“The rise in demand from suburban towns, apart from major cities, has spurred the prices of roses this Valentine. Price of export quality cut rose is likely to quadruple from its current price of about Rs.15 to over Rs.60 per stem,” said the study.

“Majority of flower growers are anticipating around 30 percent rise in revenue during February, with a turnover of about Rs.10 crore,” it added.

There is also a surge in demand for Indian roses in international markets of Australia, Germany, Greece, Italy and New Zealand, among other countries.

However, many rose cultivators said that crude handling of cut flowers during transportation leads to poor realisation for Indian roses in the international markets.

“The rose growers are experimenting with a new way to increase the shelf life of the flower – India is the largest grower of roses – by growing genetically modified versions,” said the study.

About 40 crore cut roses are grown across India every year. Karnataka alone accounts for about 75 percent, followed by Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and West Bengal.

“(GoM) has cleared the proposal to allow carriers to import fuel directly. The final clearance will come from the cabinet,” Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh told reporters here.

The move will enable airlines to cut operating costs by about 10-15 percent, saving on sales tax, which ranges between four and 35 percent and is levied by state governments, when they directly import jet fuel as an end user.

Jet fuel now comprises about 50 percent of the total operating cost of airlines in India.

“This is the vital step in the process of bringing ATF prices in line with global standards. This will help the entire aviation industry in the long term,” Amber Dubey, director, aviation, at global consultancy firm KPMG, told IANS.

ATF is currently sold at Rs.71,155.22 per kilolitre (kl) in Kolkata, at Rs.67,702.21 per kl in Chennai, at Rs.63,864.31 per kl in Mumbai and Rs.62,907.82 per kl in New Delhi.

The average fuel price in cities like Kuala Lumpur is around Rs.41,000 per kl, followed by Singapore at Rs.42,000 and Dubai at Rs.43,000.

Domestic airlines are estimated to have lost around Rs.3,000 crore in the first six months of this fiscal.

Scrips of three listed domestic carriers — Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and SpiceJet — rallied after the GoM’s decision.

Doubts, however, remain over the implementation of the direct fuel imports by airlines as none has come out with any logistics plan for storing and importing the fuel.

This was one of the arguments by the three oil marketing companies Hindustan Petroleum, Indian Oil and Bharat Petroleum, which were opposing the move.

“We have to see how the airlines will import the fuel, do they have the cash to do so, where will they store the fuel, will they use the oil marketing companies’ infrastructure or not. So, there needs to be clarity on these things first. Besides this, the news is very positive,” Sharan Lillaney, aviation analyst, Angel Broking, told IANS.

The minister also said the GoM had approved the debt restructuring plan of the national carrier Air India and that it will go to the union cabinet for a final nod.

Air India will be allowed to raise Rs.7,400 crore via bonds, backed by a sovereign guarantee, said Ajit Singh.

Currently, the national carrier has a total debt of Rs.43,777 crore, including loans and dues to vendors like oil firms and airport operators.

The plan envisages restructuring of the debt taken by the airline for working capital and aircraft acquisition from a consortium of banks, which include State Bank of India, IDBI and Bank of Baroda.

According to senior officials in the ministry, Air India was allowed to issue bonds after the banks refused to convert the airlines debt into equity.

According to the doctor, the baby has developed respiratory problems and may have to undergo another brain surgery.

“Her condition is critical. She developed respiratory problems, so we put her back on the ventilator around 10.30 last (Sunday) night,” Agrawal told IANS. Falak was taken off the ventilator Friday.

“There is infection in her chest and pain is recurring and she has severe head injuries as well.”

The baby was admitted to AIIMS here Jan 18 with multiple injuries, including a fractured skull, human bite marks on her tiny frame and a clot on the right side of her brain. She was brought to the hospital by a teenaged girl who claimed to be her mother.

The teenager is in a juvenile home even as the police constituted several teams to locate the girls’s parents.

For the toddler, the chances of survival are slim, say doctors monitoring her condition.

“She might require another surgery in the brain. But as her condition is critical, her chances of survival are slim,” Agrawal said.

A major tragedy was averted in Sagolband constituency after police and security forces recovered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). It was later defused.

The state election office said that although the polling was officially to end at 3 p.m., the polling officers would wait till those already in queues at the booths have cast their votes.

“So far, we have registered over 70 percent polling and it is still continuing,” a poll official told IANS.

“The voting is still continuing and we are going to wait till the last voter in the queues casts the vote. It is taking more time as every voter is being photographed after casting his vote for transparency and to stop proxy voting,” he said, adding this was being done for the first time in India.

