Swine flu toll crosses 1,000 with 40 more deaths; 18,000 affected

New Delhi: Swine flu deaths have breached the 1,000 mark with 40 more people succumbing to the H1N1 virus while the number of those affected crossed 18,000 on Friday with the government admitting that it was facing a shortage of laboratories for testing of the disease.

According to health ministry, the total number of deaths due to swine flu has reached 1,005, while the number of those affected was 18,105 till on Thursday.

Responding to questions on the issue in the Lok Sabha, health minister JP Nadda said, "We have 21 laboratories for testing swine flu. But that is not enough. We are planning to set up H1N1 testing laboratories in every state of the country and financial provisions are being made for it."

Meanwhile, eight more people have succumbed to swine flu in Rajasthan in the past two days, raising the toll to 251 in the state, a health department official said.

The number of deaths in Gujarat till Thursday was 247, while 3,950 were affected.

Two more deaths and 27 new cases of swine flu have been reported in Telangana, where the number of deaths due to the virus stands at 56 as on date.

While Madhya Pradhesh reported 143 deaths due to swine flu, 125 died in Maharashtra. In Delhi, the number of deaths stood at 10, while 2,708 people have been affected.

An army jawan posted at the Akhnoor-based Crossed Swords Division was among those who died of swine flu in Jammu and Kashmir where seven deaths have been reported so far.

"Soldier Havildar Dangar Bavan Danabhai, who was serving under Crossed Swords Division, died of swine flu at the Military Hospital in Satwari today," Jammu-based defence spokesman Lt Col Manish Mehta said.

The government, meanwhile, asserted that it was "very serious" on combating the challenge and asked people not to panic but be alert.

The Centre has sent one 1,000 Oseltamivir to Assam government to deal with possible outbreak of the seasonal influenza virus and these have been sent to the relevant treatment centres, a senior health official said.

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Delhi govt issues more than 15,000 learners' license

New Delhi: Delhi government issued over 15,000 learners’ license to e-rickshaw drivers during a seven-day special camp.

Transport minister Gopal Rai said that a total of 19,864 applicants were registered and 15,742 learning licenses have been issued in the facilitation camps for E-rickshaws by the department.

Government today decided to continue issuing licenses and registration process in all the 13 MLO offices across the national capital.

“Transport department has successfully completed the 7- day camp for issuing learner’s license and registration of E-rickshaws.

The camps begun on February 23,” he said.

The minister also said that there was “enormous” response from E-rickshaws owners and drivers for getting their licenses and huge crowds were also seen at all department’s regional offices.

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Mumbai:Family Rehearsed Suicide for 5 Days

On the day mid-day reported that a family of four in Andheri (West) had carefully scripted and shot their suicide videos before hanging themselves on Friday night, the Oshiwara police have discovered that the deceased had been rehearsing their deaths and their last words since five days before they were found dead.

The police continues to be baffled by the case since brother-sister duo, Bharti Pal (25) and Somnath Kartik Pal (20), were found hanging in their employer's flat in Oshiwara on February 20, and their mother (Sikha Pal) and stepfather (Manoj Ajitkumar Patel) were found similarly dead in their apartment in Lokhandwala the next morning.

Rape?

Each of them left behind one-minute suicide notes on video, on a mobile phone that was bought on January 15 and was found near the mother's body. Bharti, in her video, said that her employer, Tinku Singh, would frequently sexually assault her, and had even proposed marriage to her. She said this had driven her to the extreme step.  

Her brother said the same, and added that Singh would also beat him up at times. Singh was arrested for molestation and abetment of suicide based on the suicide notes, and he then told the police that Bharti was like his sister and he did not touch her.

In a later statement, however, Singh confessed that he liked Bharti and would kiss and touch her, but had never had sex with her. But according to Bharti's post-mortem report, although there was no indication of rape, she was sexually active.

This has led cops to wonder: is Singh lying about his relations with Bharti, or did she have a boyfriend? The police is now making efforts to unlock Bharti's phone and to check the call records of all four family members to see whether she had a boyfriend, and also to determine whether they were pushed to commit suicide by a fifth person.

