New Delhi, June 11
The USA today reiterated that a solution to the Jammu and Kashmir issue must take into account the aspirations of the people of Kashmir and reassured New Delhi that it was pushing Pakistan hard to act firmly and bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

Capping his official engagements, visiting US Under Secretary of State William Burns today handed over a personal letter from his President to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in which Barack Obama committed himself to broadening and deepening relations with India.

Addressing a press conference here this evening, Burns declined to give details of the letter, saying “it’s a private letter’’. However, official sources said it was a brief letter in which Obama reiterated the importance Washington attached to further strengthening relations with India and invited Manmohan Singh to visit the USA. Burns, the highest ranking US official to visit India after the general elections, did not agree with suggestions that the Obama administration was applying pressure on India to resume dialogue with Pakistan.

Admitting that the issue did figure prominently during his talks with Indian leaders, he said, “The USA has always believed that there should be better relations between India and Pakistan. The pace, scope and character of the relationship has to be decided by the two countries.’’

It was for the leaderships of India and Pakistan to decide how and when they wished to resume dialogue, he emphasised while drawing attention to the Prime Minister’s “eloquent statement” in Parliament on the issue on Tuesday.

Burns, who also held meetings with Leader of the Opposition LK Advani and National Security Adviser MK Narayanan during the course of the day, sought to ally the apprehension that the much-touted nuclear deal was not high on the agenda of the Obama administration.

Denying reports suggesting that Washington was dithering on starting negotiations for the reprocessing agreement, the top American diplomat Washington was determined to ask the people concerned to begin negotiations before the end of July.

On defence ties, he said Washington was hopeful of soon signing a contentious end-user verification agreement relating to military hardware.

There was no stumbling block either in the conclusion of the technology safeguards agreement, which would be signed shortly. He said he had held “excellent” discussions with his Indian interlocutors on a whole range of issues, including defence, science and technology and education.

New Delhi, June 11
India and the USA today agreed to set up a joint working group in education headed by HRD Minister Kapil Sibal and his counterpart in the USA.

This decision was taken today at a meeting held between Sibal and William J Burns, under secretary, political affairs, US state development. Burns, accompanied by Indian ambassador to the US Meera Shankar, met the HRD Minister today.

The group will meet once every year alternately in India and the USA and will focus on institutional linkages in the field of secondary education, higher education and vocational education. The US side expressed keen interest in pursuing a bilateral education dialogue with India for fruitful cooperation in the field of education.

Sibal, while interacting with the US delegation, said the 21st century would be a knowledge century and India, with its young population, would be a major provider of trained workforce to the world.

Adding that he was looking forward to cooperating with the USA in education, the HRD Minister underlined that one of his focus areas would be bringing up the gross enrolment ratio to even beyond 15 as envisaged in this plan. He also said fly by night operators would not be tolerated in the education sector.

India tops the list of countries sending students to the USA for studies. Nearly 90,000 students annually go to the USA from India for studies, as per estimates available in recent years.

New Delhi, June 11
India today reported four fresh cases of novel Influenza H1N1 virus, including two women, taking the total number of confirmed infections to 15.

Among the new patients, three travelled to India from the US in recent days, while one came from London. Incidentally, the Health Minister had, only yesterday, asked the Foreign Ministry to prevail upon the US authorities to exit screen outbound passengers to India.

The youngest person in the freshly-affected lot is an 18-year-old male, who returned to India from Boston on June 7. He self-reported his symptoms at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, the nodal agency for the swine flu treatment, where he has been isolated. Another passenger, a 25-year old-female, travelling from New York to Delhi, reported with fever and cough on June 9 and tested positive today. The third case involves a 41-year old-male, who returned to Goa from London, while transiting Mumbai on June 4. He was quarantined with symptoms of the novel flu and is currently in isolation at an identified health facility at Chiklim in Goa.

The second female to test positive for the deadly virus is a 41-year-old, who travelled from Haiti, transiting New York, and reached Delhi on June 5 by an Air India flight.

All family and social contacts of these passengers are being traced and provided chemoprophylaxis, said Health Ministry sources, who are on the lookout for passengers seated in the vicinity of those infected.

Details of such passengers have been obtained from the airlines concerned. Besides, Assam today sounded a high alert after swine flu symptoms were found in a local woman, who is yet to be confirmed for the infection.

