Sivakasi fire

Sivakasi fire PM expresses shock announces Rs2 lakh compensation

Sivakasi,

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday expressed deep shock over the Sivakasi firecracker tragedy in Tamil Nadu and condoled the deaths in the accident.

"The prime minister has expressed deep shock over the Sivakasi fireworks tragedy in which many lives were lost in Tamil Nadu this (Wednesday) morning," said a release from prime minister's office.

Manmohan Singh said he stood with the people of Tamil Nadu in the hour of grief and conveyed his "heartfelt condolences" to the members of the bereaved families.

The prime minister also announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs2 lakh to the next of kin of each of the deceased and Rs50,000 to those seriously injured in the fire.

At least 30 people were killed and more than 50 injured on Wednesday when an explosion tore through a fireworks factory in Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu, triggering a major fire.

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LABOURERS

Seven Nepalese killed

Dehradun, Seven labourers from Nepal were killed when a huge rock rolled down a hill and fell on them in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district, officials said today. The incident happened yesterday when construction work of a road was in progress in Pagua area near the India-China border, they said.

The dead were identified as Shamu Ram, Bishan Ram,Mohan Ram, Jukur Ram, Santosh Ram, Ramu Ram and Virendra Ram.

All of them were aged between 30 and 40 years, theofficials said. 

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FRANCE-INDIA

Diplomatic bag found in French Alps handed over to India

           

Paris, A 46-year-old diplomatic bag, found on Mont Blanc in the French Alps last month, was handed over to India by France but the contents were not immediately known.

           

The jute bag, stamped "Diplomatic mail" and "Ministry of External Affairs", was recovered by a mountain rescue worker on August 21 on Mont Blanc close to where an Air India plane flying from Mumbai to New York crashed in January 1966 killing all 117 on board, including top nuclear scientist Homi J Bhabha.

Satwant Khanalia, an official with India's Embassy in Paris, took possession of the bag from the authorities at Chamonix town in the mountain base, embassy sources told. Bhabha is known as the "father" of Indian nuclear programme.

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D.O. letter dated 3.9.2012

Text of the D.O. letter dated 3.9.2012 addressed by Selvi J Jayalalithaa, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu to Dr. Manmohan Singh, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India is reproduced below:-

“It has been brought to my notice that the Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) has introduced user charges for various medical investigations and procedures. This will badly affect poor patients not only from Puducherry but also from the neighbouring districts of our State, namely, Cuddalore, Villupuram and Tiruvannamalai, who have been availing of health care services free of cost in this institution. 

In this context, I wish to place on record that the AIADMK had vehemently opposed the Bill to convert JIPMER into an autonomous institution in Parliament, even at the introduction stage in 2008. Overruling our strident objections, the Bill had been passed with an assurance that the existing free services to the public would be continued without any change.   Introduction of user charges for routine investigations and medical procedure amounts to reneging on the solemn assurance given in  Parliament.

So as to ensure that the people of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry are not adversely affected, I request you to instruct JIPMER to revisit the decision to introduce the new user charges and revert to the earlier practice of offering free services to the public as assured in 2008.”

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cocaine worth Rs 15 cr

Canadian national arrested with cocaine worth Rs 15 cr

Jalandhar, Police have arrested a Canadian national and seized 1.5 kg cocaine, worth Rs 15 crore in the international market, from his possession. "John Mensah was arrested from Kartarpur area of the district last night, following a tip off about the delivery of the contraband here," SSP Jalandhar (Rural) Yurinder Singh Hayer told media persons today.

However, Mensah's accomplice Satnam Singh alias 'Satoo', a Canada based Non-Resident Indian, managed to escape, he added. A Canadian passport and a car were also recovered from Mensah's possession. Mensah told the police team that he was on way to deliver the consignment to Satnam in Kala Bakra village when he was arrested at Kartarpur.

Mensah and Satnam have been booked under the NDPS Act, the police official said adding, the matter if being further probed.

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Policeman killed by colleague

Policeman killed by colleague

Guwahati, An Assam police personnel was allegedly killed by a colleague in Kokrajhar district following a tiff, police said today. The Assam Police Task Force personnel died on the spot when his colleague fired from his service revolver at the Serfanguri police camp late last night.

The slain policeman has been identified as Sukomal Rai, while his colleague Surendra Rai was arrested, the police said. The cause of the killing is yet to be ascertained, police said.

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welcome more Tamil

Sri Lanka ready to welcome more Tamil refugees from India

Colombo, Sri Lanka will welcome more Tamil refugees who fled the country to India and want to return home after nearly three decades of war with the LTTE, a top minister has said. "They have been returning from time to time, in small groups. My ministry along with the defence ministry would jointly welcome them if more want to return. They could be resettled in their places of origin," resettlement minister Gunaratne Weerakoon told.

According to statistics more than 100,000 Sri Lankan refugees are in Tamil Nadu, out of which some 68,000 are housed in 112 government-run camps. More than 5,000 Lankans have returned to the island nation under a UNHCR-facilitated voluntary repatriation scheme. They are the Tamils who fled fighting in the north and east during the separatist military campaign of LTTE. 

Since the war ended in 2009, normalcy is returning gradually to the former conflict zones in Sri Lanka. A large number of the nation's Tamils fled overseas, mostly to Western nations and India, in the wake of the conflict between the government and LTTE in the mid-1980s. The Sri Lankan army defeated LTTE in May 2009 to end the nearly three decades of bloody civil war. 

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