effort, using military cargo planes to bring in aid and to evacuate the most vulnerable residents. In a telephone briefing from Washington, a senior official assigned to the effort said that it was focused mainly on food, water, shelter and medicine, but that the provision of fuel in the city was “very much on our radar screen — that is a whole part of the logistical morass we’re working our way through.”

Another senior American official in the briefing said that the number of American uniformed personnel on the ground in the Philippines, currently at about 300, would rise to 1,000 in the next few days, with most coming from a Marine base in Okinawa, Japan. The official said the United States was helping transport Filipino soldiers assigned to the disaster zone, which cuts through the middle of the country.

The American officials also said a land route into Tacloban had been reopened, which would ease the bottleneck at the airport. “It was like squeezing orange juice through a straw,” one said. “Now we have more straws.”

International relief groups said they were rapidly escalating their response in Tacloban and elsewhere. Doctors Without Borders, the Paris-based medical agency, said its teams had traveled by car, boat, plane and helicopter to some of the outlying areas of northern Cebu Island, eastern Samar Island, Panay Island and western Leyte Province, which neither the Philippine government nor other agencies had been able to reach. The teams found desperation, the group said in a statement. The village of Guiuan in Samar was flattened and half of Roxas City on Panay was destroyed.

“Access is extremely difficult and is preventing people from receiving help,” said Dr. Natasha Reyes, the group’s emergency coordinator in the Philippines.

Despite the problems in Tacloban, the World Food Program said Wednesday that it had managed to provide family-size packets of rice and canned goods to nearly 50,000 residents and that 500 tons of rice was en route.

Mayor Romualdez said the city desperately needed trucks and drivers to distribute shipments of food piling up at the airport, as well as more trucks, heavy equipment and personnel to retrieve decaying corpses from the wreckage across the city.

“I have to decide at every meeting which is more important, relief goods or picking up cadavers,” he said.


The mayor, a nephew of Imelda Marcos, the former first lady who grew up in Tacloban, denied persistent rumors of gunfights among the increasingly hungry and thirsty population, saying that business owners and others were firing only warning shots. “That’s why sometimes you hear gunshots, but it is to ward off looting,” he said.

Jerry T. Yaokasin, the vice mayor, said in an interview that Filipino soldiers and police officers might be stretched too thin to provide security in Tacloban even as they try to reach other coastal communities to assess damage. He suggested that foreign forces might be needed for work like providing security for gas stations to reopen.

“If the United States will come in, if it will be allowed to come, or if the United Nations can come in, it will really help us secure the city,” he said.

An official in Washington said it was unlikely that the American military would be used in this way. “It’s really a host government issue — they need to tackle this,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

With service stations closed, gasoline and diesel fuel, at any price, have almost completely disappeared, immobilizing aid vehicles and private cars alike. Scavengers have already siphoned fuel from the large numbers of vehicles crushed, overturned or abandoned.

The typhoon did not just destroy the electricity grid here. The storm surge, when the sea level rose by as much as 13 feet in minutes, disabled most of the city’s generators, Mr. Yaokasin said, and the lack of fuel has limited operations for the remaining units.

With food stripped from the shelves of many grocery stores, surviving store owners are refusing to bring in new supplies and reopen their stores, Mr. Yaokasin said.

“The police visibility has to be there to the point that businesses feel the security to open their businesses,” he said.

The death toll remained a mystery. The Philippine government put the official toll at 2,275 as of Wednesday. Few deaths have been confirmed in Tacloban because officials say they are counting only bodies that they have collected or formally recorded.

But Mr. Yaokasin said the leader of a single neighborhood of 4,000 had notified him that a quarter of the residents had died.

Jennifer Cicco, the Philippines Red Cross administrator for Leyte Island, said thousands of people were missing and were presumed to have been swept out to sea. Arié Lévy, the president of Rescuers Without Borders, a French nonprofit group, said he had visited a village a mile beyond Tacloban on Wednesday morning and estimated that he saw a thousand bodies
.

