People wait in queue outside the H1N1 screening centre at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi on Tuesday. - Photo: R. V. Moorthy
Aarti Dhar
NEW DELHI: Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday asked the State Chief Ministers to step up preparedness to tackle swine flu.
Swine flu has caused the […]

Aftershocks felt in many cities in the south and east of the country 
Special Correspondent
CHENNAI/HYDERABAD: An earthquake of 7.8 magnitude was recorded in the region of Andaman islands with the epicentre 260 km north of Port Blair at about 1.25 a.m. on Tuesday, causing aftershocks in many cities in the southern and eastern parts […]

Siddhesh Inamdar
Mumbai: A 62-year-old woman from Thane and a 13-year-old girl from Pune have died of swine flu. Of the seven deaths caused by the infection in Maharashtra, five are from Pune, while one is from Mumbai and the other from Thane.
However, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s Executive Health Officer Jairaj Thanekar said here on Tuesday: […]

Sujay Mehdudia
NEW DELHI: Amid the bitter battle between the Ambani siblings over the KG Basin gas distribution, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry has written to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani would “harm” public interest.
The Ministry was responding to comments sought by […]

Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: At the tripartite talks held here on Tuesday, the Centre, the West Bengal government and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha agreed in principle to abolish the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council and set up an alternative administrative framework in Darjeeling.
The meeting also decided to appoint an interlocutor to carry forward the discussions and […]

People walk past the body of CPI(M) supporter Paritosh Mishra at Dheura village, 130 km west of Kolkata, on Tuesday. — Photo: AFP
Ananya Dutta
KOLKATA: Exchanges of fire between the security forces and Maoists were reported in the Lalgarh area of West Bengal’s Paschim Medinipur district on Tuesday, even as Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said […]

Mumbai Bureau
MUMBAI: Private hospitals in the city will assist the State government in screening and treating swine flu patients. This decision was taken after a meeting held with the Chief Secretary on Tuesday.
Director of Health Services D.S. Dakhure told The Hindu that most of the 19 hospitals which attended a meeting on Monday agreed […]

Meena Menon
MUMBAI: After initially insisting that only those diagnosed with swine flu must take Tamiflu, since Monday the Maharashtra government has been giving the tablets to those whose throat swabs were taken at screening centres.
The city, meanwhile, has a shortage of surgical masks as people are buying them up in panic.
Additional Chief Secretary (Health) […]

 Staff Reporter
HYDERABAD: Just as the organisers of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) championship were heaving a sigh of relief after taking all precautions against a perceived threat from terror attacks, they found themselves grappling with the swine flu scare.
On Monday, a coach of a team had to be sent for tests after he developed […]

Legal Correspondent
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday attributed the spurt in prices of essential commodities to the monsoon failure in many States, expressed concern over the plight of the common man and directed the Centre and States to take short-term measures to solve water problem on a war- footing.
A Bench of Justices Markandey […]