Sikkim Earthquake update Today

Earthquake update Today  The Number of deaths as reported by the State Government of Sikkim is 57. This may increase further as rescue and release teams reach further into interior areas. The break-up of death toll is as follows- East District- 12, North District-40, West District -04 and South District-01. 58 persons are injured.

 A total of 700 houses have reportedly collapsed. About 500 houses have been reported to be substantially damaged. In other areas also, extensive damage to houses has been reported. The State Govt will be able to give the exact the number after ascertaining the damage through physical verification.

 About 40 foreigners are reported to be stranded in North Sikkim.

 The State Govt. has opened relief camps in each district. 2700 and 550 people have been provided shelter into Army camps and ITBP camp (Pengong) respectively.

 A total of 5500 Army personnel have been deployed for rescue and relief operation. 60 villages have been physically covered by the team of Army Jawans in their search and rescue operation. 2 teams of 30 Army Jawans each with RMOs are located in Mangan and Chungthan.

 30 sorties have been done by helicopters provided by the Ministry of Defence for airdropping and reconnaissance.

 Food packets have been airdropped in the northern part of North district at a place called Myang. Another supply of food packets is being dropped today An aerial survey of affected was carried out by officers of the State Govt and NDRF on 20th Sept, 2011 to identify and list the affected villages.

 The road between Mangan and Chungthan (16 landslides ) has been opened upto 12 kilometer further north of Mangan.

 The Border Roads Organization and Army Engineers are working for restoration of different roads.

 Sikkim has 15 sub-stations of 66 kilowatt, out of which 6 were down. 3 however, have been restored.

 All the transmission lines and sub-stations of power grid have been restored.

 Power supply is normal except in the northern part of North district.

 Landline and microwave links are operational. The present status of mobile towers/BTS is as follows, Vodafone-53(167), Reliance-12(54), Idea-08(42), Aircell-21(55), Airtel-15(69), BSNL-24(122).

 Sufficient stock of essential commodities such as foodgrains, petroleum products and LPG are available in the State.

 1000 nos. of blankets, 400 nos. of extendable tents and 200 nos. of arctic tents are being dispatched to the affected areas.

 The Centre has constituted an inter-Ministerial team to visit the affected places in the State and give its recommendations for assistance from the National Disaster Response Fund.

Press Conference-Sagar31News-Lalit-Thakural

Roll back of the hike in petrol prices

Many political parties including the BJP and the Left parties and UPA Allies the Trinamool Congress and DMK have demanded a roll back of the hike in petrol prices saying that it would hit the common man hard.

The BJP spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain said in New Delhi that the hike will further increase the hardship of the common man. CPI (M) leader Brinda Karat criticised the government for raising the petrol prices. CPI said in a statement that the reason for the increase does not satisfy anybody.

The Trinamool Congress demanding the roll back in the hike in prices said, their opinion was never sought before implementing the decision. Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Dinesh Trivedi told newspersons in New Delhi that common man needs relief and not burden.

DMK party spokesman T K S Elangovan said in Chennai that the hike in petrol prices will have a cascading effects and will affect the lower and middle income groups and the poor.

The Congress has expressed concerns over the petrol price hike. Talking to reporters in New Delhi, party spokesman Rashid Alvi said the government must find out a way to reduce common man's miseries.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said, the decision to raise the price was taken by oil marketing firms as petrol has been deregulated.

A meeting of the empowered Group of Ministers headed by Mr. Mukherjee on the subsidy on LPG which was scheduled to be held in New Delhi on Friday was postponed. Official sources said, the meeting was deferred due to non-availability of some members of the Empowered Group. No new date was announced for holding the meeting.

In Jammu and Kashmir, The supporters of various political parties including, the main opposition party in the State PDP and the BJP on Friday held protests in the Jammu city over the increase in petrol prices. The Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party also held demonstrations at different places. The Shiv Sena activists took out a rally on bullock carts, cycles and horse buggies and demanded immediate rollback in the petrol prices.