More: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/14/world/asia/aid-groups-in-philippines-fear-more-devastation-has-yet-to-be-revealed.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0

Rajnath Singh criticises Congress for rising poverty, unemployment

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh criticised the Congress party on Wednesday for the unprecedented growth in the level of poverty and unemployment.

Addressing a rally in Madhya Pradesh's Khandwa District, Singh said: "The ruling Congress government and the family within the Congress party, which has remained in power for long, is the main reason behind the rising poverty and unemployment, and there is no other reason."

"When you are aware of the fact that poverty and unemployment is due to Congress then why not make India a Congress-free nation so that it becomes a great nation," he added.

Assembly polls for five states -- Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and New Delhi -- are being held from November 11 to December 4, and are being seen as a warm-up for next year's general elections.

The Bharatiya Janata Party is trying to unseat the ruling Congress party, which has been weakened by a string of corruption scandals, high inflation and stuttering growth after nine years in power.

However, it is counting on its record of support for the rural population, which makes up two-thirds of India's population.

Critics see prime ministerial candidate of BJP, Narendra Modi, as a dangerous right-wing autocrat they say failed to stop deadly religious riots in the state he governs, Gujarat, in 2002. But his growing fan base sees an incorruptible leader capable of turning the economy around and making India a global super power.

Modi denies any wrong during the riots that killed at least 1,000, mostly Muslim, people. A Supreme Court investigation failed to find evidence that he had fanned the violence.

Rajnath Singh also criticised Congress party for instilling fear of BJP among the Muslims.

"Congress has tried to instil fear of Bharatiya Janata Party among the Muslims but I would like to assure you that we do not want to win your votes through fear but by winning your love and trust," he added.

During the rally, Singh also lashed out at the central government for allowing Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs, to interact with Kashmiri separatist leaders in New Delhi

"In the wake of recent incidents of ceasefire violations, India has allowed the foreign advisor of Pakistan to interact with separatist leaders. The government is unable to understand the international diplomatic measures," added Singh

Aziz met the Kashmiri separatist leaders on November 10, and had said that he hoped for peace along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

More: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-rajnath-singh-criticises-congress-for-rising-poverty-unemployment-1918899

Now, a rape case against BSP MP who was arrested in maid murder case

There is no end to the troubles for BSP MP Dhananjay Singh. A 42-year-old married woman has now alleged that the MP raped her and has filed a case against him.

The MP from UP's Jaunpur is already in police custody in the case of the murder of his domestic help. A Delhi court had on Monday remanded Dhananjay Singh and his wife Dr Jagriti Singh in four days judicial custody in connection with the murder of their domestic help.

Dhananjay has also filed for bail and arguments on bail matter is posted for November 15. The two were arrested last week in connection with the assault and murder of their 35-year-old domestic help Rakhi Bhadra. Jagriti has been charged with the murder of her domestic help while her husband Dhananjay has been charged with abetment to murder and destruction of evidence.


A 42-year-old married woman has now alleged that the MP raped her and has filed a case against him.

The domestic help Rakhi was found dead under mysterious circumstances at Dhananjay Singh's residence in New Delhi on November 5.

More: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/now-a-rape-case-against-bsp-mp-who-was-arrested-in-maid-murder-case/434040-37-64.html

Terrorism is Congress's gift to Punjab: Parkash Singh Badal

Referring to a book by a former DGP, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday claimed the Congress was responsible for fuelling terrorism in the state.

Speaking to reporters after inaugurating a sub-divisional administrative complex here, Badal said, "We have been saying from the beginning and will tell again that Congress is responsible for the terrorism in Punjab.

This is Congress' gift to Punjab indeed." Badal said this in reference to a book written by former state DGP Kirpal Dhillon, in which he has accused former President Giani Zail Singh and former Union Ministers Buta Singh and Arjun Singh of being responsible for terrorism in Punjab.