Live webcasting was also done at 60 polling booths in the Imphal valley, the official said and added that the poll panel can monitor the whole process of voting through it. This has been done for the first time in Manipur.

The violence took place in Chandel district as a group of armed militants tried to capture a polling booth in remote Chakpi Karong village but were thwarted by security personnel. A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper was killed and five others were seriously injured in the ensuing gun battle.

The injured, who included a suspected Naga militant and a woman voter and three other polling officials, succumbed on way to the hospital.

Polling started at 7 a.m. and continued peacefully till noon with people turning out in huge numbers to elect a 60-member assembly despite a string of bomb blasts during the past one week.

In Tipaimukh constituency also, a minor incident of violence was recorded when some irate electors damaged an EVM at a polling booth. This caused security personnel to open fire but no one was injured.

Voting took place amid tight security at 2,357 polling booths, of which 875 were termed hyper-sensitive.

“All precautions have been taken to ensure free and fair polls,” chief electoral officer P.C. Lawmkunga told IANS earlier in the morning.

Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh and his legislator wife Landhoni Devi cast their vote around 7.30 a.m. at a polling booth in Thoubal Aphokpam Lower Primary School in Khangabok constituency. Landhoni Devi is the sitting legislator from Khangabok.

“I am expecting that the Congress party would secure around 45 seats. But 35 is the minimum number we are winning,” the chief minister told IANS after casting his vote.

The two-time chief minister of the state said over 80 percent voting is expected across the state.

“People will come out despite the militants’ threat as it is a democratic exercise that comes after every five years and no one wants to miss it,” he said.

In addition to the state’s police forces, the state election authority has deployed 350 companies of central paramilitary forces for smooth conduct of the election.

A day ahead of the polls, suspected militants triggered a blast in the Manipur capital at Thangmeiban Iikamdewan Leiki area in Imphal West district. One person received minor injuries in the Friday bombing.

On Thursday, a blast took place just 2 km from Kangla Fort, where the state’s official Republic Day function was celebrated. No one was injured. Militants exploded two powerful bombs in Kakwa area in Imphal West district Wednesday night but there was no casualty.

On Jan 22, militants triggered a powerful explosion outside the residence of I. Hemochandra Singh, the speaker of the outgoing assembly and a Congress party candidate in the state. One person was killed in the blast.

Stating that it was the work of “misdirected and motivated individuals”, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna sought to clarify the government’s position in the Lok Sabha: “The officials of India in Moscow and our ambassador have been in regular touch with representatives of Iskcon. We have taken up the matter at highest levels with the Russian government.”

He said he hoped the matter would be resolved keeping in mind India’s civilisational values.

The case, which has been going on since June, seeks a ban on a Russian translation of the “Bhagavad Gita As It Is” written by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

In a last-ditch effort, Hindus in Russia had appealed to the Siberian court to seek the views of the nation’s human rights commission on the religious text before pronouncing its verdict. The verdict will now be pronounced Dec 28.

Indians in Moscow, numbering about 15,000, and followers of the Iskcon movement in Russia have appealed to the Indian government to intervene to resolve the issue.

As the controversy escalated, Russian ambassador Alexander Kadakin said here he condemned the “madmen” seeking the ban, and underlined that Russia was a secular country.

“Russia is a secular and democratic country where all religions enjoy equal respect… Even more applicable it is to the holy scriptures of various faiths — whether it is the Bible, the Holy Quran, Torah, Avesta and, of course, Bhagvad Gita — the great source of wisdom for the people of India and the world.

“I consider it categorically inadmissible when any holy scripture is taken to the courts. For all believers these texts are sacred,” he stressed.

The BJP took up the issue in a big way.

In the Lok Sabha, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj demanded that the government declare the Gita a “national book”.

Her demand found resonance with her colleague Tarun Vijay in the Rajya Sabha. “Can sun be banned, Himalayas be banned…?” he asked.

Hoping to extract political mileage too, Vijay said: “The matter came up during the prime minister’s visit to Russia. Did the prime minister raise the issue?”

Several members cutting across party lines were furious.

Rajya Sabha deputy chairman K. Rahman Khan said “the entire house agrees with this and joins in condemning this”.

It came to light that the government had advance notice of the move in the Tomsk court.

As early as Nov 1, in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Principal Secretary Pulok Chatterji, Krishna devotees urged the government to use “some high-level ministerial visits” to Moscow, ahead of Manmohan Singh’s own trip, to ensure that the sacred text was not banned.