Trial runs

Yesterday, this paper reported that all four deceased seemed to be reading their suicide notes from a script and it also seemed like they had recorded each other's clips.

After a more detailed scan of the mobile phone, the police found more videos in which the family members are seen 'rehearsing' their last words. All four had been practising their suicide messages at least five days in advance, the police concluded from their changing garb in each of the clips.

While Bharti and her brother were found hanging from hooks in a bedroom in their employer's flat in Oshiwara, their mother and stepfather were found hanging from hooks in their Lokhandwala flat's kitchen. But, the investigating team also found two extra hooks in the passageway of the Lokhandwala flat, and suspect that this was where they practised taking their lives.

Cops believe that the hooks in the passageway were placed too close together, which is why the brother-sister duo decided to commit suicide at their employer's house instead. They are now trying to find out what exactly happened during those five days of rehearsal, as all the furniture in the Lokhandwala flat's entire living room had been cleared out, leaving only a wooden temple and a wall clock.

A police officer from the Oshiwara police station said, "The kitchen has a fridge, which was also empty. The dustbin had been emptied and washed, and just a stack of newspapers was lying in the corner of the room." The police officers have now asked for the CCTV recordings of the building to find out who moved the furniture of the house or who visited the couple in the five days of their planning.

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Swine flu claims 51 more lives, over 16,000 affected

New Delhi: As many as 51 more people have died due to swine flu in the country raising the toll to 926 even as the number of those affected by the H1N1 virus breached the 16,000 mark today.

 According to collated data from the Health Ministry till February 24 this year, the total number of deaths due to the disease has reached 926 while the number of affected persons in various states stood at 16,235.

 The Health Ministry data yesterday had showed that 875 people had died due to the disease while 15,413 people had been affected with the H1N1 virus.

The maximum toll was reported from Rajasthan, which has been the worst affected state, with 234 deaths till February 24 while the number of affected persons has risen to 4,884.In Gujarat, the death toll due to the disease has reached 231 while 3527 people have been affected by it.

As many as 127 people have perished due to the disease in Madhya Pradesh while the number of affected persons in the state stood at 716.

In Maharashtra, the death toll has risen to 112 while the number of affected persons was 1,221. Telangana, Karnataka and Punjab too have witnessed 54, 39 and 38 deaths respectively.

In Delhi, the Health Ministry said that although the number of deaths is eight, there has been a rise in the number of affected persons which currently stood at 2,456.

Assuring that the government was taking a serious view of the issue, Health Minister J P Nadda warned people to be careful but said there was no need for panic as medicines and facilities to tackle the disease were in place.

While responding to members’ concerns in the Rajya Sabha, Nadda said the government would leave no stone unturned to tackle the issue while assuring that there was no shortage of medicines and swine flu testing facilities were being provided free of cost at specified government hospitals.  

Upping the ante against the government over the rising death toll due to swine flu, Congress accused it of approaching the issue in a “casual manner”.

“Health Min statement on SwineFlu confirms our fear that government is taking a casual approach on a issue that qualifies as a public health crisis,” tweeted Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

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Pan-India Mobile Number Portability from May 3, Trai amends regulation

New Delhi: Mobile subscribers from May 3 will be able to port their numbers anywhere in the country while changing service providers, as telecom regulator Trai has amended the regulation on it.

Mobile Number Portability (MNP) currently allows consumers to change their service provider while retaining the same number only within a telecom circle, which in most cases, is limited to a State.

A person, for instance, while shifting from Delhi to Chennai will be able to retain the same mobile number while selecting a service provider.
  
In a statement on Wednesday, Trai said it has "...issued sixth amendment to the Telecommunication Mobile Number Portability Regulation, 2009, which will facilitate full Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in the country, with effect from May 3, 2015."
  
The Department of Telecom had on November 3 issued amendments to MNP licence agreement stating that MNP is to be implemented across the country within a period of six months from the date of amendment of the licences.
  
"Accordingly, the Authority has made the Sixth Amendment to the MNP Regulations effective from 3rd May 2015," Trai said.

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