Terrorism is Congress's gift to Punjab: Parkash Singh Badal

Badal blamed the Congress for disturbing the environment by saddling the state with terrorism, and said his party had a policy for spreading peace and brotherhood.

More: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/terrorism-is-congresss-gift-to-punjab-parkash-singh-badal/434048-3-241.html

Narendra Modi to sway Chhattisgarh with five rallies in six hours

In a bid to rake up support for his party and incumbent Chief Minister Raman Singh, BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will arrive in poll-bound Chhattisgarh on Thursday to address five election rallies.

According to reports, the Gujarat Chief Minister will address the first rally in Bemetara at Bosco Basic School Ground around 11.15 am, from there he will rush to Kawardha where he will address a rally at the Sardar Patel Ground scheduled around 12.40 pm.

The BJP leader will be then taken to Khelmala Ground in Kurud where he will address the third election rally around 2.25 pm. Modi will then proceed to Durg to address the crowd waiting for him at Ravishankar Stadium around 3.50 pm.

Modi will address his last rally of the day in Raipur at the Open Stadium near Budha Talab around 5.15 pm.

Modi's visit to the state comes after party workers demanded to extend his campaign in the states having elections.

After the peaceful completion of the first-phase of polls on November 11, voting for the second phase will be held on November 19.

More: http://zeenews.india.com/news/chhattisgarh/narendra-modi-to-sway-chhattisgarh-with-five-rallies-in-six-hours_889765.html

'Ram-leela': Delhi court recalls order on film

A Delhi court Wednesday recalled its order restraining Bollywood director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and EROS International Media Limited from using the title ‘Ram-Leela’ for their yet-to-be-released film starring Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone.

The movie is scheduled to be released Nov 15.

Additional District Judge A.S. Jayachandra recalled Tuesday`s order saying he committed a mistake by passing the decision as he was not informed by the counsel for plaintiffs that the Delhi High Court has already refused to ban the release of the movie.

Advocate Amit Sibal, appearing for Eros International Media Ltd, placed before the court the high court order which had earlier refused to ban the movie and imposed a cost of Rs.50,000 on an NGO which had moved the plea against the film.

Sibal also showed the judge the full title of the movie "Ram-leela: Goliyon Ki Rasleela".

The court`s order Tuesday came on a suit filed by six petitioners, including Prabhu Samaj Dharmik Ram Leela Committee, saying the movie hurt religious sentiments of Hindus as it contains sex, violence and vulgarity.

The plea said the word ‘Ram Leela’ is associated with Lord Rama and people will watch this movie with an expectation that it would be related to his life but the film will hurt their sentiments.

It also said the name of the movie should be changed as it has nothing to do with mythology and that it was misleading.

The title ‘Ram-Leela’, understood by Hindus as an enactment of the life and story of Lord Rama, was nowhere doing the same. On the contrary, the film was portraying sex, violence and vulgarity, which was deeply hurting religious sentiments and feelings of Hindus, the petitioners said.

More: http://zeenews.india.com/entertainment/movies/ram-leela-delhi-court-recalls-order-on-film_146337.html

After Modi, Mulayam blames Congress for Partition

Two days after BJP's prime ministerial candidate candidate Narendra Modi blamed the Congress for Partition, changing geography and twisting history, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Mulayam Singh Yadav, too, blamed Congress for the Partition.

Mulayam was addressing party workers at SP office in Lucknow on Tuesday.

Modi had targeted the Congress on the same issue after inaugurating a hospital in Gujarat on Sunday. "Who is responsible for the Partition of the country? Had Congress accepted Jinnah's demand for nominating a Muslim minister from his quota in the government in 1937, the country would not have witnessed Partition," Mulayam said.

"There were five Muslim ministers but Jinnah's candidate was not included. He felt that when Congress is ditching him now, there will be no scope later in the Hindu dominated country. He thus raised the demand for Pakistan," Mulayam said.

