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Railways to launch non-stop trains

Indian Railways will add one more feather to its cap when it launches its new class of passenger carrying ’Duronto’ trains on the next Friday.

’Duronto’ will be the first ever non-stop superfast passenger carrying train in the history of the Railways promising better speed, comfort and security for passengers.

’Duronto’ trains will be non-stop and take passenger from end to end. It means that passengers will not be allowed to embark or disembark at the intermediate stations.

’Duronto’ will be of two types, one is fully air-conditioned reserved train and other is air-conditioned and non air –conditioned combo reserved train. Outer colour scheme and design of ’Duronto’ coaches is distinct from the entire population of coaches of Indian Railways. The fare of the ’Duronto’ trains will include the cost of meals.

The introduction of this class of trains was announced for the first time in the Railway Budget 2009-10 speech delivered in the Parliament by the Minister of Railways Mamata Banerjee in July this year.

Mamata Banerjee will flag off the first train in this series at Sealdah station in West Bengal on Sept 18. The train will reach New Delhi next day.

The second ’Duronto’ train will be flagged-off by the Minister of Home Affairs P.Chidambram from Chennai on same day and it will reach Nizamuddin Railway Station, the next day .

Cong to wait for ’emotions to cool’ before deciding Jagan issue

New Delhi, Sep 11 : The Congress leadership would wait for emotions to cool down before deciding on the issue of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, senior Congress leader and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today hinted and said the party would take an ’appropriate decision at appropriate time.’

’’It is not a big issue. Sometimes such things happen,’’ Mr Mukherjee said while reacting to the vociferous demand made by most Andhra Pradesh MLAs that former Chief Minister Y S R Reddy’s son Jagan Mohan Reddy be appointed as his successor.

Stating that no decision has been taken yet about the next Chief Minister, Mr Mukherjee, however, hoped that the matter be resolved and a way out would be found.

’’It is very unfortunate that Andhra Pradesh lost a tall leader and Chief Minister who was at his Zenith. Emotional upset is there.

I do hope that it will be possible for the leadership to find a way out, for the Congress legislature Party to choose and select the next leader. It may take sometime but it will resolve. Nothing has been decided as yet,’’ he said while interacting to members of Indian Women’s Press Corps here.

Regarding the demand that Jagan Mohan Reddy be made the Chief Minister, he said, emotionally upset by Mr Y S R Reddy’s untimely death, some people have suggested it on the basis of popular acceptability, but ’’sense has to be brought’’. The Congress will take appropriate decision to this at appropriate time, he added.

Asked about the possibility of Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy being made the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Mukherjee jokingly quipped ’’you people are giving ideas.’’ Asked whether Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy be made the Chief Minister or not, he said, ’’I am neither ruling out anything, nor ruling in.’’

--UNI

Will Chiru join Congress?

While Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu showed his utter disregard for late Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy at the condolence meeting held at Ravindra Bharati on Friday, Praja Rajyam Party president Chiranjeevi presented a completely contrasting picture.

Chiranjeevi’s speech was more like that of a Congress leader and a die-hard YSR loyalist, rather than that of an opposition leader. He lavished praises on YSR and his leadership abilities, saying he had never seen such a mass leader in the past or would see in future. The PRP president recalled every moment of his association with YSR including his smile, his friendly appearance and his daring nature. He even recalled how he travelled along with YSR from Kadapa to Hyderabad, bypassing Nallamala forests.

One wondered whether Chiranjeevi has any plans to join the Congress, as he was asking everybody to carry forward the programmes and policies of YSR and follow his leadership. “I feel fortunate to be associated with him in assembly. It was an education to listen to his speeches, observe his style of answering debates and tackling the leaders. I never felt an opposition party member,” he said. What do you say?

US hopes Pak will bring 26/11 perpetrators to justice

United States on Friday expressed hope that Pakistan will bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai terrorist attack to justice.

“We would hope that the Pakistani authorities will continue their investigation and bring the perpetrators of the attacks to justice,” Assistant secretary of State for Public Affairs P J Crowley said.

