Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister (CM) Found DEAD

Missing Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YSR Reddy is feared dead in the helicopter crash, Congress sources said.

According to the sources, all the five bodies have been recovered from the wreckage of helicopter.
However, official confirmation in this regard will be made in a short while.
Principal Secretary of Andhra Pradesh P Subrahmanyam, helicopter pilot Captain S.K. Bhatia, co-pilot Captain M.S. Reddy and Chief Security officer of the Chief Minister ASC Wesley were among feared dead.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajshekhera Reddy and four others are feared dead after their Bell 430 chopper crash-landed about 40 nautical miles east of the Kurnool mountaineous area.

Congress sources said that they had received reports of five bodies being discovered at the crash site, and added that an official confirmation would be forthcoming in short while. Among the dead are Reddy, his principal secretary, his personal security officer and two pilots.

Earlier, Union Home Secretary G.K. Pillai said the chopper was in a very damaged state.

The Home Ministry had ordered paratroopers to immediately airdrop themselves at the location to determine the exact physical status of Reddy and the four others.

The State Government is due to address a press conference in a short while to formally confirm the news of his death.

The Congress party is reported to be in a state of shock and the Union Cabinet is meeting to discuss the next steps. (ANI)

Andhra Pradesh CM Rajashekhar Reddy's chopper was declared untraceable after his chopper made an emergency landing in Atmakur area of Kurnool district on Wednesday afternoon. Officials said that the chopper had landed safely in a playground but the whereabouts of the CM are being kept under wraps as it is a naxalite-infested area and the Nallamalla forests-the stronghold of Maoists-are closeby.
The CM is on a three-district tour and was proceeding towards Chittor for an inauguration function when the chopper apparently went off the radar of air traffic control tower at Begumpet airport in Hyderabad. The Bell 430 chopper with call sign VTAPG lost contact with the ATC at 79 nautical miles from Begumpet and was in visual flying range.
Sources said that the Kurnool District Collector called up the ATC to say a chopper has landed on an open field near Bhanucharla village. However, there was no communication from the pilot or the officials accompanying the CM about their whereabouts.
Two choppers have taken off from Hyderabad, four from Bengaluru and one Navy chopper from Chennai, to ascertain whether if it is the CM's chopper that has landed in the field.
Kurnool District officials said that the area where the chopper seems to have landed is Naxal-infested and thus the whereabouts of the CM are being kept a secret. Additional DGP, Law and Order, A K Khan said that the CM is safe.
State DGP S S P Yadav and Intelligence Chief Aravinda Rao and Chief Secretary Ramakanth Reddy are supervising the operations to trace the missing chopper. All police stations in Kurnool district were put on a high alert.

 

Sources : IndianExpress

Inflation in red for 10th straight week; food prices firm

The annual rate of inflation stood at -1.53% for the week ended August 8, 2009 as compared to -1.74% for the previous week ended August 1, 2009, the Commerce & Industry Ministry said. Inflation was at 12.82% during the corresponding period of the last year (week ended Aug. 9, 2009). The Wholesale Price Index for 'All Commodities' for the week ended August 8, 2009 rose by 0.1% to 237.4 from 237.2 for the previous week. The Government announced that it had kept the inflation rate unchanged for the week ended June 13 at -1.14%.
The index for 'Primary Articles' rose by 0.2% to 262.9 while the inflation for this group stood at 5.79% versus 5.17% in the preceding week. The index for 'Food Articles' group rose by 0.2% to 262 from and the corresponding inflation increased to 10.55% from 10.16% in the week ended August 1. The index for 'Non-Food Articles' declined by 0.1% to 241.4 while its inflation rate stood at -1.55% as against -2.74% in the previous week.
The index for 'Fuel, Power & Light' declined marginally to 338.2 from 338.3 in the previous week while the corresponding inflation rate for this group too remained nearly unchanged at -11.09% versus -11.07% in the preceding week.
The index for 'Manufactured Products' group rose by 0.1% to 206.1 and its inflation was at -0.63% compared to -0.77% in the previous week. The index for 'Food Products' group rose by 0.4% to 232.5 while its corresponding inflation stood at 9.62% as against 8.68% in the previous week.
Though inflation, based on the WPI, shrank for the tenth week in a row, the prevailing drought-like conditions continued to push up food prices and could spike further once the high base effect of last year tapers off in the coming months.
The Government will have to pre-empt the impending spike in food prices by clamping down on speculative hoarding by traders and by bolstering local supplies of essential food products. The Centre will have to reply on think out of the box as monetary policy alone cannot tackle supply-side bottlenecks.
At its first quarter policy review last month, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) revised up its inflation outlook for the fiscal year 2009-10 to 5% from 4%. It left the key policy rate unchanged after having slashed the rate by 425 basis points between October and April.

