Three terrorists of the Jaish-e-Mohammed were killed in an encounter on Tuesday in the militancy-infested Tral area.

SRINAGAR: Three terrorists of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) were killed in an encounter on Tuesday in the militancy-infested Tral area of south Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir Police chief Dilbagh Singh said here.

He said two of the three militants killed could be foreign terrorists.

“Further details will be available once the operation ends,” he said.

The police chief said that this module of Jaish was involved in the killing of two brothers from the nomadic Gujjar (nomad) community in August this year.

Some ‘shortcomings’ had been noticed after which re-polling was ordered in these booths.

CHANDIGARH: Re-polling was underway in five polling booths in as many assembly constituencies of Haryana on Wednesday.

Some “shortcomings” had been noticed after which re-polling was ordered in these booths, state’s joint chief electoral officer Dr Inder Jeet had said on Tuesday.

The re-polling is being held in booth number 71 of Uchana Kalan Assembly constituency in Jind district, 161 of Beri constituency in Jhajjar district, 28 of Narnaul Assembly constituency in Narnaul district, 18 of Kosli in district Rewari and booth number 113 of Prithla in Faridabad district, officials said.

Re-polling began at 7 am and will end at 6 pm on Wednesday.

Polling to 90 Assembly seats was held in Haryana on Monday.

Results will be declared on Thursday.

The BJP working president J P Nadda on Tuesday held a strategy meeting with party general secretaries to prepare for the prospects of Jharkhand and Delhi Assembly polls. 

NEW DELHI: The BJP working president J P Nadda on Tuesday held a strategy meeting with party general secretaries to prepare for the prospects of Jharkhand and Delhi Assembly polls. 

The EC is likely to announce poll dates for Jharkhand soon, while the political circle is abuzz with speculations that Delhi elections could be advanced. The BJP poll machinery is already in an overdrive in Jharkhand. The state chief minister Raghubar Das has already concluded his yatra, which was started from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) stronghold

Nadda is learnt to have discussed with party general secretaries about the organisational programmes in the two states to gear the outfit for elections. While the BJP will seek to retain power in Jharkhand, the saffron outfit would be aiming to wrest power in Delhi from Aam Admi Party. The BJP, incidentally, has been out of power in Delhi since 1998. 

The BJP is working to launch a spirited campaign in Delhi where AAP is seen to have taken initiative with campaigns around city government’s programmes. With the Congress facing a daunting task to build organisation in the city, the BJP is bracing up for the prospects of an almost direct contest with AAP. 
Nadda also reviewed the preparations for the organisational elections, which would conclude with the poll to elect the new president of the party in December. 

The BJP is aiming to wrap up district and state level organisational elections by next month by which at least half of the members of the national council of the outfit would be elected to pave way for the national elections.

Shivakumar was arrested by the ED on September 3 in a money laundering case and is lodged in Tihar jail under judicial custody

NEW DELHI:  Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday morning met Karnataka Congress leader D K Shivakumar in Tihar jail and assured him of all support from the party.

Shivakumar, 57, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on September 3 in a money laundering case

He is lodged in Tihar jail under judicial custody.

Gandhi was accompanied by Congress general secretary Ambika Soni and Congress MP D K Suresh, who is also the brother of Shivakumar.

Talking to reporters here, Suresh said the Congress president assured Shivakumar that the party is with him and will stand in his support.

Gandhi told Shivakumar that this is a case of “political vendetta” and other Congress leaders are also being targeted like this by the BJP government at the Centre, he said.

“We have to fight them and come out of this,” Suresh said, quoting the Congress president.

Shivakumar, a seven-time MLA in Karnataka, was booked along with Haumanthaiah — an employee at Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi — and others for alleged offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The case was based on a charge sheet filed by the Income Tax Department against them last year before a special court in Bengaluru on charges of alleged tax evasion and ”hawala” transactions worth crores or rupees.

Earlier, Gandhi had met former finance minister P Chidambaram when he was lodged in Tihar Jail in connection with the INX Media case.