The visiting Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, during his four-day trip to Washington and New York, had expressed his concern to the top US leadership about Pakistan’s lackluster approach against terrorists responsible for the Mumbai terrorist attacks.

Mr. Chidambaram, among others met US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Security Adviser General (Rtd) James Jones.

“Among the topics discussed were ongoing cooperation on terrorism, following up on the Mumbai attacks and deepening our cooperation between the two countries,” Crowley said when asked about the meeting between Clinton and Mr. Chidambaram.

Mr. Chidambaram left for India on Friday, following his four-day trip to the US during which he appraised the US leadership about the ground realities about terrorism in South Asia, had a first-hand experience of the steps being taken by the US with regard to counter-terrorism, and discussed various issues of mutual interest.

Keywords: Mumbai terror, Pakistan, India, perpetrators, United States, Chidambaram, Hillary Clinton,

source : The Hindu

Pak forces fire rockets at India, BSF retaliates

Pakistani forces on Friday night fired two rockets towards Indian territory which fell in agriculture fields in two adjacent villages, drawing retaliation from BSF using machine guns.

There was, however, no casualty on the Indian side in the Pakistani action, BSF Inspector General Himmat Singh said.

Mr. Singh said Pakistan fired rockets which landed in an open area at villages Modhey and Dhoneya Khurd at around 10 pm IST after which the BSF troops hit back by opening fire from machine guns.

He said BSF authorities got in touch with their Pakistani counterparts for a flag meeting where India would lodge a strong protest against the action.

The attack happened on a day when the BSF deployed its first batch of women constables at the border to facilitate frisking of women going for work in fields.

Sixteen of a batch of 178 women constables of the force were deployed at Rorawari village near Attari border in Punjab on Friday.

Keywords: Pakistan forces, rockets, Indian territory, BSF, retaliation, machine guns, Inspector General, Himmat Singh, villages, Modhey, Dhoneya Khurd

source :The Hindu

Jet cancels 260 flights, as pilots’ strike enters 5th day

Jet Airways cancelled 260 domestic and international flights, including 32 from the national capital, on Saturday as the strike by the pilots entered the fifth day after nine-hour long conciliation talks between them and the management ended in a deadlock.

The pilots maintained that they were "hopeful" of a breakthrough as negotiations will continue on Saturday.

"A total of 235 domestic and 25 international flights remained cancelled for the fifth consecutive day today," the airlines said in a statement.

Jet tried to accommodate some of its passengers in its low-cost arm JetLite by combining the flights on Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Mumbai-Vadodara, Mumbai-Kochi, Mumbai-Mangalore, Kolkata-Bangalore, Kolkata-Guwahati, Mumbai-Mangalore and Kolkata-Agartala sectors.

The airlines also merged their Chennai-Mumbai and Bangalore-Mumbai to fly on Bangalore-Chennai-Mumbai sector.

The airlines run a total of 380 flights to domestic and international destinations.

The strike by the pilots has caused huge loss of revenue for the airlines. Jet’s ticketing and check-in counters at the IGI airport here wore a deserted look.

On Friday, the pilots and the management representatives sat for face-to-face negotiations for the first time since the stir started on Tuesday, but the marathon talks before Chief Labour Commissioner here ended inconclusively.

Keywords: Jet Airways, flights, cancelled, pilots’ strike, union

Source : The Hindu

Centre urged to name BHEL-NTPC project after YSR

HYDERABAD: The State government has urged the Centre to name after Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy the proposed Rs.6,000-crore BHEL-NTPC power equipment plant in Chittoor district.

This was stated by Chief Minister K. Rosaiah at an all-party condolence meeting on YSR organised by the State government here on Friday. He wrote a letter to the Centre on Thursday proposing that the project be named after the late Chief Minister. He said YSR had given a new definition to politics and ensured that every assurance given by him was implemented.

Paying rich tributes to YSR, leaders of various political parties as also Legislative Council Chairman A. Chakrapani and Assembly Speaker N. Kiran Kumar Reddy called for implementing all the developmental and welfare schemes initiated by the former Chief Minister.