Singrauli-Power-hub Press Conference-Sagar31News

Merkel rejects calls for 'orderly insolvency' of Greece

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has rejected calls for the "orderly insolvency" of debt-stricken Greece she tried to calm financial markets and defuse a crisis that threatens to tear apart her Centre-Right coalition government.

Resolving the crisis will require a "very long and step-by-step process" involving budget restructuring, restoring confidence in financial markets, improving competitiveness and other measures, she said on Tuesday after a meeting with Finland Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen in Berlin.

She was referring to demands by some of her coalition partners, especially Philipp Roesler, Minister for Economic Affairs and Chairman of the Free Democratic Party, who proposed that Greece needed an "orderly insolvency" and said forcing the country out of the euro zone should be considered as the last step to protect the rest of the 17-nation group.

His comments unleashed a massive sell-off of shares and stock market indices plunged across Europe on Monday, but they recouped most of their losses on Tuesday.

Without mentioning Roesler, the chancellor urged her coalition partners to exercise great caution in voicing their views on Greece and to be aware of the consequences of their actions.

"Otherwise, they will be putting the euro zone in a grave situation," she said.

She said in a radio interview earlier that an uncontrolled bankruptcy of Greece, which could have a domino effect on other countries, must be prevented at any cost.

Therefore, everybody must be very careful in their choice of words.

"What we don't want is further turbulence in the financial markets," she said.

In spite of Merkel's criticism, Roesler on Tuesday renewed his call for an "orderly default" by Greece.

Germany wants Greece to remain in the euro zone, but that will be possible only when its economic efficiency is restored, Roesler told journalists in Berlin.

Roesler was supported by Wolfgang Bosbach, the parliamentary leader of Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), who said he did not rule out the possibility of a Greek debt default, even though that is not a political goal.

In a TV interview, he also criticised Merkel's handling of the euro zone debt crisis.

Merkel's coalition partner Horst Seehofer, the leader of the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), has also spoken in favour of an orderly Greek insolvency.

The split in Merkel's coalition over handling of the Greek debt crisis comes as she has been mobilising support from her coalition partners for a crucial parliamentary vote on expanding the EU's bail-out fund for euro zone nations at the end of this month.

Several MPs of her ruling coalition have threatened to vote against a bill endorsing a decision by the euro zone leaders on July 21 to expand the bail-out fund.

A trial vote last week showed that the coalition was still short of more than 20 votes from its own ranks for the Bill to pass and if that happens during the upcoming vote in the Bundestag, the government will be forced to step down and call a re-election two years before its current term expires.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble rejected calls for forcing Greece to leave the euro zone and urged the government in Athens to contribute to the stability of the common currency by fulfilling its commitments when it received a 110 billion euro bailout in May last year.

FIBA Asia Basketball Championship in China

Basketball team tip-off their campaign at 2011 FIBA Asia Basketball Championship in China

DELHI, SEPTEMBER 14, 2011: Led by Coach Kenny Natt, India’s Senior Men’s team kicks off its 26th FIBA Asia Basketball Championship (ABC) campaign tomorrow with a game against Lebanon at Hongshan. Pitting 16 of Asia’s top basketball playing nations against each other, the 26th FIBA ABC will be held in the city of Wuhan in China from September 15-25, 2011.

The Indian squad arrived in China on September 8^th and has since been participating in practice matches.

This championship will be the biggest challenge so far for India’s new American basketball coach Kenny Natt, formerly a head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Upon his departure, Natt said “I expect the Indian team to be competitive every night. We will concentrate on one game at a time. I know that we will be a well prepared squad and I aim that, through our performances, we can earn the respect of our opponents.”

India’s 12-player squad includes 15 year old basketball prodigy, Satnam Singh Bhamara, India’s youngest team member. Satnam, an IMG Reliance Scholar, trains at the IMG Basketball Academy in Florida, USA and made his debut with India’s senior team in the Middle Asia Zone Qualifying Round in July.