The government has asked the tea garden owners not to sell off their estates to foreign companies but instead focus on branding the Assam tea.

GUWAHATI: Assam Industry Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary on Wednesday said the state’s tea industry is in a “very bad shape” with many gardens being sold to companies in West Asia. He said the crisis-ridden tea sector in the state is not able to get remunerative price in overseas markets with lack of linkages.

“We have asked the tea garden owners not to sell off their estates to foreign companies but instead focus on branding the Assam tea,” the minister said during an interaction with media persons here.

Most of the tea being sold at the Dubai Tea Park is from Assam and other countries like Sri Lanka and Kenya but they have been branded with different names, he said. “Our tea is not getting the due price and recognition in the international markets”, he said.

Patowary said the state government has already announced zero cess for the tea industry and will soon meet its representatives to find a solution to the problems.

The minister said the Assam government is setting up a tea park at Chaygaon in Kamrup district and has also asked companies to become partners so that they can get better international market linkages. “Assam tea is not getting a favourable competitive price in the international markets mainly due to lack of proper branding and international linkages,” he said.

The minister said that plucking of Assam tea is considered to be the best in the world as it is done manually while most of the other tea- producing countries use machines for the purpose. The state government would also engage a third party such as the IIM, IIT or Tea Research Institute to conduct a study for better management, marketing, technical support, packaging and design, he added.

Fadnavis said the BJP manifesto, released on Tuesday, promises to set up a financial development corporation (arthik vikas mahamandal) for open category students.

NAGPUR: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said his government is committed to the welfare of all sections of the society and referred to a scheme in the BJP manifesto wherein students from an open category would get scholarships to study abroad.

Fadnavis, addressing an election rally in his assembly constituency Nagpur South-West, said open category students will not suffer due to reservation to members of disadvantaged social groups in educational institutes.

“In our manifesto along with introducing various welfare schemes for all sections of the society, the BJP has also announced schemes for open category students who do not get any reservations,” he said.

“The open category will get the same number of seats which it used to get prior to 2018 (when Maratha quota was implemented).

The number of seats will be increased and restored in various institutions (to pre-quota level).

“Hence, there will be no injustice to open category, OBC or students from any other section of the society,” said Fadnavis, who is seeking re-election from Nagpur South-West in the October 21 assembly polls.

Fadnavis said the BJP manifesto, released on Tuesday, promises to set up a financial development corporation (arthik vikas mahamandal) for open category students.

“Through this corporation, open category students will also get scholarships for studying in foreign universities,” informed the chief minister.

Mediation panel report lists conditions to withdraw title claim; bench to study it today.

NEW DELHI: In a new twist to the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit, a three-member mediation panel claimed to have broken new ground, saying an important section of the litigating parties had agreed on some contentious issues, including giving up rights on the disputed land. 

In its report to the Supreme Court, the panel headed by former Supreme Court judge F M I Kalifullah, which includes senior advocate Sriram Panchu and spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravishankar, said one of the primary Muslim litigants in the title case was willing to drop its claim on the disputed 2.77 acre land if adequate alternative land is given for the construction of a mosque in the vicinity at state expenditure, according to sources.

That apart, the Muslim party demanded renovation of 22 existing mosques in Ayodhya, the sources added. Also, they wanted the government to allow devotees to offer prayers at some historic mosques where no such activity is permitted because the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) has declared them to be protected monuments.

According to sources, bundled into the proposal was another demand by the Muslim party for the implementation of the Religious Places Act, 1991, which mandates maintaining status quo of other religious places as they existed in 1947.

The Hindu parties, including the VHP-backed Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas and the Ram Lalla deity, refused to be part the mediation, the sources said.

The mediation process restarted last month on the request of the Sunni Wakf Board after the panel had earlier expressed its inability to resolve the dispute. The panel’s report is expected to be discussed on Thursday by all the five judges of the Constitution bench — Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer — in their chambers. 