Mr. Chakrapani, recalling his association with YSR, said that the latter had brought lot of glory to Telugus. Mr. Kiran Kumar Reddy said the former Chief Minister, in spite of his hectic schedule, used to greet everyone affectionately. It was hard to even imagine how the Assembly would function without a smiling YSR.

Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu said that he had lost a good friend in the death of YSR. Though they fought politically, there was no personal animus between them. Both of them served as Ministers in the Cabinets of three Congress Chief Ministers.

APCC president D. Srinivas said YSR was a “decisive and aggressive leader.” A decision taken by him would have to be implemented irrespective of the consequences.

He and YSR used to run the party and government in a coordinated manner and the same trend should be continued without thinking that he was no more. Praja Rajyam leader K. Chiranjeevi said that he drew inspiration from YSR and recalled the personal warmth exuded by the late leader while interacting with him and others.

MIM president and MP Asaddudin Owaisi said Muslims would never forget what he had done for them — ensuring 4 per cent reservation in employment and education. He lauded the late leader for announcing Rs.2,000-crore package for development old city.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K. Chandrasekhar Rao said YSR had left an indelible imprint while serving in whatever capacity, be it as leader of the Opposition or Chief Minister. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Bandaru Dattatreya, CPI(M) leader B.V.Raghavulu, CPI State secretary K. Narayana, Lok Satta leader, Jayaprakash Narayan and Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy, brother of YSR spoke.

sourse: the hindu

ICC mulling on Tendulkar's ODI-splitting idea

When Sachin Tendulkar speaks, the world listens and International Cricket Council is now planning to split one-day matches into two innings of 25 overs each, an idea mooted by the Indian batting great earlier this month.

In order to spice up the one-day format, Tendulkar had proposed that every team should play two innings of 25 overs each and ICC Cricket Manager Dave Richardson said the governing body might soon conduct a trial.

"I quite like that idea. I believe South Africa may try something along those lines," Richardson told BBC Sport.

"This might work in day/night cricket where one team has to bat in the day and the other at night. It provides something different and reduces the effects on the team who loses the toss and has to bat first on a damp wicket, for example," he said.

Even though Tendulkar aired his views earlier this month, Richardson said the idea had popped up in the past as well and came up for discussion at the annual ICC Cricket Committee meeting in May.

One-day cricket is already facing a tough challenge from Twenty20 and the England and Wales Cricket Board scrapped Friends Provident trophy, the only 50-over domestic tournament, in favour of a Twenty20 event.

Richardson, however, is concerned that splitting a match into two innings would mean less centuries, as batsmen would have less overs to bat.

"I don't necessarily like the idea of playing two matches of 25 overs each with the openers batting again. The charm of one-day cricket is seeing someone batting at four and scoring a good hundred," Richardson said.

"If you bat in the middle order of a Twenty20 or a new 25-over innings, you're not going to get much of an opportunity to hit three figures, one downside of the Twenty20 game," he said.

He, however, made it clear that such an experiment should be conducted at the domestic level before pushing it into international cricket.

"If it has been tried successfully at domestic level, it may be possible to give it a go-ahead at international level," he said.

"The ICC has been proactive with ideas and innovations, like the powerplays. The idea of the 'super-sub' wasn't as successful and got rid of quite quickly. One of the criticisms was that we trialled things at international as opposed to domestic level.

"Our tactics going forward are member countries trial changes first domestically and if they are successful, then we can take them on board at the international level," Richardson said.

The ICC Cricket Committee will discuss the result of the experiment when it meets next year.

Source; Rediff

India beat New Zealand by six wickets; climb to No. 1 spot in ODI rankings

Colombo, Sept. 11 -- Saturday's match against Sri Lanka becomes of only academic interest - and of this there is no shortage as India temporarily took the No 1 spot in the ICC ODI rankings. From an aesthetic point of view, though, what is even less edifying is watching quality batsmen struggle and ordinary bowlers sneaking wickets because of the pitch.

