Hyderabad: Though the flood situation in Andhra Pradesh showed marked improvement, the death toll in the deluge on Tuesday shot up to 55 with 17 more fatalities reported from the affected districts overnight.
The situation showed signs of improvement with the state having a clear weather, but reports of flood-related deaths continued to pour in with official toll standing at 55 so far. A population of little over 15.75 lakh continued to reel under the impact of floods that submerged large areas of human habitation and damaged crops in five districts of Kurnool, Mahabubnagar, Krishna, Guntur and Nalgonda. Over 3,59,799 flood victims have taken shelter in 277 relief camps, officials sources said.
The water level in Prakasam Barrage is 21.8 feet where the inflow stood at 10.97 lakh cusecs and outflow 10.8 lakh cusecs, according to the latest official information. The water levels at Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar Dams this afternoon stood at 892.40 feet (Full Reservoir Level 885 feet) and 587.1 feet (Full Reservoir Level 590 feet) respectively and was receding. The outflow was recorded at six lakh cusecs and 6.59 lakh cusecs respectively. The state government has already demanded an interim aid of Rs 6,000 crore from the Centre. UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi had yesterday undertaken an aerial survey of the flood-hit districts to take stock of the situation.
Funds no constraint for flood-hit states: Chidambaram
New Delhi: The Centre assured flood-ravaged Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh that funds will not be a constraint for relief and rehabilitation and asked them to focus on providing succour to the affected people.
Home Minister P Chidambaram, who visited the flood-hit areas of the two southern states, said the state governments may utilise the Calamity Relief Fund (CRF) immediately and once 75 per cent of CRF is exhausted, the states may draw on the National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF).
"Advances from NCCF will be provided. As soon as the state government concerned is ready to receive the Central team, a team will be sent to the state to assess the damage according to well established norm," he said in a statement.
"I wish to assure the state governments that availability of funds will not be a constraint and that they should focus on providing relief to the affected people," he said.
The measures have been taken after consultation with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Chidambaram said further measures would be considered on the return of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee from his trip abroad on Wednesday.
"We have advised these interim measures in order that rescue and relief operations should continue without hindrance," he said.
Chidambaram made an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas along with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi yesterday. "We were deeply moved by the scale of the calamity. The loss of life, property, cattle, and standing crops is enormous. Lakhs of people have been accommodated in camps. Rescue and relief operations are in full swing, and it may take a few more days for the situation to stabilise. There will be more work to be done in the days and weeks ahead," he said.
Karnataka flood toll 192, 2 lakh houses damaged
Bangalore: Having placed a request with the Prime Minister and Home Minister for a grant of Rs 10,000 crore under the National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF) for mitigating the flood damage across 15 districts of north Karnataka, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Monday announced plans for a padyatra across Bangalore to collect funds and relief material.
Yeddyurappa, who reviewed flood damage in Bellary district along with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Home Minister P Chidambaram on Monday, later told reporters that a day-long march to collect relief material and funds would be held on October 7.
In the initial phase of relief work, the Karnataka government would build one lakh homes for the benefit of people left homeless by the unprecedented flood situation in the state, Yeddyurappa said on a day when the rain receded and flood waters further subsided.
The death toll in Karnataka has been put at 192 and as many as 17.8 million people have been affected by the floods, according to the state government. Over two lakh homes have collapsed or have been damaged, according to the state government records.
While agricultural crops in the 15 districts have been completely lost, the road network and electricity lines have been badly damaged. Officials in the northern city of Hubli said the fallout of the floods on the agriculture economy was likely to be witnessed over the coming days.
In a letter to the Prime Minister and Home Minister, Yeddyurappa has put the value of the estimated damage to crops and properties at over Rs 20,000 crore.
Karnataka turns focus on relief operations after floods recede
Bangalore: With the flood situation easing steadily, Karnataka government has now turned its focus on marshalling resources to take up relief and rehabilitation operations in the rain-ravaged northern and coastal regions.
Based on initial reports, the state has estimated that the loss caused by the floods to roads, bridges, culverts, houses, village and infrastructure and standing crops in 25 lakh hectares area amounted to Rs 16,500 crore.
Around 2.5 lakh houses have either collapsed or damaged by the torrential rains with as many as 1.8 crore people affected. The death toll as of Monday was 194.
There is let up in the rains in the past two days, giving some respite to the flood victims.
