NEW DELHI: At least 10 million Indians will lose their jobs by March as the economic slowdown in North America and Europe hits India’s exports, a key exporters’ association predicted Tuesday, according to a report.

The gloomy forecast comes despite two economic stimulus packages unveiled by the Indian government, including one on Friday, to boost growth in Asia’s third-largest economy.

“There will be 10 million job losses by March,” said A. Sakthivel, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), the Press Trust of India news agency reported.

“I can safely say that negative growth trends will continue in December and in the next couple of months… I hope we will end the fiscal year (to March 31) with exports of about 175-180 billion dollars,” said Sakthivel, lower than New Delhi’s target of 200 billion dollars for 2008-2009.

Ajmal was remanded for his involvement in the Cama hospital firing registered in the Azad Maidan police station at south Mumbai.

However, Ajmal, who had no legal representation, was not produced in the court citing security reasons.

“We argued that we (police) have to investigate about the incident at Cama hospital where the firing took place,” Additional Public Prosecutor E B Dhamal said.

Seven persons, including two police personnel, were killed in the shooting at Cama hospital on November 26.

Ajmal is presently in judicial custody in three other cases.

“ Pakistan was whipping up war hysteria, and that the Mumbai attacks must have had support from some official agencies within Pakistan”, Singh told a security conference in New Delhi

“The terrorist attack in Mumbai in November last year was carried out by the Lashkar-e-Taiba.”

Manmohan Singh said foreigners had been targeted in the Mumbai attacks to convey instability in India.

Dr Singh said that most of the terrorists act in connivance with intelligence agencies in neighbouring countries.

While commenting on the challenges faced by India, the Indian Prime Minister said that problems faced by our country are compounded by vulnerable security environment and fragile governments in the neighbouring countries.

He further stressed on the need for a holistic approach to deal with the menace of terrorism.

Underlining the need to review the current security set-up, the Indian Prime Minister called for better co-ordination among various wings of intelligence. A review of the training and equipment for the security forces was also called for, he added.

The PM said infiltration was also taking place from Bangladesh and Nepal though it had not ceased from the Line of Control (LoC).

Manmohan Singh said that India must “implement a policy of zero tolerance” towards terrorism and few countries had suffered from terror attacks in the way that India had.

Stressing that terror should not be conceptualised solely in military terms, the PM stated, “We must ensure the concept of terrorism is delegitimised.”

So far, four militants have been killed in the gunbattle that began on Thursday evening. A junior officer, a jawan and a special police official have also lost their lives in the exchange of fire.

Security forces have reportedly closed in on the building where around ten Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar militants are holed-up. There is exchange of heavy gun fire, with the militants hurling grenades, pika and firing from assault rifles, making it tough for the security personnel to overpower them.

Also among the militants are LeT commander Abu Omar and Jaish-e-Muhammed local commander Abu Dawood. 

During the gunbattle, which resumed this morning, huge smoke was seen billowing from in and around the caves in which militants have taken shelter, after rockets and mortars were fired, the sources said, adding that two jawans received minor splinter injuries in the operation.

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Farmers across 10 VRCs of Assam interacted with agricultural experts who were stationed at NESAC during the ‘Farmers Virtual Congress’ as part of the 96th Indian Science Congress at Shillong on Monday (January 5).

NESAC Director P P Nageswara Rao said the VRC would serve as single window access to information for farmers across the region with respect to various problems faced by them during cultivation, marketing, health and weather dynamics.
 
He said, “Normally it is not possible for the farmers to interact with a galaxy of experts. The VRC network would serve this purpose.”
 
Once the system comes up, the farmers of the region would sit with a interpreter in front of a computer set in the VRC and would seek advise from the experts sited at the base in any part of the country.

The NESAC has collaborated with the Assam Agricultural University, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Guwahati Medical College and other institutes to fructify the advisory system.
 
The ISRO has funded the entire hardware, transponder time and bandwidth in the VRCs, while the local collaborators in each state like Assam Branch of Indian Tea Association (ABITA) in Assam would bear other costs like sponsoring a local coordinator.
 
