NRI with suspected swine flu symptoms leaves hospital despite doctors' advice

NEW DELHI: A London-based NRI who was admitted to a Delhi hospital Saturday morning with suspected swine flu symptoms left the hospital on his

own despite doctors suggesting that he stay for three days, the doctors said.

The 35-year-old man was screened for influenza A (H1N1) (as swine flu is officially called) symptoms at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. After he was found to have a running nose, cough and throat irritation, he was admitted to the isolation ward of the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital.

Hospital Medical Superintendent N.K. Chaturvedi told IANS: "He left the hospital on the pretext of staying with his relatives in Delhi. We did try to tell him that the weather is very bad and he should stay in the hospital."

However, Chaturvedi said that the man did not have fever and doctors are of the view that he could test negative for the flu.

"We have collected his clinical samples and sent them to NICD (National Institute of Communicable Diseases) for laboratory tests. The report is expected within 24 hours," he said.

The hospital took down the address where the man planned to stay and his contact details of the man, Chaturvedi added. LINK...

BJP, Cong may stun SP, BSP; due to Gandhis

New Delhi: After three phases of polling, it appears the Congress and the BJP may well be doing better than expected in the key state of Uttar Pradesh with the potential losers being the SP and the BSP.

So has Rahul Gandhi's “go it alone” policy and BJP’s Hindutva slant clicked? Ground reports suggest so. Muslims, having turned their back on the Congress after the Babri demolition, are doing a rethink after Mulayam embraced Kalyan Singh.

The good news for BJP is that Brahmins are tiring of Mayawati's social engineering which has now begun targeting the Muslims.

It was Rahul's idea to walk it alone in the crucial state despite having taken the Samajwadi support during the trust vote. But a bitter SP thinks Rahul's romance with this idea will be shortlived.

There are smiles on BJP faces, having once boasted of big names from the state, the party was groping for a foothold. Now, after three phases of polling, the Hindutva strategy, which was not overplayed except in Pilibhit, may have clicked.

And as the Congress and the BJP prepare for the last two phases, it will be Gandhi versus Gandhi as Rahul and Varun take each other on. The national parties are relying on the same family tree to reap a harvest in Uttar Pradesh. LINK...

Lalu meets old friends in Pataliputra poll battle

The hands he had held once are now raising against him but RJD supremo Lalu Prasad seems unruffled about the battle against friends-turned-foes Ranjan Prasad Yadav of the JD(U) and Congress nominee Vijay Singh Yadav from Pataliputra. "I relied on him (Ranjan) but he betrayed my trust. I gave him the charge to improve the face of universities and higher educational institutions but he was a miserable failure.... Ranjan will be politically destroyed," Lalu said. Ranjan, a retired reader at Patna Science College, was once considered an alter ego of Lalu who had sent him to the Rajya Sabha twice in 1990 and 1996.

But Ranjan quit the RJD in 1998 after he had failed to persuade Lalu to replace Rabri Devi with him as the Chief Minister. The former RJD leader joined the LJP but again switched loyalty to JD(U) after its chief Ramvilas Paswan and Lalu joined hands for the polls. Similarly, current Congress contender Vijay Singh Yadav was elected to the Rajya Sabha because of Lalu's support.

Now a staunch critic of the RJD strongman, Ranjan is banking on development work of Nitish Kumar, making the polls seem a contest between Kumar and Lalu. But the RJD chief is unperturbed in the run-up to election on May 7. "This (the propaganda that voters are impressed with Kumar's development work) is nothing but a political conspiracy to influence voters," he said, asserting that the RJD-LJP-SP alliance would sweep the polls.

Nevertheless, Lalu is campaigning here vigourously and is addressing as many as 11-12 meetings a day. However, Ranjan feels he would dent Lalu's support base of Yadava and minority voters apart from getting support of an overwhelming majority of upper castes which has been voting for the NDA since the 1990s when reservation for the socially weaker sections was dramatically hiked.