"Karnataka is reeling under unprecedented floods caused by heavy rains", Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, who has camped in affected areas and been conducting aerial and overseeing rescue and relief works, said.
"This century's most severe rain has wreaked havoc in 18 districts and has jeopardised the life of the people", he said, adding "the rain has damaged property worth Rs 20,000 crore".
The state has submitted a memorandum to Home Minister P Chidambaram, who conducted an aerial survey of the floot-hit areas along with UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, seeking Rs 16,500 crore for relief and rehabilitation works.
The state government has set up more than 1,200 rehabilitation centres and over 3.5 lakh rain and flood affected people are being provided food and temporary shelter.
The immediate task before the government is to reconstruct roads, supply drinking water, restore houses and power supply, provide health care and contain the spread of epidemic diseases in the affected areas, officials said. The government has appealed to the people, voluntary organisations, corporate bodies, and philanthropists to donate liberally for the "noble cause of wiping tears of the flood victims".
Army capable of countering Chinese military threat: Kapoor
NEW DELHI: Rubbishing the chances of a repeat of the 1962 Sino-Indian war which China won, Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor on Tuesday said the Army was "capable of defending" Indian territory and ward off any aggression.
"The Indian Army is capable of looking after and ensuring the defence of the country. It would take care of any aggression against Indian territory," General Kapoor said.
"The charter of the Army is to defend Indian territory at all costs. This talk of repeat of 1962 is totally incorrect and uncalled for," he said.
Stating that "offensive action" could not be part of any credible defensive posture, the Army chief added that his force was "sincere to ensure the defence of our country to the last drop of our blood."
The Army, Kapoor said, had the requisite capability to defend the Indian territory even if it means deployment of force multipliers. Strengthening and modernisation of the forces was a dynamic process, he added.
"It is an ongoing process and modernisation of the Army is going on. The Chinese too are modernising People's Liberation Army. We need to build our capabilities to be able to meet the challenges whenever it appears," he told Times Now.
On the incursions by Chinese military personnel on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between the two countries, Kapoor said the transgressions by the PLA continued to be at the same level as last year.
"In 2009, so far, the number of transgressions have been almost exactly at the same level as during the corresponding period in 2008," he said.
Claiming that the Chinese military incursions were not under political orders from Beijing, Kapoor said: "There is no provocation (through incursions) per se. There is nothing to be alarmed about it."
The Army Chief said the Chinese have mentioned during Border Personnel Meeting about Indian Army patrols entering their side of the LAC. "Similar charges are made against our patrols," he said.
Blaming the non-demarcation of the LAC as a reason for differing perceptions on both sides, Kapoor said these kind of complaints would keep cropping up time and again till the time the demarcation took place.
Admitting that Indian Army patrols too went into areas perceived to be within their side of the LAC, he said the personnel do leave behind signs of their presence there, such as used food cans and water bottles.
"Obviously, our Army patrols do not carry back the used food cans and water bottles. They are left behind," he added.
On the reports of PLA helicopter dropping food cans in Ladakh in June this year, the Army chief said the Chinese claimed the helicopter was flying within their side of the LAC.
Kapoor said apart from raising the transgressions at Border Personnel Meetings, the Army also took up these issues up through the diplomatic channels.
Talking about China's space capabilities, the Army Chief said India too needed to improve its use of space for military applications "to defend ourselves and to our advantage."
Favouring a dedicated military satellite for Indian armed forces, Kapoor said it would not be wise to use foreign nation's satellites, as there were chances for error.
"When we use others' satellites, then the data could be slightly displaced. If it is our own satellite, we are sure the dimensions are correct," he said.
"We do not have (a dedicated military satellite). But we need to look at space and therefore we need to develop our equipment," he added.
Air India mid-air brawl: Pilot, flight purser suspended
NEW DELHI: State-run Air India on Tuesday suspended a pilot and a flight purser who were involved in a midair scuffle on Saturday aboard an international flight from Sharjah to Delhi, and put off duty the co-pilot and air hostess concerned.
"Yes, we have suspended the pilot and the flight purser and derostered the co-pilot and the air hostess concerned," a spokesperson of the airline said on Tuesday, adding an internal inquiry into the incident was still on.