Of the 34 VRC set up so far, 16 are in Sikkim, 8 in Nagaland and 10 across Assam. The VRC are likely to be functional by June next year, and NESAC proposes to hold one interaction with the farmers of the NE states once a week.

The agro-meteorology advisory services would be provided by the NESAC itself.

(With inputs from Agencies)

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Keen on securing a consensus on the Bill, Natchiappan said the Committee would visit some more states to hold wider consultations with political parties on the issue.

“The government wants to see that a consensus is arrived at so that the Bill is passed in Parliament and for that we are working,” Natchiappan said.
    
The Bill has remained stalled due to the insistence by some parties on a “quota within quota” and the Committee was hopeful of arriving at a consensus on the issue which has been eluding for over a decade.
 
To break the deadlock over the contentious Bill in its present form, which was opposed by the some parties like Samajwadi Party, the Committee has suggested that it should be left to the state legislatures to propose adequate representation in assembly and Lok Sabha for women and OBCs.
    
The reason behind the “compromise formula” was that state legislatures are better placed to decide the extent of representation in elected posts for women and OBCs.
    
Samajwadi Party, the ally of the ruling UPA coalition at the Centre, had made it clear that it was against any haste on the measure.
    
However, the main opposition BJP said it would support the Bill in its present form and asked the UPA government to clear it.
    
RJD, another key UPA ally, is also opposed to the Bill in its present form.

(With inputs from Agencies)

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The over Rs 720 crore world class project in Kerala’s north Malabar coastline is unique in many ways as it is surrounded by picturesque seven KM stretch of beach as well as part of the serene backwaters and by seven hills.

The institution is now all set to commence various basic training programmes, including four-year B.Tech in Electronics and Communications, and Mechanical Engineering in June for all newly inducted trainee officers.

The courses, recognised by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) have been structured with the help of Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Many friendly foreign naval powers including Japan and Korea have evinced interest to join the training programmes at Ezhimala. The Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta had recently said that the Navy would accommodate foreign cadets within four years when things get stabilise in the new Academy.

The academic curriculum is tailored to keep pace with the technological advancement. The academy will also condition the young aspirants with mental and physical attributes enabling them to exercise self-discipline, perform efficiently under stress, think and react quickly and develop leadership qualities.

“The opening of this world-class academy would be a major landmark in India’s naval history as well as the people of Kerala,” Southern Naval Command Vice Admiral Sunil K Damle, who oversees the project implementation, said.

“Such a centre of academic excellence is sure to become the envy of Asia and source of immense pride for the State providing tremendous employment opportunities for the local population,” Damle said.

Set up at the foot of seven hills of which 260 metre high Mount Dilli is the tallest, the sprawling academy is spread over an area of 2,452 acres with perimeter of 22 KM of which seven KM stretch is beach.

The serene Kavvayi backwaters forms part of the academy which also has large forest area with a variety of flora and fauna.

Ezhimala, the place where the academy is located, derived its name from the Malayalam word ‘Ezhu Mala’ which means seven hills.

The Union government approved the Navy’s proposal to locate the academy at Ezhimala in 1982 following which Kerala came forward to provide the proposed 2,500 acres land and basic infrastructure for area development free of cost.

The foundation stone for the Academy was laid by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on January 17, 1987.

With the cabinet approving the project in March 1995 to be executed in eight years, the actual works began in January 1998 putting an end to the uncertainties and litigations connected with the land acquisition that stalled the works for a while.

The Academy proposes to provide University education to its young officers in a military environment in view of the growing complexity of Navy’s various responsibilities.

The subjects are categorised broadly into Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Meteorology, Oceanography and computers. Naval subjects are also covered during the training period.

Besides, the ongoing short term naval orientation courses for trainee cadets will continue with the academy completing seven passing out parades after the INS Zamorin, the base depot ship for the Ezhimala Naval Academy got commissioned in April, 2005.

INS Zamorin derives its name from Zamorins of Kozhikode (Calicut) — the dynasty which ruled Kerala’s Malabar region between the 13th and 18th century.