“As a reason the affidavit quoted an assessment by a panel of expert stating that Krishna is evil and not compatible with Christian views,” said the letter, written by Iskcon’s governing body commissioner Gopal Krishna Goswami. A copy of the letter is with IANS.

Since the letter was written, six Indian ministers and top officials visited Russia, culminating in Manmohan Singh’s visit Dec 15-17 for a bilateral summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Most of them were known to be related to Sasikala, who over the past two decades had emerged as a close companion of Jayalalithaa and was also seen by many as a parallel power centre.

In a brief statement, the AIADMK chief, who took power in May, asked party members not to have any dealing with the expelled lot.

There was no immediate reaction from Sasikala, who used to live with the chief minister and was frequently seen in her company both at private and public events.

The others expelled from the AIADMK are V. Baskaran, T.T.V. Dinakaran, Diwakar, V.N. Sudhakaran, S. Venkatesh, M. Ramachandran, Ravanan, Mohan, Kulothungan and Rajarajan.

Jayalalithaa gave no reasons why she was taking this extreme step. But party sources said this could be due to widespread charges of interference by Sasikala and her associates in the running of the administration.

It was a week ago that Jayalalithaa had indicated to some of her ministers that it would be good if they distanced themselves from Sasikala.

It is rumoured that the Sasikala group was keen on bringing the AIADMK under their control fearing Jayalalithaa could be convicted in the disproportionate assets case now being heard in Bangalore.

“Sasikala had emerged so powerful that few people could reach the chief minister without her (Sasikala’s) knowledge and permission,” said a senior government official who did not want to be identified.

The sacking comes ahead of AIADMK’s executive and general council meetings slated for Dec 30 here.

Calling Jayalalithaa’s move bold, political commentator Gnani told IANS: “The chief minister owes an explanation to the party and the people for the reasons behind the sudden expulsion.”

According to him, the sacking would not impact the party as “Jayalalithaa is the vote catcher and the mass leader”.

“The dismissed people may not be able to break the party. On the other hand, party cadres would be really happy to hear this news,” he said.

Another AIADMK leader told IANS that Jayalalithaa had a strong hold on the party and there was no threat to her leadership.

As the news became known, party members gathered outside Jayalaltihaa’s residence and shouted slogans hailing the “revolutionary leaders” – as the chief minister is addressed by admirers.

This is the second time Jayalaltihaa has ousted Sasikala from AIADMK. She was expelled the first time after the AIADMK’s defeat in 1996. But the two later reconciled their differences.

“His statement is there for anybody to see, and he said that he is not guilty for the type of blame that is being sought to be placed on his shoulders,” the prime minister said during a media interaction.

He was asked about the criticism that Chidambaram is facing for allegedly advising his ministry to quash FIRs against his former client, a Delhi-based hotelier, with the Delhi Police, which is under the home ministry’s administrative control.

This is the second occasion in recent months when Chidambaram has faced trouble with the opposition gunning for him over some issue of propriety when the prime minister was out of the country on diplomatic responsibilities.

Last time, Manmohan Singh was in New York for the United Nations General Assembly meeting when a finance ministry note on the 2G spectrum allocation placed the blame for selling the national asset on a ‘first come, first served’ basis, instead of a public auction that may have brought in huge income to the government exchequer.

Then, Chidambaram spoke to the prime minister over phone and explained his position on the issue.

This time around, it is the allegations of conflict of interest in getting the FIRs against his former client, S.P. Gupta quashed that has landed Chidambaram in trouble with the opposition that disrupted parliament on Thursday and Friday demanding his sacking.

“I became aware of this problem just as I was leaving for Moscow. I have seen the newspapers, and I have also seen the statement issued by the home minister, but I haven’t had the opportunity to talk to him,” Singh said.

Manmohan Singh was interacting with media persons on board his special aircraft while returning home from Moscow after attending a summit meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

This is the fourth day in a row which has seen the rupee sliding to new lows. The Indian currency has weakened almost 20 percent against the dollar since July this year.

The rupee closed at 53.88 to a dollar Wednesday.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Wednesday blamed the huge capital outflow for the recent slide in rupee.

“While the Indian economy faced excessive capital inflows in the aftermath of the global crisis leading to appreciation of the domestic currency, with the unfolding of the eurozone crisis, the matter of concern at present is reversal in such flows leading to increased currency volatility,” Mukherjee said.

So far, the Reserve Bank of India has not made any significant intervention in the currency market to control the slide of rupee.

C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council and a former RBI governor, said the central bank could intervene to combat fluctuations in the currency if the factors affecting it were from within the country.

Most of the MPs in the packed house said no to the motion. The house resumed its normal business after the motion was defeated.