Aurobindo Pharma to acquire Trident Life Sciences

Aurobindo Pharma Ltd. announced that its Board of Directors has approved the proposal to acquire 100% stake of Trident Life Sciences Ltd., subject to suitable agreements being executed between the parties for the same and conditions customary to dosing of the transaction. TLSL was incorporated in 2004 and has well established Clinical Research Organizations (CRO). It is in the process of implementing a liquid injectables facility in the Medak district near Hyderabad. The management of TLSL with an intention to focus on its core business of CRO has demerged the CRO business into a separate company. Post demerger, TLSL is left with the Injectables business. The facility specializes in manufacture of general injectable range of formulation products, including glass vials for lyophilized sterile powder and liquids, ampoules, pre filled syringes and blow filled seals. The facility shall be acquired at its book value as on June 30, which is being the least of the valuation arrived by the financial advisors.

Oglemilast study disappointing: Glenmark

Forest Laboratories Inc. and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals SA Switzerland, a wholly owned subsidiary of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd., announced top-line results from a Phase IIb dose range-finding study of Oglemilast in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Once-daily treatment with Oglemilast did not show a statistically meaningful increase from baseline compared to placebo in the primary endpoint trough FEV1, a measure of pulmonary function that is decreased in patients with COPD. Oglemilast was well tolerated at all doses studied. "Oglemilast is an orally administered PDE 4 inhibitor, which we believe to be an important and novel therapeutic target for COPD. We are, of course, disappointed that Oglemilast has not been successful in this study," said Howard Solomon, Chairman and CEO of Forest Laboratories. "Oglemilast is still being studied for the treatment of asthma, with results expected during the first calendar quarter of 2010. We are considering together with Glenmark what further action would be useful or appropriate." Oglemilast is a potent and selective inhibitor of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4). Oglemilast is currently in development for the treatment of COPD and asthma. Forest Labs licensed US rights for Oglemilast from Glenmark Pharma.

Eli Lilly patent for Gemzar...US court rules in favour of Sun Pharma

Eli Lilly & Co.’s method of using patent for its cancer drug Gemzar was invalidated by a federal court in Michigan. The court ruled in a lawsuit filed by India's Sun Pharmaceuticals. The disputed patent deals with methods of use for Gemzar, which was set to expire in 2013. The decision has no bearing on Eli Lilly’s compound patent for Gemzar, a medicine for lung, breast, pancreatic and ovarian cancer with 2008 worldwide sales of US$1.7bn. The court decision does not allow for the immediate entry of generic gemcitabine in the US market, Robert Armitage, general counsel at Eli Lilly was quoted as saying. Gemzar’s compound patent remains in force through 2010. Eli Lilly plans to appeal the ruling. Sun Pharma sued Eli Lilly in 2007 claiming its method of use patent for Gemzar is invalid. It is seeking to market a generic version of the drug before Eli Lilly’s patent expires. Eli Lilly claimed Sun Pharma's generics infringe on its Gemzar patents.