In addition to this, the academy is according highest priority to practical and hands-on training in Seamanship, Navigation, Watermanship or Damage Control and Fire Fighting.

The infrastructure set up in the academy has been mainly grouped into three zones — training, administrative and accommodation zones.

The Academy’s Main Building Complex has the Headquarters wing, Service and Technical Training wings, Laboratories, workshops, a library and a 1,736 seated auditorium. With facilities like schools and a hospitals in it, the Academy will be a self-contained township with all associated facilities after the ongoing works gets completed.

A large number of open spaces have been created to ensure adequate natural lighting and ventilation. Cadets accommodation has been connected to the Mess and infact to the entire training zone through covered links to ensure that training is not affected during the prolonged monsoon in the region.

The Zamorins had a strong fleet of warships, which under the stewardship of the famous Kunjali Marakkar, played a major role in ensuring that the Portuguese did not establish a foothold in Kerala.

(Agencies)

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Already Pakistani hackers are trying out a dry run against Indian networks through popular websites registered there after the Mumbai terror strikes, Home Ministry sources said today (January 6).

“Every time the relations between the two countries dampen, Pakistanis start attacking Indian computer networks and this has increased after the Mumbai terror attacks,” a Home Ministry source said.

Pakistani hackers have created websites such as the www.songs.pk, which are infested with software to hack data from the targeted computers, it said.

“The website www.songs.pk has over 12 lakh Indian users who are downloading stuff from these websites daily,” said a cyber expert in the Ministry.

With these websites being highly popular, it will take only a few minutes for the hackers to take command of over 12 lakh computers in few minutes and the number of such computers can multiply in every minute, sources said.

“Instead of the existing less harmful virus, new ones such as Botnet and Zoombie can be easily released into the Indian computers, which later on replicate and make the entire server vulnerable,” the expert said.

“Now a days new virus and worms are detected while downloading songs from these websites, which could be just a dry run to manage a bigger attack,” he said.

Government websites have been highly vulnerable to hacking and they have been intruded many times by the Pakistani hackers.

“Most of the time, these cases are not reported as the server is based in Pakistan and we cannot do anything in this regard,” the expert said.

The anti-virus software, too, cannot work in such situation as the virus used in such cyber wars are usually new and the anti-virus software cannot identity and detect it, he said.

“If anti-virus software cannot identify the signature of the virus coming through Internet, it will not detect it and as a result the virus will be downloaded in the computer in spite of such software available in the network,” the expert added.

(Agencies)

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“Today even as Pakistan engages in whipping up war hysteria, our nation remains steadfastly united and if anything the process of national consolidation is becoming stronger,” Singh told a security conference in New Delhi.

Accusing Pakistan of using terror as an instrument of state policy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said evidence showed that some “Pakistani official agencies” must have provided support to the Mumbai terror attack given their sophistication and military precision. 

“On the basis of the investigation carried out, (including by agencies of some foreign countries whose nationals were killed), there is enough evidence to show that given the sophistication and military precision of the attack, it must have had the support of some official agencies in Pakistan,” he said.

In what could add pressure on India’s immediate neighbour, Manmohan confirmed that Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) carried out the Mumbai carnage. This comes after numerous evidences were gathered by several investigating agencies.

“The terrorist attack in Mumbai in November last year was carried out by a Pakistan-based outfit, the Lashkar-e-Taiba,” added the PM.

Terming ‘zero tolerance’ the only mechanism that needs to be implemented to combat terrorism, Mamohan Singh said, “We have faced enough violence on the hands of terrorists and we now need to implement the policy of zero tolerance with terrorism. We need to ensure that such terrorist acts does not take place in near future.”

India needs a holistic approach: PM

Singh said terrorism, naxalism and insurgency constitute major challenges of the country’s internal security and that time has come to create a permanent crisis management group to tackle terrorist attack-like situations. 

Manmohan said that India needs a ‘holsitic approach’ towards the security concerns prevailing. 

In an apparent reference to Bangladesh, Singh said militants from India’s north-east are being sheltered by the neighbouring country. He also said information sharing among agencies was most important.

