India, France to sign defence, aerospace deals durin Chirac visit
India and France are due to firm up a number of agreements including defence and aerospace deals during the three-day visit of the French president Jacques Chirac commencing yesterday.

Chirac's visit follows the visit of the prime minister Manmohan Singh to France in September 2005.

Chirac arrived from Thailand accompanied by a high-powered delegation including foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, minister for economy, finance and industry Thierry Breton — a fierce opponent of L N Mittal's take-over bid of Luxembourg headquartered Arcelor — and CEOs of 30 French companies.

Among the agreements likely to be signed include a declaration on the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and an agreement on defence cooperation.

In addition, Antrix, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation, is expected to sign a contract with EADS Astrium to jointly build a satellite for Eutelsat. (See: Antrix and Eads Astrium to market satellites globally)

Separately, IIM Ahmedabad will sign an MoU on cooperation with ESSEC (École Supérieure des Sciences Économiques et Commerciales), while BEE (Bureau of Energy Efficiency) and the ministry of power will sign MoUs with AEDEME (Agence de l' Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l' Energie).

The Indian Airlines contract for the purchase of 43 Airbus aircraft could also be initialled during the visit.

France is an important trade and investment partner for India and both countries have agreed to make efforts to double bilateral trade in five years from the present level of €3.5 billion.
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Bird flu in Maharashtra: eggs, chicken sales hit; a million hens to be culled
New Delhi: The centre has banned the movement of poultry in 19 villages and Navapura town in Maharashtra. Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has asked people to stop consuming half-boiled eggs, though no human casualty has as yet been reported. A 35-year-old woman and a 4-year old boy with fever and other complaints from the affected area have been shifted to an isolation ward and their blood samples have been sent to Pune for investigation. The report is expected within two days.

To prevent the spread of the deadly H5N1 virus that causes avian influenza in poultry birds, the central government has initiated culling operations at Uchchhal in Gujarat and Navapura. In Maharashtra alone, nine lakh birds will be culled, while 49 farms in the vicinity of the affected farms have been ordered closed. A tight surveillance of other farms in the region has also been ordered.

According to reports from South and West India, the sales of eggs and chicken, ranging from 20 to 50 per cent in various parts of the country, has taken place following reports confirming the dreaded avian influenza in poultry birds in Nandurbar in North Maharashtra. In Northern India, chicken prices fell by 50 per cent.

Broiler and layer-egg producers say it would take a few days more before the full impact of the development could be felt. The poultry industry says that the centre has been hasty in confirming the disease, which could affect the livelihood of three million poultry farmers.

The poultry export trade is worried that importers would not differentiate products from the non-affected parts of the country.
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Tamiflu being stockpiled'
The centre has rushed stocks of Tamiflu to Maharashtra and has stock piled 50,000 doses for distribution.

The health ministry has already dispatched 9,000 doses of Tamiflu and 2,000 sets of personal protective equipment (PPE) to Maharashtra and about 2,000 doses of the drug and 1,000 PPEs have been sent to Gujarat.
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Poultry industry alleges MNC 'nexus' behind bird flu
New Delhi: Following a national alert on suspected incidence of avian flu in India, the poultry industry said there was no scientific evidence of bird flu and allegedly said that multinational corporations with entering into a "nexus" to cash in on the panic situation.

Venkateswara Hatchery and National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC) the leading poultry company has rubbished claims of avian flu but said it could be Ranikhet disease that was affecting poultry chicken, a common phenomena during this time of the year.

The companies have alleged a nexus of MNC drug manufacturers who want to sell their products by spreading the rumour of avian flu. The companies claim to tested tested 40 samples and all the results were negative. So, there is no scientific basis to say it is bird flu.
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