Patna, June 11
It was a birthday with a difference. There was neither any band playing the popular Hindi numbers nor the huge cakes and garlands to mark the occasion. RJD chief Lalu Yadav’s birthday celebrated by his family and party workers on Thursday was indeed a low-key affair.

Though Lalu is 62 now, it was his first birthday out of power. Notably, Lalu started celebrating his birthday only after becoming the CM of Bihar in 1990. Prior to that, no body, not even his wife and children knew about his birthday. By his own admissions, Lalu still does not know his actual date of birth. “It was only after I became the CM, my supporters started celebrating it on June 11 every year which is my date of birth as per the school-leaving certificate. I also join them in the celebrations since then,” Lalu told newsmen here today.

In course of time, Lalu’s birthday celebrations became a mega affair for his party and supporters. In the beginning the ‘birthday boy’ was treated and branded as reincarnation of Lord Krishna on this day and subsequently it acquired political overtones with his supporters projecting him as a symbol of communal amity and his birthday being celebrated as the communal harmony day. Huge cakes with temple, mosque and church made on them, depicting communal union, were cut by the RJD chief.

After he became the Railway Minister, the authorities of the department arranged cakes in the shape of rail engines every year. Needless to say, Lalu enjoyed every bit of attention and remained fully involved in the celebrations.

But now out of power, he celebrated his birthday by visiting a temple along with Rabri Devi and cut a simple cake at his home.

Kochi, June 11
The CBI today filed a charge sheet against CPM Kerala Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan in a graft case amid a deepening intra-party feud with a defiant Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan refusing to toe the line of the party that has backed the beleaguered former minister.

After receiving Governor RS Gavai’s sanction four days ago to prosecute 69-year-old Vijayan overruling the state cabinet recommendation, the CBI filed the 11-page chargesheet in a special court here, naming Vijayan and eight others as accused in the case.

Vijayan, the first CPM Politburo member to face prosecution for alleged corruption, has been charged under IPC sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) and section 13 (1) and 13 (2) of Prevention of Corruption Act in the case regarding award of contracts to Canadian company SNC-Lavalin for renovating three hydro power projects in 1998 when he was the power minister in the EK Nayanar government.

The 11-year-old politically sensitive case relates to alleged corruption with regard to award of consultancy and renovation contracts of Panniyar, Shengulam and Pallivasai hydel projects allegedly causing a loss of about Rs 374.5 crore to the state exchequer.

The agency submitted over 300 documents in four steel trunks to the CBI special court, Ernakulam. According to the CBI, Vijayan, during his tenure as power minister from 1996 to 1998, allegedly colluded with others, joined criminal conspiracy to favour SNC-Lavalin by awarding contracts for renovation of the projects. — PTI

New Delhi, June 11
The Indian Government today said it would be lodging a protest with China against fake anti-malarial ‘Made in India” drugs detained by Nigerian authorities, as the consignments which originated from China was damaging the Indian pharmaceutical industry.

“Taking serious note of the action by scrupulous elements to malign the Indian generic pharma industry, the Indian embassy in Beijing has been requested to lodge a strong protest with concerned Chinese authorities and also to impress upon them to take stringent action against such scrupulous elements,” a Commerce Ministry statement said.

The Nigerian Government Drug Regulatory Authority (NAFDAC) has reported the detention of a large consignment of fake anti-malarial generic pharmaceuticals labelled “Made in India”, but produced in China. — ANI

New Delhi, June 11
Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khursheed said today that the government would make all possible efforts to implement the recommendations of the Sachar committee on the status of the Muslims in India. He, however, added that reservations needed to be sensibly granted.

At his first meeting with members of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) here today, the minister took note of all burning issues concerning minoritie. The minister also said he would try to revive the bill seeking constitutional status for the NCM, on the lines of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes. Pending for long, the bill was introduced in the 14th Lok Sabha but lapsed with its dissolution.

“The minister assured us that he will do his best to revive the bill, which is a must if the NCM is to be strengthened. Right now, it is a toothless body, with no one obliged to implement its directions,” said HS Hanspal, member of the commission.

Another sensitive demand that Khursheed heeded to was the matter of equity in the compensation offered to riot victims across India. So far, there is no uniformity in who is to be given what and in what share of the state government and Central government contribution.