He said, “Time has come to establish a permanent crisis management group to handle terrorist attack-like situations. Information sharing among agencies most important.”

Security in our neighbourhood is not conducive and some of the nations are very fragile, the Prime Minister told in the meeting of chief ministers in Delhi. 

The Prime Minister also confirmed that the ten terrorists who wrecked havoc in Mumbai on November 26, 2008 entered the city through the sea route and came from Karachi.

Addressing this as one of the security issues India faces, Manmohan added, “The sea route was being exploited and explored by terrorists. There should be greater vigilance along our coastline and we need to monitor maritime activity. The Mumbai terrorists used the sea route and managed to evade our coastal surveillance.”

India needs to raise level of preparedness: Home Min

Earlier, Home Minister P Chidambaram said that India needs to ‘raise the level of preparedness and response time’ to the ’sophisticated’ terror attacks in the country, at the inaugural address of the crucial internal security meet in New Delhi today (January 6).

Terror being the main agenda of the meeting, the Home Minister urged the state governments to work together with the Centre in order to combat terror and enchance the state’s anti-terror mechanism.

“I urge the state governments to enhance the anti-terror and intelligence sharing mechanism to jointly combat terror,” Chidambaram said.

Terrorism, strengthening of intelligence network, security of coastline and key establishments, including atomic sites, will be discussed threadbare at the conference of chief ministers chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

During the course of the meeting, Union Home Minister will seek views from all state governments on action to beef up the security machinery to check terrorism in the wake of Mumbai terror attack.

Listen: Chidambaram on security situation

(With inputs from Agencies)

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“We are on nationwide strike and we will continue until our demands are met,” AIMTC President Charan Singh Lohara said.

Yesterday Transport Secretary Brahm Dutt threatened the agitators that if the strike continues, law of the land would take its course, and permits of the trucks could be cancelled.

Reacting to the government’s threat, Lohara had said if the government starts cancelling the permits, then the truckers would not be responsible for any situation arising as a reaction of that.

The government has also asked the states to draw a plan to ensure supplies of essential commodities to the general public.

The strike has been called by All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) demanding a reduction of diesel prices by Rs 10 per litre and exemption from service tax.

Meanwhile, the government yesterday fully exempted service tax from certain taxable services provided to a goods transport agency (GTA) by their sub-contractors. Some of the services include cargo handling, storage and warehousing, packaging activities and supply of tangible goods.

The strike commenced Sunday midnight following a call given by 4,000 associations affiliated to the AIMTC.

The wish list of hauliers also include levying uniform four percentage point VAT on diesel, scrapping registration and return filing clause in the new Carriers Act, reducing tyre prices by 30-35 per cent and rolling back national permit fees from Rs 5,000 to Rs 1,500.

(Agencies)

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The UP Animal Husbandary & Dairy Development Minister, Awadh Pal Singh on Tuesday (January 6) out with a shocker of a statement, justifying criminals in politics.

When asked by reporters as to why his party had fielded DP Yadav and other criminals, the minister said that they are not criminals. He went on to say that if the number of cases being lodged against somebody were the yardstick to term him as criminal, then Gandhi, Nehru & Bose were criminals too.

He went on to say, “I do not think that DP Yadav is a criminal. Any politician can be called as a criminal because there are numerous number of cases filed against them. In this regards, the frist criminals would be the likes of Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose, Pt Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri. No politican exists against whom criminal cases have not been filed. Even Mulayam Singh has cases registered against him. So then in this regards he becomes the biggest ‘criminal’ in UP.”

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This was spelt out at a seminar ‘Applicability of Right to Self Determination in 21st Century and Kashmir Issue’ in Srinagar, the summer capital of the Jammu and Kashmir State.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chief of the moderate fraction of All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference (APHC) reiterated the separatists stand as the new coalition Government of National Conference (NC) and Congress party headed by Omar Abdullah of NC assumed office at Jammu, the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir.

“Today the new Government is taking office in Jammu and we in Srinagar pledge to people of Kashmir that we will continue our struggle till the Kashmir problem is solved,” asserted Mirwaiz Umar Farooq chief of APHC, Srinagar.