In a strangulated ODI where bowlers ruled, India got the better of New Zealand by six wickets, knocked the Kiwis out of the tournament and assured themselves of a place in the final.

Saturday's match against Sri Lanka becomes of only academic interest - and of this there is no shortage as Indiatemporarily took the No 1 spot in the ICC ODI rankings.

India, with 128 points are technically ahead of South Africa, who have 127, but to stay at pole when the rankings are officially announced in a week the men in blue have to ensure they don't lose either of their two matches against Sri Lanka.

In the ICC's complex method of determining points, India receive considerably less points for defeating New Zealand orSri Lanka than would be the case if the result went the other way, on the basis that India are higher ranked than both.

None of this had any bearing on the play, though, as Daniel Vettori won a crucial toss and watched helplessly as his batsmen fluffed their lines. Jesse Ryder, Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor, Martin Guptill and Grant Elliott managed to do worse than in their opening game of the tournament, being reduced to 66 for 5 as opposed to Tuesday's 69 for 5.

Ashish Nehra picked up three wickets to take his ODI tally past 100 and Yuvraj Singh winkled out as many with his loopy left-arm spin. In the end, New Zealand managed 155.

Dinesh Karthik was unlucky to be given out lbw to a ball that appeared to strike him high on the pad and be heading down leg. Rahul Dravid's return seemed anything but auspicious as he struggled to get the ball away. After a tortured hour and five minutes that yielded 14 runs from 45 balls, Dravid failed to get bat to an attempted flick and was trapped in front by Jacob Oram.

Sachin Tendulkar (46), who had been largely purring along, working the ball off his toes with elan and piercing the off-side field with controlled cuts, was out to a soft dismissal, presenting Guptill at cover with the simplest of catches.

Yuvraj then sent the ball up in the air and was caught by Guptill. At 84 for 4 India's top-order had done their bit to keep the game alive, but Dhoni (45 not out) and Suresh Raina (35 not out) kept their heads and walked India past the target.

Scoreboard:

New Zealand: B McCullum lbw b Nehra 3, J Ryder lbw b Nehra 0, M Guptill c Dravid b Yuvraj 22, R Taylor c Dhoni b RP 11, G Elliott c Dhoni b Yuvraj 22, J Oram c & b Ishant 24, N Broom c Raina b Yuvraj 21, D Vettori b Ishant 25, K Mills b RP 6, I Butler c Harbhajan b Nehra 6, S Bond not out 10

Extras (lb-4, w-1) 5

Total (all out; 46.3 overs) 155

Fall of wkts: 1-1, 2-4, 3-19, 4-51, 5-66, 6-101, 7-116, 8-134, 9-142, 155.

Bowling: Nehra 8.3-0-24-3, RP Singh 8-2-22-2, Ishant 10-2-26-2, Yuvraj 10-0-31-3, Harbhajan 8-0-39-0, Raina 1-0-4-0, Yusuf 1-0-5-0

India: D Karthik lbw b Mills 4, S Tendulkar c Guptill b Vettori 46, R Dravid lbw b Oram 14, Yuvraj Singh c Guptill b Vettori 8,MS Dhoni not out 35, S Raina not out 45

Extras (lb-3, w-1) 4

Total (for 4 wkts; 40.3 ovs) 156 Bowling: Mills 5.3-1-25-1, Bond 10-3-30-0, Butler 4-0-25-0, Vettori 10-0-33-2, Oram 7-1-19-1, Elliott 2-0-9-0, Guptill 2-0-12-0

Source: Yahoo News

China opposes Dalai Lama’s visit to Arunachal

New Delhi, Sep 12: China has raised objection to Dalai Lama’s upcoming visit to Arunachal Pradesh citing that the proposed visit shows the Tibetan spiritual leader’s ’anti-China and separatist essence’.

"We firmly oppose Dalai visiting the so-called ’Arunachal Pradesh’," Jiang Yu, the spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry was quoted as saying in a news
agency report.

