Tuesday, August 04, 2009 LONDON: The House of Commons has awarded large pay rises to its most senior officials, some of whom oversaw the MPs’ expenses scandal. Accounts released show that the Clerk to the House, Malcolm Jack, received a pay rise of about 11 per cent, taking his salary from £175,000 to £195,000 – more than that received by the Prime Minister. Andrew Walker, who ran the Fees Office, which administered the expenses, received a rise of about 8 per cent, taking his salary into the £125,000-£130,000 band. Joan Miller, the head of information technology, was awarded the biggest rise, from £95,000 to £110,000 – up 15 per cent. A senior pay panel reportedly approved the pay rises as others in the public sector see their annual salary rises restricted to about 2 per cent. It is unclear whether the rises were agreed under the Commons speaker Michael Martin, who stepped down after the expenses row, or more recently.
Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in...
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