Omar Abdullah, Kashmir’s youngest-ever Chief Minister was sworn in on Monday (January 05), promising to heal the wounds of a region hit by two decades of separatist rebellion against Indian rule which has killed thousands.

The 38-year-old Abdullah is heir to a political dynasty that has dominated Kashmir since India’s independence and the third member of his family to be elected to the troubled state’s top post.

Syed Ali Shah Geelani, senior leader of the hardliner fraction of the APHC who also attended the seminar said the election turnout did not behove the separatists in the state who turned to streets demanding independence.

“People did come out to vote, even if it was 26 percent or 30 percent. They voted for roads, for daily wage employment, for other employments, food materials, which did not behove a community which turned out in hundred thousands on the street only recently demanding freedom,” said Syed Ali Shah Geelani, senior leader, APHC.

Despite a boycott call by separatists, the election had a turnout of more than 60 percent, though many saw it as a vote for better governance rather than acceptance of Indian rule.

Indian Kashmir is divided politically between separatist groups and mainstream parties like the National Conference that supports links with India. So the turnout was a boost for New Delhi, which grappled with huge anti-India protests this year.

Omar Abdullah’s National Conference party, which backs greater Kashmiri autonomy but rejects separatists’ calls for independence, emerged as the single biggest party in state elections that ended in late December.

Abdullah heads a coalition government with India’s ruling Congress party after a year that saw massive anti-India protests in the state, the collapse of the state government and six months of direct rule from New Delhi.

Violence in Kashmir, claimed by India and Pakistan but ruled in part by both, has fallen significantly since the two countries began peace talks in 2004.

(Agencies)

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Ajmal was remanded for his involvement in the Cama hospital firing registered in the Azad Maidan police station at south Mumbai. However, Ajmal, who had no legal representation, was not produced in the court citing security reasons.
    
“We argued that we (police) have to investigate about the incident at Cama hospital where the firing took place,” Additional Public Prosecutor E B Dhamal said.

Earlier, Ajmal was remanded in police custody till January 6 by a local court in connection with a case registered in the Marine Drive police station for robbing a Skoda vehicle and threatening the owner of the vehicle with an AK-47 rifle.

In the earlier two cases, his remand had been obtained for interrogation in connection with shooting people at the busy Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and killing three police officers — Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar and Ashok Kamte — outside Cama Hospital.

Due to security reasons, twice in the past Ajmal was not taken to the court, and prior to regular court hours Magistrate N Shrimangale and Public Prosecutor Eknath Dhumal went to the police lock-up where Ajmal is being kept. A similar procedure is expected to be followed now.

Nine associates of Kasab were killed during the three-day siege, while he was caught alive at Girgaun Chowpatty while trying to escape in a car that he and his associate Ismail Khan had taken at gunpoint.

(Agencies)

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Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon held a special briefing for the Ambassadors and High Commissioners of over a dozen countries, including the US, UK, Israel, France, Japan, Germany, Turkey and Canada here to apprise them about the details of investigation into the Mumbai attacks.

Menon apprised the diplomats about how 10-heavily armed Pakistani terrorists came from Karachi and carried out attacks in Mumbai on November 26 last year and how they were in touch with their handlers in Pakistan even during the three-day engagement with security forces.

The evidence includes confession of Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone Pakistani terrorist held during attacks, logbook seized from the vessel in which the terrorists came, records of satellite phone used by terrorists and transcript of their conversations with their handlers in Pakistan.

In his confession, Kasab has spelt out how he became a motivated terrorist of Lashkar-e-Taiba from a normal youth of Faridkot in Pakistan’s Punjab province and how he was trained specifically for the terror mission.

“India presented a very strong case. We will examine it,” said Australian High Commissioner John McCarthy after the briefing.

Diplomat of another country, on condition of anonymity, said he was quite pleased and  “convinced” with the evidence presented by the Foreign Secretary.

The briefing for the foreign envoys came soon after India handed over evidence to Pakistan, with an expectation that Islamabad would act on it promptly.