The incident took place aboard the IC-884 flight that was also reportedly left unmanned during the mid-air scuffle that broke out between the pilots and cabin crew Saturday. But Air India Monday denied the flight remained unmanned during the scuffle.
The four were identified as Ranbir Arora, commander, Aditya Chopra, co-pilot, Amit Khanna, flight purser and air hostess Komal Singh.
The state-run airline grounded the pilots and the cabin crew, who were involved in the incident, after the Delhi Police registered a case of molestation against the pilots on a complaint by the air hostess.
The president of the Indian Commercial Pilot's Association (ICPA) Shailendra Singh spoke in favour of the pilots and said they were not at fault, and no person can barge into the cockpit and pick up a fight with the pilots.
"I have spoken to the pilot and the co-pilot. They had maintained there cool. There is a certain hierarchy in the cockpit that has to be followed," Singh told reporters here soon after the airline announced its action against the crew members.
The National Commission for Women has also formed a panel to probe the charges of assault levelled by the Air India air hostess against the two pilots after she filed a formal complaint on Monday.
"She came here and sat with me for six hours. She has filed a complaint with me. We have written to Air India to inquire into the matter and also informed them about the Supreme Court guidelines on sexual harassment at the workplace," commission chairperson Girija Vyas said.
The incident is understood to have originated in some verbal exchanges between the two sides during the pre-flight briefing session ahead of takeoff from Sharjah, the police said.
The Airbus A-320 from Sharjah was carrying 106 passengers and seven crew and had reached Lucknow when the matter was reported.
The case was registered here under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 354 (assault or use of criminal force against a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
Maoists behead cop kidnapped to secure Ghandy’s release
Ranchi: Maoists beheaded Jharkhand police inspector Francis Induwar who had been kidnapped by the ultras a week back reportedly demanding release of three arrested Naxalites including Kobad Ghandy in exchange for the officer, an act termed as unacceptable by the Centre on Tuesday.
The body along with the severed head of 37-year-old Induwar, who worked in intelligence wing of the state police, was found near Raisha Ghati under Namkom police station area, about 12 km from here, Superintendent of Police (Ranchi Rural), Hemant Toppo, said.
Induwar, who is survived by his wife and three sons, had been kidnapped on September 30 by the Maoists from Hembrom Bazaar in Khunti district, about 70 km from here. The Maoists later reportedly demanded release of three rebels - Ghandy, Chhatardhar Mahato and Bhushan Yadav - in exchange for the officer.
The demand was said to have been conveyed to the authorities by outfit's South Chhotanagpur Committee Secretary Samarji by a telephone call to a local newspaper.
In Delhi, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said that there had been no demand from the Maoists for any swap of the arrested Naxalites but termed the beheading as not acceptable.
"The cold blooded murder is simply not acceptable. I condemn it," he said.
Ranchi Senior Superintendent of Police, Praveen Kumar also denied any communication from the Maoists for the release of the officer of the Special Branch of Jharkhand police.
"The act was perpetrated out of sheer frustration following the arrests of several Maoists, including their central leaders," he said.
Indian Business News
Oil regulator Sibal fears for life from ADAG
New Delhi: Under attack for alleged favours granted to Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, oil regulator V K Sibal sought protection from the Government fearing a threat to his life from Anil Ambani group -- a charge denied by ADAG.
"I fear a threat to my life," Sibal wrote to home and petroleum ministries on a day when ADAG filed an application in Supreme Court alleging nexus between him and RIL and that this led to the regulator approving the increased capital expenditure in the Mukesh-led firm operated KG-D6 fields.
Incidentally, Central Vigilance Commission has asked CBI to probe the allegations of personal favours received by Sibal from RIL in lieu of approving the company's capex for KG-D6.
When contacted, an ADAG spokesperson said: "We have already approached Supreme Court on the role played by Sibal in favouring RIL."
Alleging a ‘witch-hunt’ by ADAG, Sibal wrote: "ADAG is a corporate giant with unlimited resources. It is clear from the recent actions of this group that they are bent upon damaging my professional and personal life... in view of this I will not be surprised if ADAG resorts to violent means to achieve their objective. Therefore, I perceive a threat to my family members and myself."
When contacted, Sibal confirmed writing the letters.
"ADAG has orchestrated a sustained campaign to malign me by alleging that I and my family members availed favours from RIL... ADAG has followed the sustained campaign by filing a petition in the Supreme Court," Sibal wrote.