Dalai Lama was expected to visit the disputed Indian state in Nov 2009 to deliver speeches. Tibetan government-in-exile maintains that the spiritual leader’s visit has nothing to do with politics.

India most optimistic on hiring plans for Q4

India has again emerged as the most bullish country in terms of hiring plans, with 25 per cent of the employers intending to recruit people in the next three months.

Wholesale and retail trade along with finance, insurance and real estate sectors are among the most optimistic when it comes to hiring intentions.

Global staffing services firm Manpower has said India has a net employment outlook -- a measure of recruiting plans -- of 25 per cent for the fourth quarter of 2009, the highest among 35 countries surveyed.

The employment outlook for the next three months is much higher than 19 per cent, forecast for the third quarter of this year. "Indian employers have absorbed the layoffs conducted in the third quarter and are telling us they will being hiring again at a conservative pace, but most intend to keep their workforces intact through the end of the year," Manpower India's Managing Director Naresh Malhan said.

However, the employment outlook for the fourth quarter of this year (19 per cent) is less by 14 percentage points, as compared to the same period a year ago. India has seen the most favourable hiring environment since the third quarter of 2008, the report said.

Nearly 5,637 employers spread across 30 Indian cities were surveyed. According to Manpower, job seekers in the finance, insurance, real estate, services industry, wholesale and retail trade, public administration and education, mining and construction segment can expect favourable hiring environment.

"Good news is that in the fourth quarter, job seekers in key industry sector can look forward to the most favourable hiring environment.

"We are also seeing accelerating hiring plans in India's mining and construction sector, thanks to government efforts in support of infrastructure projects," Malhan said.

Compared to the third quarter of 2009, employment outlook for wholesale and retail trade has shot up by 13 percentage points to 34 per cent. The same for finance, insurance and real estate sector is at 19 per cent and that for services sector at 25 per cent.

As per the survey, the softest hiring pace is reported by employers in the transportation and utilities at 16 per cent.

Malhan noted that all regions in the country are witnessing improving hiring trend as compared to recent months.

Globally, in terms of hiring optimism, India is followed by Brazil (21 per cent), Colombia (13 per cent), Peru (9 per cent), China (8 per cent) and Australia (7 per cent).

The weakest recruitment intentions for the fourth quarter are in Romania, Spain, Ireland, Japan and Mexico.

Source: Rediff

India pays $102 mn to speed up refit of Gorshkov

India has paid another staggering USD 102 million to Russia, to speed up refit work on the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, pending a final agreement on a huge price hike of almost USD 2 billion demanded by Moscow.

"The advance payment of USD 102 million has given a fillip to repairs and refit works. The workforce would be increased to 2500 for work in two shifts," spokesperson of the Sevmash shipyard Anastasia Nikitinskaya said as Russian officials committed that they would meet the 2012 delivery deadline.

The increasing delay in the delivery of the warship has been described by President Dmitry Medvedev as the 'sole irritant' in Indo-Russian relations.

The issue came up in the delegation level talks between President Pratibha Devisingh Patil and her Soviet counterpart on September 3, during her first state visit to the country.

Director General of Severodvinsk-based Sevmash shipyard Nikolai Kalistratov along with his Chief Engineer was also present at the talks held at Kremlin.

Under the initial USD 1.5 billion contract signed in New Delhi in January 2004, Russia was to deliver retrofitted aircraft carrier in August 2008.

However, the Sevmash shipyard later demanded that USD 974 million allocated for the upgradation of the 44.5 thousand ton vessel, given to the Indian Navy 'free of cost', was not sufficient and demanded an additional sum of USD 2.2 billion.

According to Chairman of Russian Technologies State Corporation, Sergei Chemezev, the talks are currently underway for negotiating a new agreement, which may be signed in mid-October.

Source: india express

Mukherjee asks Krishna, Tharoor to leave hotels

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday asked External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and his deputy Shashi Tharoor to vacate their five-star hotel suites.

Krishna and Tharoor have been staying in five-star hotels in national capital for the past three months in the absence of official accommodation.