(Agencies)

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Terrorism, strengthening of intelligence network, security of coastline and key establishments, including atomic sites, will be discussed threadbare at the conference of chief ministers to be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday (Jan 6).

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, in his first such exercise after being shifted from the Finance Ministry, will seek views from all state governments on action to beef up the security machinery to check terrorism in the wake of Mumbai terror attack, official sources said.

The conclave will focus on beefing up intelligence network and strengthening coastal security, particularly considering the fact that the terrorists involved in Mumbai carnage used the sea route to sneak into the metropolis. Security of key installations, including nuclear power plants, will also figure prominently at the meeting to be addressed by the Prime Minister.

The issue of strengthening intelligence collection and sharing mechanism (Subsidiaries of Multi Agency Centre), modernisation of police forces, setting up of commando units in all states/Union territories police forces and discussion on the modalities of the working of the newly-formed National Investigation Agency are also on the agenda of the meeting.

Immediate filling up of police vacancies, setting up of the Police Network (POLNET) connecting all police stations through a computer-based system for sharing of information and videos of crime scenes and swift action on police reforms are other issues which the chief ministers will discuss in the meeting.

In a letter sent recently, Chidambaram had suggested to all chief ministers to set up round the clock control rooms to receive and disseminate intelligence/information pertaining to terrorism and other forms of organised crime, setting up an analysis group within the state intelligence wing, forwarding intelligence inputs to Intelligence Bureau and taking urgent steps to get rid of mafia, extortion gangs and land sharks.

The Home Minister advised the states to immediately identify major establishments, installations and symbolic or iconic structures and conduct a thorough review of the security arrangements there.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Modi had visited Kutch and Banaskantha districts bordering Pakistan for two days recently to find out the problems being faced by the Border Security Force (BSF) in these areas. He assured the jawans that he would take up their problems with the Prime Minister during his visit to Delhi on January 6, the sources said.

At the meeting, Modi will also suggest framing of a comprehensive and result oriented strategy to counter the menace of terrorism, the need to boost the morale of security agencies, enactment of more stringent anti-terror laws, immediate approval of GUJCOC and clearance of coastal security projects of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
    
He will insist that the Centre must see to it that no indirect attempt at shielding terrorists or supporting their causes get direct or indirect support from any political party or voluntary organisation, they said.

(Agencies)

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“I have plans to meet Sonia Gandhi and the meeting could take place in the next 2-3 days,” Rane said in Mumbai, adding he planned to go to Kolhapur tomorrow for a function after which he would be visiting Delhi.

Rane’s remarks came close on the heels of Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan holding a closed-door meeting with him in Mumbai in a bid to patch-up with the estranged leader earlier in the day.

The statement by Rane, who had launched a scathing attack on Congress leadership after losing to Chavan the race for chief ministership, came a day before he was to announce his course of action in Mumbai amid indications last week that the rebel leader was in no mood to compromise and could quit the party.

After the nearly hour-long meeting with Chavan, Rane called of a scheduled press conference tomorrow. “The scheduled press conference tomorrow by Rane to announce his future plans has been postponed,” a statement issued from his office said.

Rane, who joined Congress from Shiv Sena a few years ago, was suspended from the party for making anti-party remarks in the wake of his losing the race for Chief Ministership.

The 57-year old leader from the Konkan region had even taken pot shots at Sonia Gandhi after Chavan’s election and had targeted the new Chief Minister as also his predecessor Vilasrao Deshmukh.

(Agencies)

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“Time has come for us to join the TDP-Left combine. But a ‘political decision’ in this regard will be announced jointly at a later date,” TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao told reporters outside TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu’s residence in Hyderabad this evening.

“A formal announcement in this regard, however, will be made very soon,” Rao said after a 20-minute meeting with his former leader Chandrababu Naidu.

“We shall henceforth take part in joint struggles on all public issues. We shall fight for a common cause,” Rao said.

“Chandrababu Naidu and I have worked together in the same party (TDP) for more than 20 years. It gives a lot of happiness to meet an old friend. Time has come for us to work together on public issues,” the former Union minister said.