"If India had not witnessed Partition, it would have been the most powerful country in the world. People would have been living in harmony," he added.

Mulayam, while exhorting his party workers to take the coming Lok Sabha polls seriously, said: "We are in a better position. There is no challenge from Modi who is present only in Gujarat. Congress is weak in Gujarat and is not able to face Modi in the state, leave aside the whole country." Mulayam also stated that only SP can challenge Modi. "Modi is nowhere, we have 80 seats in UP and can win double the seats in Gujarat," he said.

Mulayam also clarified the stand of SP on several issues while offering tips to party workers.

"We had opposed reservation in promotion as the result would have been catastrophic. Only one community would have bagged all important posts. When we could not prevent it by numbers, we snatched the bill and tore it. You all must have seen it on TV. Publicise this in your area," he said.

Mulayam also explained he is not against women's reservation bill but it should be made mandatory for political parties. "If my constituency is reserved for women, my political career would be finished. Congress president is a woman and she can contest from any seat," he said.

Mulayam also said that he, along with Janata Dal (united) president Sharad Yadav, had met PM Manmohan Singh over a bill, which will be introduced in the coming session of Parliament. "We had reservations over some portions and the PM has assured us to reconsider," he said. It is believed Mulayam had taken up the communal violence bill before the PM.

Mulayam also focussed on Muslims who were also present during the informal meeting at party office. "I had not saved the (Babri) mosque in 1990, but had saved the country. I had asked Akhilesh Yadav to post Muslim constables in every police station to ensure the community is not targeted during riots. There is a big conspiracy going on against us," he said.

Rupee around 63/dollar after RBI chief Rajan's comments

The rupee gained past 63/dollar on Thursday after comments from the Reserve Bank of India chief about dollar demand from oil companies being smoothly absorbed by the forex market and easing fears of near-term tapering by the U.S. Federal Reserve helped the currency.

The rupee rose to 62.9525 to a dollar versus its Wednesday close of 63.30/31. It was last trading at 63.01/02.

Fed Chairman-elect Janet Yellen, in remarks prepared for her nomination hearing before the Senate Banking Committee later on Thursday, said the U.S. jobless rate was still too high and both the labour market and economy were performing "far short" of potential.

More:http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/11/14/markets-india-rupee-idINDEE9AD01V20131114

Sachin Tendulkar’s 200th Test Live Score: India vs West Indies, Day 1

WEST INDIES OVERS: 6 II SCORE: 25/1

OUT! India have an early wicket in dangerman Chris Gayle. Shami gives them their first wicket of the match as Gayle tentatively pushes a length delivery to Rohit Sharma at point pouching it safely. Gayle scored 11 (17b, 4X1). Three runs and a wicket from the over.
====================================================================================

WEST INDIES OVERS: 5 II SCORE: 22/0

Bhuvi continues. His third delivery is full and Powell drives it through mid off for the first boundary of the match. That is the only scoring shot he can manage off Bhuvi’s six deliveries. Gayle chooses Shami’s third delivery of the fourth over to score his first boundary through extra cover. A single off the penultimate delivery follows. There was an lbw shout off the first delivery of the over though. However, it was turned down as the ball contacted the edge of Gayle’s bat before hitting the pad. The fifth over also began with a loud shout for lbw against Gayle but the ball hit him high on the pad. 4 leg byes followed. Eight runs from the over.
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WEST INDIES OVERS: 2 II SCORE: 5/0