While the bench reserved its verdict, it can still go ahead and adjudicate on the issue and mention the details of the report in its judgment. The verdict is likely to be delivered on or before Nov 15, Gogoi’s last working day before he retires on Nov 17.

Taking a jibe at previous TDP govt, Andhra CM hails his party for working on pending irrigation projects in the State

NELLORE:  Reiterating that the welfare of farmers remains his government’s priority, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday said his government will provide nine-hour power supply to agriculture in the morning time across the state by July next year. Already, 60 per cent of villages being provided with nine hours free power, he said and added the government will spend Rs 1,700 crore to cover the remaining feeders. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who had launched YSR Rythu Bharosa – PM Kisan financial assistance scheme to farmers in Nellore, also said unlike previous TDP government which benefitted contractors in the name of irrigation projects, his government will complete all the pending irrigation projects in the State.

Launching the flagship programme on the eve of World Food Day, Jagan Mohan Reddy played the visuals of the YSRC’s plenary way back in July 2017 where he announced the scheme, and said he had stood by his promise by depositing the investment support amount to farmers directly to their bank accounts. 

“In the plenary held on July 8, 2017, I announced that `50,000 would be given to farmers as investment support in the month of May as Rythu Bharosa and during the 3,648 km padayatra and the subsequent brainstorming with Farmers’ Associations and others, it was improvised further and the quantum of the package was increased to `67,500 and is being paid eight months in advance,’’ Jagan said adding that a farmer will get an additional `17,500 benefit with the enhanced assistance and also by implementing it eight months in advance.

The scheme will benefit 54 lakh farmers, including tenant farmers, and the amount to be paid is split into `4,000 ahead of rabi in October, ` 7,500 before Kharif and `2,000 during Sankranti festival. “The survey done during the previous government was faulty and has recorded 43 lakh farmers. We have screened the data and arrived at the figure of 54 lakh farmer families and the number might go further as the process is still counting,’’ Jagan said. Eligible farmers, including tenant farmers, can register and claim the benefit till November 15. 

On the promise to provide nine-hour free power supply to farmers, Jagan said nearly 60 percent of areas the feeders are good while in the remaining 40 percent there is a need for repairs. “Nine hour power supply is being provided in 60 percent villages and `1,700 crores are sanctioned to upgrade the feeders and by July all farmers will be getting nine-hour free power supply,’’ he assured.

Jagan, on the aspect of Jalayagnam, said that his government will complete all the pending irrigation projects at the earliest unlike the previous government which used the construction of projects to mint money from contractors. Besides Rythu Bharosa cheques, the Chief Minister had also given a cheque towards ex gratia for loss of livestock amounting  `8,25,000.  

Agriculture minister K Kanna Babu, Home minister M Sucharitha, Irrigation minister Dr P Anil Kumar Yadav, IT Minister M Goutham Reddy, TTD Board Chairman Y V Subba Reddy, Nellore MP Adala Prabhakar Reddy, District Collector M V Seshagiri Babu and others were also present.  

Optimal treatment and new drugs expected to save more lives

By David Bodapati

Bengaluru, 14 Oct 2019: A diminutive middle-aged woman, Pari Yusuf, woke up in the middle of the night and sat down on her bed. Frightening dreams and illusions are not new to her. “Suddenly, I was sweating and found myself in the middle of a huge raging fire. I was shouting for help and had no where to go. I woke up abruptly, and then everything seemed ok in a few minutes,” she said.

“Long back, I used to get these kind of illusions but the intensity seems to be more with the TB drugs,” she recalled. Pari (name changed) is living with HIV for over 15 years and survived drug-resistant Tuberculosis (TB). Later on due to side effects and other opportunistic infections, she literally recovered from her days on the death bed at the government Victoria hospital in Bengaluru, four years back. “These illusions and dreams are a part of the side effects of the drugs I had to take. I used to get these when I started ART (antiretroviral therapy) a decade ago. But now some of the TB drugs too have such side effects,” she explained. “Some of the injected DR-TB durgs can be brutal and can cause complete hearing loss,” she added.