The decision came at a time when Praja Rajyam Party of actor Chiranjeevi was also toying with the idea of forming a “mega alliance” with PRP-Nava Telangana Party and TRS. The ruling Congress also was hoping to re-align with its former ally to consolidate its position in Telangana region.

Only this morning, veteran Congress leaders wanted their party high command to take a positive stand on Telangana so that they could patch up with the TRS and prevent a rout in the region.

(Agencies)

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“In a month’s time, all food products in India will mandatorily have ingredients on one side (of the cover of food packets) and on the other side, nutritional value like calories and saturated fat”, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Anbumani Ramadoss said here today. 

“People will know what to eat and how much to eat”, he told reporters after attending the convocation function of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), a deemed university.

Pointing out that junk food was contributing to juvenile diabetes, childhood obesity and hypertension, he said more needs to be done to enhance awareness. His ministry has sent advisories to states to ban junk food in educational institutions, Ramadoss said. 

His ministry was also bringing out a national alcoholic policy — which would be recommendatory in nature to states and not mandatory — listing among other things, fixed timings for alcohol consumption, quantity limitation, age limit and holidays (alcohol-free days). 

Ramadoss said he would introduce in the coming session of Parliament a clinical establishment act by which all hospitals and labs–big or small- would have to be registered. They would be regulated and they have to follow Indian Public Health Standards in a bid to streamline quality.

He said Indian doctors, who migrated to the West, were returning to India in droves, given the current opportunities, atmosphere and investments in this country.  

(Agencies

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Speaking on the material handed over to Pakistan and shared with friendly countries, Shivshankar Menon said, “The material handed over to Pakistan includes the records of interrogation of arrested terrorist Mohd Ajmal Kasab, details of the terrorists’ communication with elements in Pakistan during the attack, details of the weapons or equipment recovered from the crime scene and details of data recovered from GPS instruments and satellite phones.”

“We started sharing this process with our friendly countries. We also briefed with them with the material that has come out of our investigation. We can say that the crime that was committed here in India has roots to Pakistan. We have been briefing our friendly countries since we have to put an end to terrorism, Menon added.

Menon also said that the Pakistan was also doing the investigation of the attacks. He further added, Our goals are clear. We want the perpetrators to be brought to Indian justice.”

However, the Foreign Secretary made it clear that the probe into the 26/11 strike is not complete and the material handed to Pakistan is just the first tranche.

To a question why Pakistan in spite of being provided with the evidence earlier was quiet said, “The investigation is still on. Pakistan is also continuing with the investigation.”

Replying to a question whether India is going to accept the investigation Menon said that this was
hypothetical as no evidence is being provided by Pakistan yet.

Maintaining that New Delhi had earlier given evidence to Islamabad on the deadly attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul, Menon said “we are hoping that the previous pattern (of not cooperating) is not repeated in this case.”

Under international conventions and SAARC Charter, Pakistan was obliged to extradite the perpetrators of the terror attacks in India, he said.

How India sees the arrest of terrorist chiefs in Pakistan and what steps Pakistan needs to do to satisfy India, Menon said, “No official confirmation is there from Pakistan regarding the arrest of terrorist ortfits chief. Even if they were arrested before, JuD was still functioning. Many others terrorist groups which were banned were also functioning.”

On the response the international community showed on India regarding the help in carrying out with the investigation, Menon replied, “The response has been unprecedented. The assistance we received helped us in getting a ban on terrorist outfits in Pakistan.”

Menon said the attack was virtually a commando style operation launched from Pakistani soil indicating that section of a Pakistani establishment were aware of the conspiracy.

Menon added that as far as India go there is no distinction between non-state actors and state-actors.

“It is hard to believe that something of this scale that took so long in preparation and of this nature that amounts to a commando attack could occur without anybody, anywhere in the establishment knowing this was happening. Wherever the investigation leads, we will follow,” the
Foreign Secretary said.

On India seeking extradition of the terrorists to planned the Mumbai attack, the Foreign Secretary said India will take a decision based on the answers it gets from Pakistan, but also warned Pakistan that it needs to act on the material provided by India immediately.

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