India deeply concerned over safety of its students in Oz

New Delhi, Aug 11 (PTI) Deeply concerned over attacks on
Indian students in Australia, Union External Affairs Minister
S M Krishna on Tuesday asked Canberra to address their
legitimate concerns in a "sensitive manner".

Krishna noted that the relationship between both the
countries was growing strongly but New Delhi has "deep
concerns" about the safety and security of Indian students in
Australia.

"...the relationship is growing strongly all around and
areas where there are concerns, such as students' issue, need
to be dealt with, in a sensitive manner, while we make efforts
to strengthen ties in a comprehensive manner," he said in a
statement after his five-day visit to Australia.

The Minister noted that the Indian community, through its
culture and values, is contributing in making Australia the
vibrant multi-cultural society.

During his meetings with Australian leadership, Krishna
said he impressed upon Canberra that "measures need to be put
in place to address their legitimate grievances so that our
students get a good quality educational experience."

He also said both the countries hope to take their
relationship to the level of a strategic partnership and that
they were looking at the possibility of discussing a Free
Trade Agreement to "further boost our ties".

Krishna said New Delhi is expecting Australian Prime
Minister Kevin Rudd to visit India later this year.

He said New Delhi was committed to further strengthening
and expanding bilateral relations to cover "virtually every
area of interaction".

India and Australia feel that there is "significant"
scope for expanding bilateral trade as well as cooperation in
Science and Technology, Information and Communication
Technology, Energy, Education, Tourism and Agro-industry. PTI
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Swine flu scare hits WBC as Malaysian coach quarantined

Hyderabad, Aug 11 (PTI) High profile World Badminton
Championships was on Tuesday hit by the swine flu scare with a
Malaysian coach being quarantined in a local government
hospital after showing influenza-like symptoms.

The Badminton World Federation was tight-lipped about the
coach's identity but said he was quarantined even though
initial examination has ruled out swine flu. A confirmed
report would be available within the next two days.

The coach has been put under strict surveillance in
Andhra Pradesh Chest Hospital here.

"The coach has reported fever and sore throat and so as a
precautionary measure he was sent to a city hospital and
initial investigation suggested there is no connection with
the H1N1 virus," BWF COO Thomas Lund told reporters here.

"He is fine and doesn't have fever now. He has improved
but we don't want to take chances and so he has been kept
under examination and a confirmed report will come out within
48 hours," Lund said.

Asked about the identity of the coach, Lund said "because
it's not proved yet, we would not like to mention his name as
it can affect the victim's family".

Malaysia have arrived with separate coaches for singles
and doubles team.

Consultant and Head of Department of Emergency Medicine,
Apollo hospital Dr Mahesh Joshi said the chance of his
contracting H1N1 virus infection is very minimum.

"The degree of suspicion that he has the virus is very
low but I feel we should rather completely rule it out than
sitting on it and so the coach has been put under
survellience," Joshi said.

"To ensure 100 per cent safety of the players and
officials, the three coaches who were staying in the same room
with the victim were isolated from the rest and were put under
examination. Their temperature would be monitored every two
hours," he said.

The Gachibowli stadium turned almost into a medical unit
with police officials, sponsors and even some journalist
wearing masks fearing a possible contact with the virus, which
has killed 10 people in India.

With the matches in full swing, a high turn around of
spectators are expected but Thomas said there won't be any
screening of the public as of now.

"Spectators won't be screened as of now as it is not
confirmed whether it is swine flu or not. Moreover, there is
no way the players and officials can be contacted with the
general people," Thomas said.

Thomas said there was a team managers' meeting were the
various officials of the respective squads were informed of
the development and there hasn't been any concern shown by any
team.

Badminton Association of India President V K verma also
assured that there is adequate arrangement to deal with any
medical contingency. PTI ATK
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ISRO to unveil mapping application 'Bhuvan' tomorrow

New Delhi, Aug 11 (PTI) Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) will unveil its version of Google Earth,
the iconic mapping service for the common man to zoom into any
part of the world on their personal computer using satellite
images.

However, the new mapping service -- Bhuvan, which means
earth in Sanskrit -- will allow users to have a closer look at
any part of the subcontinent barring sensitive locations such
as military and nuclear installations.

ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair will unveil the Bhuvan
webportal at a function here on Thursday in the presence of
Minister of State in the PMO Prithviraj Chavan.

Bhuvan will use images taken by ISRO's seven remote
sensing satellites at least a year ago. These eyes in the sky
can capture images of objects as small as a car on the road to
build three-dimensional map of the world.

The pictures are expected to be sharper than those on
Google Earth as Bhuvan uses 10 meter resolution images as
against 200 meter resolution photos offered by others.

Unlike in Google Earth, users will not be able to
download images from Bhuvan and will be able to browse content
like on any website.

"With Bhuvan, we will be able to produce very local
information which will be specific to only our own country.
This information available from this mapping system will be
useful in addressing very local problems like floods, famines,
infrastructure development, education and much more," Nair
said. PTI SKU
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Schools issue SMS alerts on swine flu

Bangalore, Aug 11 (PTI) Many schools in the city have
issued SMS alerts to their students on swine flu and directed
them to wear masks as countrywide toll in the deadly viral
infection rose to 10 on Tuesday.

Sishu Griha Montessori School in Tippasandra locality has
asked all its students and teachers to attend school wearing a
mask as a precautionary step, a school official said.

The students have been wearing masks to school for the
past two days and they appear to be "comfortable" in carrying
it.

Another school, Eurokids, which has students below the
age of five and fell in the vulnerable category, has send SMS
alerts to parents informing them about the flu symptoms.

It has warned the parents through SMS alerts and asked
them to take their child to a hospital if they find swine flu
symptoms like fatigue, headache, fever, respiratory illness,
lack of appetite and coughing in their kids.

Head of Eurokid's Kormangala branch, Indira, said they
have been flooded with inquiries on swine flu.

Parents have been continuously inquiring whether it was
safe to send their children to school and what preventive
measures have been taken by the school authorities to check
the spread of the deadly infection, she said.

It has also sent a website address to the parents where
they can get detail information on the H1NI infection.

The school had been taking all precautionary steps for
the past one week, she said, adding they have received a
circular from their head office on dos and don'ts to be
followed by all franchisee outlets.

Frank Anthony school, which has on Monday suspended its
primary classes for one-week following report of a positive
flu case, has also issued a circular, advising parents how to
prevent swine flu infection. PTI JD
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63-year-old woman from Thane dies of swine flu

Mumbai, Aug 11 (PTI) A 63-year-old woman has died of
swine flu in a private hospital at Byculla in South Mumbai,
taking the toll from the disease to ten across the country.

The deceased, Sayeeda Dorjeewala from Mumbra in
neighbouring Thane district in west Indian state of
Maharastra, was hospitalised with fever in Noor hospital on
August 6.

According to Sharvaree Gokhale, the State Health
Secretary, Sayeeda died on Monday morning while her report
which was received in the evening said she tested positive for
H1N1 infection.

"She died yesterday morning but the test results came
positive only in the evening," she said, adding therefore, she
did not receive any treatment for Swine flu.

"Although she was admitted on August 6, the hospital
sent the swab samples only on August 9 and we got the result
within 24 hours," she said.

She expired on Monday morning due to other
complications and according to the hospital, the death
certificate said she died of pneumonitis.

As per protocol, all the primary contacts in the
hospital and her family will be given Tamiflu.

The hospital has to fumigate the area and then admit
other patients, she said.

"We will not seal the hospital, she added.

Earlier on August 8, Fahmida Panwala, 53, who was the
first casualty of swine flu in the city, also had
complications like diabetes and hypertension. PTI LV
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Parts of the northern region, including capital, receive rains

New Delhi, Aug 11 (PTI) Parts of the northern region,
including the national capital, on Tuesday received rains,
which, however, eluded both Punjab and Haryana.

East Rajasthan experienced light to moderate rains with
Karauli recording the maximum rainfall of 6.5 cm in the desert
state.

Rains also took place in Bharatpur, Bayana, Dholpur and
Sawaimadhopur, the Met office said.

State capital Jaipur experienced scattered showers
measuring 10-15 mm, it said.