While Krishna was staying at ITC Maurya, Tharoor was lodged in the Taj Mahal Hotel. The media had criticized both ministers for not moving into their official residences. Krishna, a Rajya Sabha member, was earlier allotted the residence of former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh at 19, Teen Murti Lane. However, he found the house in a poor state and ordered it to be renovated.

On becoming External Affairs Minister, Krishna got himself a bungalow allotted on Thyagaraja Marg, which again is said to be under renovation. Tharoor an M P from Thiruvananthpuram was initially offered accommodation in Kerala House after the polls but is said to have turned it down. He has since been allotted a house in Lodhi Estate, which is under renovation.

According to sources, Krishna is staying at the Maurya’s Presidential Suite of the hotel on the 16th floor. The suite’s tariff is said to be on request. In other words, there’s no declared tariff for the four Presidential suites in the hotel, which have had guests like US President George W Bush and Bill Clinton. Hospitality industry experts feel that the room tariff is in the range of Rs 1 lakh plus per night, although it can be negotiated.

Obama speech to welcome U.S. kids back to school

U.S. President Barack Obama is set to welcome America's children back to school on Tuesday.

He and Education Secretary Arne Duncan will host a group discussion with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va., before the president speaks to students nationwide through C-SPAN television.ploy

U.S. President Barack Obama attends a town hall meeting on health insurance reform at Portsmouth High School in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in August. He will address the nation's children at a school in Virginia on Tuesday, Sept. 8.(Jim Young/Reuters)

In the speech, the president will speak directly to the nation's children and youth about persisting and succeeding in school, the White House says.

An advance copy of the speech suggests he will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning.

But even a seemingly innocuous speech on education is not without controversy in the current political climate.

Obama opponents suggest the address to schoolchildren is part of his strategy to overhaul the health-care system in the United States. That divisive debate has dominated the nation's attention all summer.

Florida Republican chair Jim Greer said last week it's inappropriate to use taxpayer dollars to broadcast White House politics into the nation's school system.

"President Obama has turned to American's children to spread his liberal lies, indoctrinating American's youngest children before they have a chance to decide for themselves," Greer said.

Back in Washington later on Tuesday, Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden will attend a Supreme Court investiture ceremony for its newest justice, Sonia Sotomayor.

Later, the president meets with congressional leaders and welcomes professional golf champions to the White House.

source: cbcnews

Indians 'killed in staged clash'

A female student and three others were killed by police in a "staged" encounter in the Indian state of Gujarat, a judicial probe has found.

Ishrat Jahan Raza was one of four people shot dead by Gujarat police in 2004 on suspicion of being part of a banned Pakistani-based militant group.

Relatives maintained the victims were killed by police in a staged clash, commonly known as "fake encounters".

Police in Gujarat have denied the allegation.

They say the victims were members of the banned Pakistani-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

But a judicial probe into the incident has named a senior Gujarat police officer, among others, in connection with the "cold-blooded murder" of the 19-year-old student and three others.

The probe by judge SP Tamag said that police had "kidnapped" the student and three others in the city of Mumbai (Bombay).

They were then taken to Ahmedabad, Gujarat's main city, and killed in "police custody", the probe said.

'Plot'

Ms Raza's mother said she was happy that her daughter's "innocence had been proved".

"This is the first step towards towards justice. We want to remove the stain that my daughter has been branded a terrorist," Shamima Kausar said.

The four were killed in "police custody", the probe said. But the police claimed that they were killed in an "encounter" in Ahmedabad

Human rights groups have repeatedly expressed concerns about so-called "fake encounters" whereby security forces are accused of unprovoked killings in staged clashes.

Police say that Ms Raza and the others who were killed were involved in a plot to kill the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi.

The Gujarat high court has appointed a committee of three senior policemen for a fresh investigation into the killings and asked it to submit its report by the end of November.

The four were driving near Ahmedabad airport when they were intercepted.

Later police in Mumbai said Ms Raza had no criminal background and had never been involved in any terrorist activity, as claimed by the police in Gujarat.

