UNI
 
Berhampur, Mar 20: Six more persons died on Sunday taking the toll in the suspected spurious liquor tragedy in three villages of Orissa's Ganjam district to 13, official sources said on Sunday night.

Five persons were battling for their lives in the hospitals, they said.

Seven persons died in Gada Humma, Baunsiapada and Khajuriapada villages on March 17 and 18.

The district administration, which had denied the death due to spurious liquor, however, rushed the officials to the villages on receipt on fresh death reported from these villages.

Official sources said a clear picture would emerge once the postmortem reports were made available.

The authorities appealed to the people in the affected villages not to consume liquor. 

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday announced that all issues related to the Dabhol Power Project have been addressed and that the project will be operational this year.

Referring to Mumbai as financial capital of Asia, the prime minister assured that the city will the get infrastructure it rightfully needs to realise the dream of “Gateway to Asia”.

Addressing the 16th Asian Corporate Conference, Dr Singh said, “The Mumbaikar is truly a national Indian — I salute the spirit of Mumbai. I urge every Mumbaikar to transform this city from being the Gateway to India to Gateway to Asia. The city has the human skills, the connectivity and the advantage of location to become the financial capital of Asia.”

Dr Singh informed, “The Dabhol Power Project will restart this year. We are working on mega power projects to bridge the demand-supply gap in Mumbai. I have requested the finance minister and the Reserve Bank to revisit the subject of Mumbai and come out with a road map on capital account convertibility based on current realities.

This will facilitate the transformation of Mumbai into not only a regional but also a global financial centre.”

Dr Singh said that Mumbai was the manufacturing capital of the country and informed that the Centre is taking steps to revive the manufacturing sector in the city.

Efforts are being made to make the city more competitive and a driving force for employment and economic growth, he said.

The prime minister informed the audience about a 10-year national manufacturing initiative that will focus on employment and giving a boost to labour intensive industries like textiles, leather, food manufacturing and electronics, among others.

Along with these dynamic sectors, including software, outsourcing, tourism, education and healthcare will also be on priority list of PM.

Those present on the occasion included Maharashtra governor SM Krishna, chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, president of Asia Society Vishakha Desai, CII president YC Deveshwar, managing director of Wall Street Journal, Asia and Far Eastern Economic Review Christine Brendle.