FIIs sell shares worth Rs 156.97 crore
MUMBAI: Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) on Tuesday pulled out a net Rs 156.97 crore from the Indian stock markets.
Overseas investors were the gross buyer of shares worth Rs 4,060.84 crore, whereas they sold stocks worth Rs 4,217.81 crore, resulting in a net sell of Rs 156.97 crore, provisional data with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) shows.
Domestic institutional investors also booked profit and sold equities worth Rs 767.57 crore.
Yesterday, FIIs were net seller of shares worth Rs 237.50 crore, as per the data with market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
However, proprietors and brokers, on the behalf of their clients, were optimistic and in total made a net investment of Rs 208.21 crore, according to the BSE data.
Non-resident Indians followed FIIs and sold equities worth Rs 1.15 crore.
Toyota recalls 3.8 mn vehicles in US
New York: In its largest 'safety recall' in the United States, Toyota Motor Corp. has asked 3.8 million vehicle owners of seven popular models to remove the floor mat of their car that could jam the accelerator pedal and cause a crash.
The world's number one automaker informed the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that it will write to owners of the vehicles asking them to remove the floor mat while it works on a countermeasure.
The safety recalls concerns the Camry sedan, the top-selling passenger car in the United States, as well as the Pirus hybrid car, Lexus ES350, IS250 and IS350 luxury sedans.
The safety recall may deal a blow to the Japanese auto giant, Kyodo news agency quoted industry sources as saying.
The NHTSA said it has received reports of 100 related incidents, including 17 crashes and five fatalities involving Toyota vehicles.
In an earlier advisory, the NHTSA had urged owners to "make sure the driver-side floor mat is properly secured to the retention hooks on the floorboard."
Indian Sports News|Sports News
Pak team faces match fixing allegations at home
Karachi: Match-fixing has returned to haunt Pakistan cricket with the parliamentary committee on sports summoning PCB chief Ejaz Butt, captain Younus Khan and coach Intikhab Alam to seek explanation for the team's Champions Trophy loss to Australia after allegations of deliberate underperformance.
A senior parliamentarian, who heads the national assembly standing committee on sports, has accused the team of deliberately losing to Australia in the Champions Trophy in a group match.
Jamshed Khan Dasti said the standing committee would summon Butt, Younus and Alam shortly to explain the team's performance in the Champions Trophy.
"There is evidence that the team lost the match to Australia on purpose. It underperformed. Then against New Zealand also there are signs the team didn't want to win," Dasti alleged.
"We have been told by some respected and senior people and we are also trying to collect evidence that there might have been some hanky panky in the match against Australia and New Zealand," Dasti claimed.
Pakistan's last-ball defeat to Australia put India out of the Champions Trophy while their defeat to New Zealand in the semifinal came as a surprise to many.
Dasti lashed out at Butt and the team for disappointing the nation. "I can say we lost to Australia on purpose. And the team's performance against New Zealand was zero. We will get to the bottom of this whole affair and find out the truth the nation must know the truth of what happened in South Africa," he said.
Dasti said the standing committee would not allow corruption in cricket. "We want to see changes in the board and Butt must go because as it is he is too old for this job," he added.
SAI cannot be blamed for Usha's ill-treatment: Gill
New Delhi: Sports Minister MS Gill on Tuesday said Sports Authority of India cannot be blamed for the ill-treatment meted out to legendary athlete PT Usha in the 49th National Open Athletics in Bhopal since the event was organised by the Madhya Pradesh state government.
Talking to reporters, Gill wondered why Usha had blamed SAI after she had been offered a shabby accommodation in Bhopal, prompting the red-faced state government to shift her to a hotel.
"I have a special place for PT Usha. What I learn now is that she has come for the national athletics organised by the state government and their minister came on TV to apologise. If there was any drawback, it was on their part for whatever happened last night," Gill said.
"The SAI centre, in any case, offered her accommodation, the best they had to offer, and gave a car to transport her. I'm not clear why she had to suddenly talk of the SAI centre," Gill said.
Usha was offered an accommodation at the SAI hostel in Bhopal which she found sub-standard and the legendary athlete was in tears as she criticised the SAI officials for their apathy.
"The Industry Minister of the state government took her to the hotel and said some mistakes had happened. They were good to apologise. It was surprising that SAI was dragged in the issue," Gill said.
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