Now Pari, who hails from a rural district in Karnataka, is an activist fighting for the cause of people living with HIV and TB. She fully supports the `TB Harega, Desh Jeetega’ campaign which was launched on Septemeber 25 by the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, who also released the TB India Report 2019 and introduced the all-important, all-oral treatment regimen for Multi-drug resistant TB. But she feels that more needs to be done in terms of providing care after initiation of new drugs and providing access in rural and remote areas.

The Minister announced the roll out of an all-oral MDR regimen across the country based on providing access to one of the two new drugs – Bedaquiline or Delamanid  to replace  the injectable in the treatment regimen. The new all-oral treatment for drug-resistant TB is a welcome development as India. According to WHO’s Global TB Report 2018, the estimated number of DR-TB in India is 135,000, accounting for one-fourth of the global burden.

The all-oral treatment represents hope for people with DR-TB and their caregivers because they offer better cure rates and a fewer side effects. The World Health Organisation’s treatment guidelines prioritise the use of newer drugs as part of all-oral regimens for the treatment of MDR-TB and XDR-TB.

MSF urges more countries to make the switch from older, toxic treatments that need to be injected to all-oral regimens that contain the newer drugs, including bedaquiline and delamanid. “These newer drugs are critical to improving the otherwise abysmal cure rates of 55% and 34% for MDR-TB and XDR-TB, respectively. “Use of the newer TB drugs is also urgently needed for children with MDR-TB in order to improve treatment outcomes and reduce the risks of side effects,” Ms Yusuf says.

Treatment regimens for multidrug-resistant/rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/RR-TB) and  extremely drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) have long consisted of toxic drugs, including those that cause psychosis and hearing loss. Treatment outcomes for people with MDR-TB and XDR-TB have remained unacceptably low for many years for numerous reasons, including drug toxicity, lack of new effective drugs, long treatment durations, and failure to put people at the centre of their care. Such treatments had a high pill burden, long treatment duration (of up to two years), painful daily injections (for up to eight months), and severe side effects (due to toxic drugs). The treatment success rates were only 55% for people with MDR TB) and 34% for people with XDR-TB.

A group of people affected by DR TB, and from different health organisation and People Living with HIV have made a representation to the Health Ministry last December to minimise injectible drugs and scale up all-oral new drugs for DR TB. They are happy that finally the government announced the switch to all-oral treatment which can save more lives with optimal treatment. But they feel that scaling up only Bedaquiline will not help and call for including access to Delamanid too, particularly for patients who have pre-XDR and XDR TB. In addition they call for adequate Drug Sensitivity Testing (DST) facilities throughout the country.

The new all-oral DR-TB regimens are a strong step in the right direction but they should be followed up to provide people with safer and more tolerable treatment, improve treatment outcomes and prevent unnecessary deaths. Importantly, the new all-oral regimens can also facilitate an evolution to a model of care that empowers people and supports them to complete treatment with less disruption to their lives. The benefits of implementing the new all-oral long regimen is very clear but having launched the switch, now the government must make a political commitment for sufficient financing, adequate healthcare worker training, policy updates and multi-sectoral engagement. The National programme should also keep in mind the access to treatment and drugs in rural and remote regions as well as guard against stock-outs which have become frequent in many states like Jharkhand and even in cities like Mumbai.

Now that the programme makes a shift to the all-oral treatment regimen to progress to the MDG goal by 2025, two things that need urgent attention are issuing a circular for minimising and removal of injectable from the Programmatic Managment of drug-resistant TB (PMDT), and making greater efforts to scale up universal Drug Susceptibility Testing (DST) as lack of quality assured testing facilities is a major barrier for DR-TB patients to access safer, effective and rational DR-TB regimens. As per CTD India Report 2018, only  257 of the 712 districts undertake DST on TB samples (2018).

Dr Vardhan says, “We are on track to achieve our target of a TB-free India by 2025, much ahead of the global target of 2030.” For that to happen our programme implementation should be made more robust without allowing any complacency to creep in. But the need of the hour is to attack DR TB with full force.