Study finds potential way to make an AIDS vaccine

WASHINGTON - The discovery of immune system particles that attack the AIDS virus may finally open a way to make a vaccine that could protect people against the deadly and incurable infection, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.

They used new technology to troll through the blood of 1,800 people infected with the AIDS virus and identified two immune system compounds called antibodies that could neutralize the virus.

And they found a new part of the virus that the antibodies attack, offering a new way to design a vaccine, they reported in the journal Science.

"So now we may have a better chance of designing a vaccine that will elicit such broadly neutralizing antibodies, which we think are key to successful vaccine development," said Dennis Burton of The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, who led the study.

"The findings themselves are an exciting advance toward the goal of an effective AIDS vaccine because now we've got a new, potentially better target on HIV to focus our efforts for vaccine design," added Wayne Koff of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, or IAVI, which sponsored the study.

Since the AIDS pandemic started in the early 1980s, more than 25 million people globally have died from the virus. The World Health Organization estimates that 33 million are currently infected.

There is no cure, although a cocktail of drugs can help keep the virus under control. Efforts to make a vaccine have failed almost completely.

MUTABLE VIRUS

Part of this is because the virus mutates so much that any one person is infected with millions of different versions, each one appearing different to the immune system.

In addition, the virus infects the very immune cells that are supposed to help protect the body. And if even one virus gets past the immune defense, it appears to set up a lifelong infection. No drug has been able to eradicate it.

IAVI director Dr. Seth Berkley said the findings will not lead directly to a vaccine, but show that there are new and better ways to design one.

He said 10 percent of the patients whose blood was screened had a strong antibody response to the virus. "We have people with even more potent serum out there. We will probably see more," he said in a telephone interview.

It may also be possible to use such antibodies as therapy themselves -- such as the gamma globulin used for hepatitis virus. But the eventual goal, Berkley said, is a vaccine that produces antibodies that could stop the virus from ever infecting a person in the first place.

"We haven't been able to do that because we haven't been able to find the right kind of response," Berkley said.

Most vaccines elicit an antibody response, priming the body to make antibodies that will recognize and attack an invader such as a bacteria or virus.

The two antibodies, called PG9 and PG16, are the first new HIV antibodies to have been identified in more than 10 years. They target a region of the spike the virus uses to infect cells, the researchers wrote.

A team at South San Francisco-based Monogram Biosciences Inc screened the blood for the ability to neutralize HIV. Theraclone Sciences used its technology to identify the antibodies involved.

North Carolina-based Laboratory Corp of America Holdings acquired Monogram in July.

Source: Reuters

Obama aides leave room for healthcare compromise

WASHINGTON - U.S. PresidentBarack Obama's top aides said on Sunday he still wants a government insurance option in healthcare legislation but they left room for a compromise that could disappoint his liberal backers.

Ahead of a major Obama healthcare speech on Wednesday night, the advisers sought to portray a sense of momentum behind an overhaul of the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare system after a tumultuous summer of debate during which Obama lost ground and Republicans rallied opposition.

Obama, speaking to a joint session of Congress, will lay out specifics of what he supports to try to regain control of the healthcare issue and gain passage of a plan this year.

Analysts say how he handles the debate this autumn is a major test of his leadership and could define his presidency.

With government spending and deficits soaring as the Obama administration fights the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and inherited wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, critics say the healthcare reforms are too costly.

A key question is whether Obama is ready to drop his support for the "public option" -- a government insurance plan designed to compete with private insurance companies that has been a major feature of a proposed $1 trillion overhaul.

Liberal Democrats such as House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi insist any plan has to include the public option, while moderate Democrats and almost all Republicans have vowed they will not support such a proposal.

Top Obama adviser David Axelrod and White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, in interviews on morning television shows, gave a preview of the speech and were pressed on the public option.

Axelrod told NBC's "Meet the Press" that Obama believes a government-run insurance plan is an important part of reform as a way to encourage competition and lower costs but that the public option "should not define the whole healthcare debate."

