PM to leave for France, Egypt Monday

New Delhi, Jul 12 (PTI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Monday heads for France and Egypt, during which he will meet
his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in the hope of
getting a categoric commitment that Mumbai attackers would be
punished and cross-border terror stopped.

Ahead of his meeting with Gilani in Sharm-el Sheikh in
Egypt on the margins of NAM Summit, Singh made it clear that
New Delhi would "do all that is necessary" to resolve all
outstanding issues if Pakistan takes "credible action" to deal
with terrorist elements targeting India.

Noting that he was looking forward to his meeting with
Gilani, Singh said he was hoping that the Pakistani leader
would give a "renewed reaffirmation" to bring the perpetrators
of 26/11 attacks to justice and that they would not allow
Pakistani soil to be used for terror acts directed against
India.

The Singh-Gilani meeting, expected on July 16, will take
place one month after the Indian leader met President Asif Ali
Zardari in Yekaterinburg in Russia. During that meeting, Singh
had bluntly told Zardari in media glare that Pakistan must end
terror directed against India.

In the first leg of his five-day visit, Singh will travel
to Paris where he will be the Chief Guest at French National
Day on Tuesday, becoming the first Indian leader to have such
an exceptional honour.

An External Affairs Ministry release said the visit is
expected to further enhance the "strategic partnership"
between India and France.

The Singh-Gilani meeting will take place after Foreign
Secretary Shivshankar Menon and his Pakistani counterpart
Salman Bashir discuss what Islamabad has done to bring to book
perpetrators of November 26 attacks and dismantle terror
infrastructure.

Singh and Gilani will take stock of the situation on the
basis of deliberations between Menon and Bashir.

In Paris, Singh will also have 'working lunch' with
President Nicolas Sarkozy during which the two leaders are
expected to discuss economic meltdown besides bilateral
issues.

From Paris, Singh will travel to Sharm-el Shaikh in
Egypt to attend the 15th NAM Summit, which India feels is
taking place at a "very crucial juncture" when the world is
confronted with the economic meltdown.

The grouping of 118 developing nations will discuss ways
to address the challenges including the economic crisis.

India underlines that though the economic crisis did not
originate in the developing world, it has a bearing on such
nations.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, National Security
Adviser M K Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon
will accompany Singh for the NAM Summit.

New Delhi underlines that NAM has "continuing relevance"
as the principles it seeks can be applied to address the
present day challenges as well.

Among other challenges, terrorism will also be high on
the agenda of the NAM.

For the first time, "NAM First Ladies' Summit", with the
theme 'Women in Crisis Management -- Perspectives and
Challenges, Best Practices and Lessons Learned', will be held
parallel to the main Summit. It will be addressed by Prime
Minister's wife Gursharan Kaur. PTI VMN
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Swine flu cases in Gujarat rise to five

Ahmedabad, July 12 (PTI) Four suspected cases of swine
flu in the city have turned out to be positive, taking the
number of H1N1 virus infections reported from the western
state of Gujarat to five, Health Department officials said
Sunday.

Three girls and their caretaker who were part of All
Friends Society (AFS) group which had returned from a
year-long cultural-cum-educational exchange programme in the
US on July 7 have tested positive.

Reports of two girls testing positive of swine flu had
come from Delhi's National Institute of Communicable Diseases
(NICD) Saturday, while the positive report of another girl
and the caretaker came Sunday, Principal Secretary (Health)
Ravi Saxena told PTI.

"Result of three girls from the group AFS and its
caretaker isolated at the civil hospital are positive,
according to NICD, New Delhi," Saxena said.

One new case of suspected swine flu has been admitted to
the civil hospital here Sunday by the Ahmedabad Municipal
Corporation (AMC) health officials, he said, adding the person
had not travelled to foreign country but had came in contact
with one of the three girls.

"Suspected swine flu case of a 40-year-old male has been
admitted in isolation in the civil hospital by the AMC health
officials today," he added.

"The family members of affected persons have been
prescribed treatment and notice has been issued for home
quarantine," Saxena said.

The Principal Secretary (Health) said that the matter was
being taken seriously and investigation for secondary spread
of the disease is being investigated by epidemiology division
of the state Health Department.

According to Health Department officials, other members
of the group have also been traced out and their examination
revealed that none had swine-flu symptoms. However, they have
been put on preventive medication, they added.

The ten girls from the city were part of a group of 40
girls from across the country, who had gone to the US for
foreign exchange programme facilitated by All Friend's Society
which has been organising such programmes since past few
years.

The first positive swine flu case reported from Gujarat
was that of a Thai national who had come to Kandla port in
Kutch district as member of the crew to take back a Thai ship
last month.

With today's cases, the total number of positive swine
flu cases has risen to five. PTI PB
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