On his part, Nitish Kumar too seems to be serious about a victory of the party's candidate here as he is touring every nook and cranny of the constituency, where the contest is expected to witness a photo-finish. On his campaign trail, the Chief Minister described Lalu, who was invited by B-schools abroad to deliver lectures on the turnaround of Indian Railways, as a "mismanagement guru" and asked the people to "bolt the gates to keep Lalu out of Parliament for a better Bihar under NDA".

Congress' Vijay Singh Yadav, the once self-styled lieutenant of Lalu, is desperately trying to make the contest a triangular one. He claims sizeable support from his community. Besides, he feels Muslims and upper castes too have veered towards his party after it broke ties with RJD-LJP. LINK...

Communists forgetting poor and the backward: Rahul

Keeping up the tirade against the CPI(M) on his second visit to West Bengal, AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi today accused it of "forgetting" the poor, the backward classes and minorities in the state.
"I am shocked. What kind of a communist government is this which forgets the poor, backward and minorities?" Gandhi asked at an election rally here, a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's attack on Left parties for their 'failure' to usher in development.

"This is my second visit to Bengal. When I first came here, I thought here is a government for the poor. But I was surprised to see that against eight lakh job cards, only 60 were given jobs (under the NREGS). While they were supposed to get 100 days work, they only got jobs for 17 days," he said.

The CPI(M), he said, had praised the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in Delhi, but failed to implement it in West Bengal.

Turning to the BJP-led NDA, Gandhi claimed that its slogan 'India Shining' had failed to reach the poor. "They have divided the country in two, with one part shining and the other consisting of the poor."

"In Bangalore, they are attacking women. In Orissa, they are attacking Christians," he alleged.

Describing the Congress-led UPA government as pro-poor and for dalits, adivasis, and minorities, Gandhi said it had fulfilled the promises made when it came to power five years ago.

"The UPA has implemented the 100-days work scheme in all states. It had started mid-day meals in all primary schools in the country. Not only has it waived Rs 70,000 crore in farm loans, it has enabled access of farmers to bank loans. It has also passed the Adivasi Bill, restoring to them the right of land," he said.

Accusing the Left-initiated Third Front of bringing 'political uncertainty' in the country, West Bengal PCC president Pranab Mukherjee said over the past 52 years, the Left parties managed to increase their tally from about 20 seats to only 60 seats in Parliament.

"They are now dreaming of forming the government and even taking the Prime Minister's post. But a party needs at least 272 seats to form the government. Those who took 52 (years) to reach a tally of only 60 seats...You can imagine how long will it will take for them to muster 272 (seats)," he said.

Mukherjee said even if the Third Front managed to form the government, it would not last for more than two years. "This would mean an unnecessary expenditure of Rs 112 crore." LINK...

Black money stashed abroad: Govt files affidavit in SC

NEW DELHI: Under pressure to bring back the black money stashed in Swiss bank accounts, the Centre on Saturday filed an in the Supreme 
Court on the issue. (Watch ) 

The Union government told the Supreme Court that it was doing everything on the issue of retrieving over Rs 70 trillion ($1.4 trillion) in black money believed to be stashed away in foreign by rich Indians. 

The government said this in an affidavit filed in the apex court in response to a lawsuit by former union law minister Ram Jethmalani, former Lok Sabha general secretary Subhash C Kashyap and former Punjab Police chief KPS Gill, which had sought the court's direction to the government to retrieve the unaccounted money. 

In its affidavit, the government termed the lawsuit as "politically motivated" and questioned the timing of its filing, in the midst of the general elections, and sought its dismissal. 

The Centre also told the apex court about the re-opening of the assessment of suspected cases. It further stated that it was monitoring the economic trend. 

Famous for its secret accounts, Swiss banks have highest deposits by Indians. The revelation came after Swiss banks were forced by the US and other Western countries to disclose the details of their nationals who maintain accounts with them. 

The issue was raked up by the main opposition party, the BJP and was used as their main poll plank in the ongoing General elections. LINK....