Gibbs, on ABC's "This Week," said Obama wants a public option included in the overhaul but declined to answer a question about whether that provision was essential for the president to support healthcare legislation.

The president will "draw some lines in the sand" in his speech, Gibbs said.

"Well, I doubt we're going to get into heavy veto threats on Wednesday," he said when asked if Obama would block a bill that lacks the public option. "We're going to talk about what we can do because we're so close to getting it done."

'TRIGGER' FOR PUBLIC OPTION

The insurance industry strongly opposes the public option and has spent millions of dollars lobbying against it, while conservative commentators have fanned fears of a government takeover of healthcare akin to socialism or communism.

Many analysts believe Obama will be forced to accept a scaled-down plan.Obama enjoys solid Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress and some of his liberal supporters would like him to ram through legislation with the public option included.

A group of moderate Democratic and Republican senators -- known as the "Gang of Six"-- have been engaged in closed-door negotiations searching for a way to avoid that divisive outcome and bridge the gap.

A top item under discussion is a proposal that would not initially include a public option but would "trigger" the creation of a government program if insurance companies failed to meet cost and quality benchmarks.

A key Democratic member of that group, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, may try to end the stalemate with a proposal based on various suggestions and possible provisions discussed in recent months, Democratic aides said on Saturday.

"I think he (Obama) has to say if there's going to be a public option, it has to be subject to a trigger," Senator Ben Nelson, a centrist Democrat, said on CNN's "State of the Union."

"In other words, if somehow the private market doesn't respond the way that it's supposed to, then it would trigger a public option or a government-run option, but only as a fail-safe backstop to the process."

Congress returns to session this week after a break in August marked by heated public meetings and heavy media coverage of the battle over healthcare.

A CBS News poll last week said most Americans found the healthcare proposals discussed in Congress confusing and thought Obama had not clearly explained his plans.

Source: reuters

New Andhra Govt sworn in

Ending three days of confusion, ministers of the erstwhile Cabinet of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, including all the loyalists of the late chief minister, were on Sunday sworn in afresh as required under the Constitution. They were administered oath of office and secrecy by Governor N D Tiwari at a brief ceremony at Raj Bhavan here.

The oath-taking ended all speculation whether YSR loyalists who were clamouring for making his son Jaganmohan Reddy as the next chief minister, would join the government under interim Chief Minister K Rosaiah with the Congress high command invervening and asking them not to precipitate matters during the mourning period that ends next Thursday.

Earlier, AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh held discussions with Rajya Sabha member K V P Ramachandra Rao, who was adviser to YSR, and impressed on him that loyalists of the late chief minister should also join the government.

Some seven to eight ministers of YSR cabinet, including P Ramachandra Reddy, J Krishna Rao and Syed Ahmadullah, were reportedly reluctant to join the Rosaiah government. The YSR loyalists held a meeting with Ramachandra Rao who counselled them to give up their diffidence and take oath.

Earlier, the Governor, after consulting legal experts, decided that the ministers would have to take oath afresh to fulfil a constitutional requirement following the swearing-in of new Chief Minister K Rosaiah on Thursday.

There has been a lot of confusion over the status of the ministers who served under Rajasekhara Reddy before his death in a helicopter crash on Wednesday.

Legal experts contended that the ministers were required to again take oath of office afresh since a new Chief Minister had taken over.

Rosaiah himself wrote to the Governor on the issue as he wanted to clear the air. The Governor, in turn, asked state Chief Secretary P Ramakanth Reddy to explain the legal and constitutional position in this regard.

Accordingly, the Chief Secretary and state Advocate General Seetarama Murthy met the Governor late last night and reportedly conveyed to him that the ministers were required to take oath once again.

Official sources said legal and constitutional experts in New Delhi were also consulted. "Since a controversy has arisen over the status of ministers, the concluding view was that it would be better to administer fresh oath of office to them so as to avoid any constitutional violation," a top-ranking official in the General Administration Department said.

Source: India Express