International Red Cross: Tsunami toll may cross one lakh
New Delhi: The international aid agency, Red Cross has warned that the toll in the tsunami disaster could go up to 1,00,000. The official figures of those confirmed dead is 80,000. Of these Indonesia accounts for the most at 45,268, followed by Sri Lanka with the toll at 22,493.

As many as 6,974 people have been killed in India, with 1,829 dead in Thailand, 100 in Somalia, 90 in Myanmar, 67 in Maldives, 65 in Malaysia, 10 in Tanzania, three in Seychelles, two in Bangladesh and one person killed in Kenya.
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Survey: Andamans death toll at 10,000
Port Blair: The Andaman and Nicobar Islands administration has completed a survey of survivors of all the inhabited islands and the death toll in Sunday's tsunami strike is now officially put at over 10,000 - dead or presumed dead. More than 72 hours after the killer waves came and went, authorities have lost hope of any of those categorised as "missing" being found alive.

However, the death toll could go up further. Many of the islands officially considered uninhabited have actually been encroached upon by the Nicobarese.

In Car Nicobar, where an Indian Air Force base was wiped out, the death toll could be as high as 3,000. In Katchal, the figure is 2,000 and in Chowra it is 1,000. Camorta, Campbell Bay, Hut Bay, Teressa, Trinkat and the smaller islands, where the dead are in hundreds, make up the total.

More than 60,000 people, in Little Andamans, Car Nicobar, Nancowrie islands and Campbell Bay were completely cut off.
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Tsunami alert system: DST calls for brainstorming
Hyderabad: The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has called for a national brainstorming session in early January to firm up plans for a warning system for tsunami in the country. The Director of National Geophysical Research Institute here, Dr V.P. Dimri, told newspersons on the sidelines of the 41st convention of the Indian Geophysical Union that all scientific establishments and Government departments concerned are expected to give their inputs.

Jolted by the devastation caused by the deadly tsunamis, the Government had announced that it would have a tsunami alert system and was even ready to import one, if necessary.

The National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) has decided to send a team of seismologists to the coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to monitor the aftershock activities, Dr Dimri said.

The NGRI seismological observatories have recorded a total of 58 after shocks, after the December 26 earthquake near Sumatra, including the one measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale on Wednesday morning at 6.20 am in the Nicobar islands, he said.
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BSNL to give top priority to tsunami-hit areas
New Delhi: In a bid to restore communications facilities in tsunami-hit areas, the Minister for Communications and IT, Dayanidhi Maran, has directed BSNL officials to install INMARSAT on top priority basis in Andaman and Nicobar.

"It was decided to charge the normal tariff for calls made by the public. Mr Maran further directed that the telephones in tsunami-affected areas should not be disconnected for non-payment of bills," an official release has said.

"In the Andaman and Nicobar circle, five telephones exchanges - Diglipur, Kalighat, Kalera, Kishori Nagar and Ram Nagar - have been restored. Satellite equipment at Diglipur, Campbell Bay and Kamorta have been restored. Five INMARSAT terminals have been airlifted and reached Port Blair," the release added.

In Tamil Nadu telecom circle, all 12 telephone exchanges reported to be affected on December 26 have been restored. All the five mobile base terminal stations have also become operational.
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PM's Economic Advisory Council set up
New Delhi: The Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council has been constituted.

To be headed by C Rangarajan, former RBI Governor and Chairperson of the 12th Finance Commission, it will have G K Chaddha, Vice Chancellor of JNU, Govinda Rao of the National Institute of Public Finance & Policy, Saumitra Chaudhuri of ICRA and Suresh Tendulkar of Delhi School of Economics, as its other members

The council reflects a good balance of social scientists and economists. G.K. Chaddha, area of expertise is rural India. Rao's area of expertise is in taxes. With twelve years as ICRA's Chief Economist, Chaudhuri is an expert in fiscal management. Tendulkar has a PhD from Harvard University and brings the WTO edge to the Council.
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