In the national capital, heavy rains lashed several
parts, bringing respite to residents suffering from the hot
and muggy weather conditions.

The capital had been witnessing high humidity levels in
the past few days with the maximum hovering over 90 per cent.

The metropolis received 43.8 mm rains, which brought down
the day temperature to 35.6 degrees celsius from Monday's
37.5 degrees. The minimum settled at 25.3 degrees.

However, the showers affected vehicular movement and led
to long queues of traffic on the roads.

In Himachal Pradesh, despite rains in the state capital
and other areas, day temperatures mostly remained the same.

Shimla, which recorded 24.9 mm rain, recorded a maximum
temperature of 24.4 degrees in comparison to 24.2 degrees
on Monday.

Una and Dharamsala also experienced showers measuring 2
mm and 6.6 mm respectively.

Light to moderate showers also took place at a few places
in Uttar Pradesh, leading to a slight dip in the mercury.

The city of nababs which recorded 7 mm rains, saw the
maximum settle at 36.2 degrees.

Bareilly, which received 2 mm rainfall, registered a
day temperature of 34.4 degrees, the Met office said.

However, rains eluded both Punjab and Haryana, where
Hisar registered another hot day at 41.5 degrees.

Temperatures were also high for this time of the year at
Amritsar, which recorded a of 36.6 degrees, up three degrees
and Patiala, where the day temperature settled at 36 degrees,
two above normal.

Chandigarh recorded a maximum of 34.2 degrees, up by one
degree. PTI TEAM
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LS, RS prorogued

New Delhi, Aug 11 (PTI) President of India Pratibha Patil
on Tuesday prorogued both the Houses of Parliament.

Patil prorogued the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Indian
Parliament) and theRajya Sabha (Upper House of Indian
Parliament) which met for the Budget Session from July two and
were adjourned sine die on August seven, Parliament bulletins
said. PTI SKU
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Delhi's airspace to remain close for 2hrs tomorrow

New Delhi, Aug 11 (PTI) In the wake of Independence Day
celebrations on August 15, the airspace of Indira Gandhi
International Airport will remain closed for two hours on
Wednesday and for seven hours on August 15.

"Due to rehearsals for Independence day celebrations, the
national capital's airspace will remain closed from 1 pm to 3
pm tomorrow and no aircraft would be allowed to fly," an
airport official said.

On August 15, the airspace would remain closed for seven
hours, from 6 am to 10 am and from 4 pm to 7 pm for the
Independence Day celebrations, he added.

A Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) has been issued by the Air
Traffic Control (ATC) and all the airlines in this regard.

Taking into account the closure of IGI airport on both
the days, the airlines have scheduled their flights in order
to avoid any inconvenience to the passengers.

"We have scheduled our flights in such a way that the
passengers do not face any inconvenience. We have informed
them in advance," said an airline official.

A notice regarding the closure of airport on Tuesday
between 1 pm to 3 pm was withdrawn at the last moment. Taking
into account the airlines had delayed the arrival of their
flights between that period, sources said. PTI SMJ
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Govt can't terminate employee without hearing him: HC

New Delhi, Aug 11 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has said
government cannot terminate the services of its employee,
accused of misconduct, without giving him an opportunity to
present his case.

The court passed the order by setting aside the order of
National Research Development Corporation, which had
terminated the service of a temporary employee without giving
him an opportunity to present his case before the disciplinary
authority of the Corporation.

"In my opinion, the Petitioner was dismissed without
affording him the opportunity of presenting his case before
the disciplinary authority, thereby violating the protection
guaranteed to temporary servants under Article 311(2) of the
Constitution of India," Justice Sidharth Mridul said.

The High Court rejected the contention of the corporation
that it was a case of termination of service and said the
impugned order clearly finds him guilty of misconduct, thereby
casting a stigma on the employee, Mangal Singh, and in that
sense it was dismissal.

In this case, Singh was appointed on temporary
contractual basis with the corporation in 1996 for four years
and his service was extended from time to time.

However, his services were terminated in 2004 on the
charge that he had submitted fake graduation degree while
applying for the job. Aggrieved by the order Singh had
approached the High Court. PTI KRS
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