Mr. Harish Sharma, the CEO of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), expressed his enthusiasm for the upcoming competition. “The FIBA Asia Basketball Championship is always the biggest international challenge in the calendar for India’s senior side. We are confident that, led by our new coach, India will work hard in each game at the tournament against Asia’s best sides.”

India, who finished 13th in the previous FIBA ABC (held in 2009), qualified for this year’s tournament after winning the Middle Asia Zone Qualifying Round against SAARC teams in mid-July in New Delhi. India are ranked 50th in the FIBA World Rankings for Men.

India has been placed in Group A at the championship, along with 2007 runners-up Lebanon, Malaysia, and Korea. Other teams participating in the tournament are: Qatar, Uzbekistan, Chinese Taipei, reigning champions Iran, Japan, Indonesia, Syria, Jordan, Philippines, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and hosts China.

The Indian contingent will also consist of a coach, a trainer, and two FIBA referees for the tournament.

Preliminary Round Schedule for India:

-          15 Sep 2011, Thursday, 8 PM local (5:30 PM IST) : India vs. Lebanon

-          16 Sep 2011, Friday, 6 PM local (3:30 PM IST): India vs. Malaysia

-          17 Sep 2011, Saturday, 1:30 PM local (11:00 AM IST): India vs. Korea

The second round of the tournament is scheduled to begin on September 19^th, Monday, and the final round will be held from September 23^rd-25^th, 2011.

This is the roster that will represent India at the 26th FIBA Asia Basketball Championship:

Amrit Pal Singh (Punjab)

Amjyot Singh (Punjab)

Dishant Vipul Shah (Gujarat)

Hareesh Koroth (Tamil Nadu)

Jagdeep Singh Bains (Punjab)

Narender Grewal (Services)

Prakash Mishra (Indian Railways)

Satnam Singh Bhamara (IMG Academy / Punjab)

Talwinderjit Singh Sahi (Punjab)

Trideep Rai (Uttarakhand)

Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (Indian Railways)

Yadwinder Singh (Indian Railways)

Head Coach: Kenny Natt

Coach: Rajinder Singh

Trainer: Pawan Kumar

FIBA Referee: Amarjot Singh Mavi

FIBA Referee: Raj Narayan Patro

The contingent will be accompanied by Manager/Chef-de-Mission Mr. Om Prakash and Delegate Mr. Shakti Sinh Gohil

The tournament can be followed via the official website of Wuhan 2011 < http://wuhan2011.fibaasia.net/Default.aspx> and will be broadcast online on FIBA TV < http://www.fibatv.com/asia?WT.mc_id=oc_topbanner>

About 26th FIBA Asia Championship

Chirac faces corruption charges

Former French President Jacques Chirac and former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin received an estimated USD 20 million in illegal cash from West African leaders, a lawyer who claimed to be the go-between said today. Lawyer Robert Bourgi said he handed over suitcases filled with cash between 1995 and 2005, including USD 10 million from the leaders of Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Gabon and Republic of Congo for Chirac's 2002 presidential campaign. Both Villepin and Chirac's lawyers denounced the claims. The explosive allegations come as Chirac is on trial for unconnected corruption charges related to his years as Paris mayor, and as the campaign for next year's French presidential elections is heating up. The claims revived uncomfortable questions about France's cozy relations with autocratic regimes in its former African colonies.
In an interview today on Europe-1 radio, Bourgi said "the entirety of (France's) political class knew there was hidden financing." >Chirac's attorney, Jean Veil, has said the former French leader is going to press defamation charges against Bourgi, calling the timing of the claims is "at the very least suspicious, if not scandalChirac is already on trial on charges that fake Paris City Hall jobs were used to fund Chirac's conservative party during his tenure as Paris mayor.