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has the new ball. Facing him is Chris Gayle who is playing his 99th Test today. An inswinger to start with and what do you know! The ball is collected by Tendulkar at midwicket as Gayle flicks. He gets off the mark with a single. Now on strike is Powell. He plays his first through square region and gets off the mark with a couple. The next three result in no runs. Three runs from the first over. Mohd Shami to share the new ball. And the youngster is bang on the target. A full delivery that moves away from Gayle as he gets beaten. Gayle gets to the other end with a single off the second to point. Powell scamper for a single off the penultimate delivery while Gayle leaves the sixth safely for the keeper.
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Team India, led by their skipper MS Dhoni is in the field. A countdown on the big screen has begun before Sachin Tendulkar enters the park. A team huddle follows as the master finally makes appearance. This is an emotional moment for the team, the fans and cricket lovers in general. Dhoni asks Tendulkar to lead the team after a brief pep up talk. The crowd roars in approval. 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 and the big screen flashes SRT 200! Tendulkar puts on his shades. West Indies openers Chris Gayle and Kieran Powell are in the middle. A moment of a lifetime this!

TOSS: India have won the toss and opted to field first. A special coin to mark the occasion of Sachin Tendulkar playing his 200th Test was used for the toss presented to match referee Andy Pycroft by BCCI president N Srinivasan.

This is it!

Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seat belts. Gather friends, family members, office mates and neighbours because the greatest batsman of our generation is set to begin the final lap of his glittering career. Today marks the beginning of Sachin Tendulkar’s 200th and final Test match for India. Such is the importance of the occasion that the real contest between bat and ball between India and West Indies has been effectively and swiftly pushed to the background.

At Wankhede stadium, for the next five days, a full house Mumbai crowd will greet its greatest son who over the past 24 years has hypnotised cricket fans over the globe with his breathtaking batsmanship. When a cherubic faced Tendulkar made his debut in international cricket, he was already considered a prodigy.

However, few would have predicted that this batsman will become such a colossus of the gentleman’s game.

Stay with us as we bring you all the live updates from Tendulkar’s final game for India.

More: http://zeenews.india.com/sports/cricket/india-vs-west-indies-2013/sachin-tendulkars-200th-test-live-score-india-vs-west-indies-day-1_773087.html

Karnataka: Bus catches fire on NH4, 7 killed

Police said the seriously injured passengers were admitted to hospital in Hubli, and those with minor injuries are being treated at Haveri district hospital.

Seven people have died and three others have suffered injuries after a bus enroute to Mumbai from Bangalore caught fire in Haveri in Karnataka.

"The mishap took place around 2.45 a.m. when the luxury bus of Volvo make from Bangalore to Mumbai hit the railing of a bridge on National Highway 4 (NH 4) at high speed and caught fire as its fuel tanker beneath burst," Haveri Superintendent of Police M. Shashi Kumar said.

"We are yet to identify the gender of the victims as their bodies are fully burnt. Six of the injured have been rushed to a state-run hospital at Hubli, around 50km from Haveri, as their condition is critical due to severe burns," Kumar said.

The Volvo bus had 52 people on board.

A toddler is amongst those who have been killed.

Though most of the passengers were asleep when the fire broke out and the flames started leaping up from beneath, all the survivors managed to escape by breaking the emergency exit window and jumping from the burning bus.

The injured have been taken to the hospital. The bus had hit a bridge and caught fire as it continued to travel.

Police said the seriously injured passengers were admitted to hospital in Hubli, and those with minor injuries are being treated at Haveri district hospital.

Most of the people jumped out of the bus after they saw that it was on fire.

The bus, which is a volvo has a private operator. It was on National Highway 4, when the incident took place.

The accident is a grim reminder of another incident when 45 passengers perished in a similar bus fire at Mahabubnagar in Andhra Pradesh in a private-run luxury bus of Volvo make Oct 30.

State transport minister Ramalinga Reddy rushed to the spot from here to inspect the accident and supervise the rescue and relief operations.

"Over speeding appears to be the cause of the accident, as in the previous incident. We are ordering a probe to ascertain the reason though the driver could be at fault to drive so recklessly," Reddy told reporters here.

More: http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report-karnataka-bus-catches-fire-on-nh4-7-killed-1918902