200 kids fall sick playing Holi in Mumbai

Mumbai: Nearly 200 children from Mumbai's Dharavi slum suffered colour poisoning playing Holi Thursday and were admitted to hospital following allergic reactions, a hospital official said. All are now said to be stable.

"So far 176 children have been admitted to the hospital with complaints of skin allergy, burning of eyes, giddiness and vomiting," a duty medical officer from Sion Hospital told IANS.

"More and more cases are coming in since the afternoon. They seem to have played with colours with some chemical elements," he said.

The incident occurred in Shastrinagar area of the slum in south-central Mumbai when Holi celebrations were in full swing. The affected children were taken to the hospital.

According to hospital officials, some cases were critical on admission but are now stable and responding well to treatment.

Officials also added that they have got calls from a few adults also with similar complaints.

Police are looking into the matter and trying to find out the source of the Holi colours, a police official said.

Vietnam holds meet on n-power

Hanoi, March 8 (IANS) Vietnam Thursday held discussions with foreign experts on building nuclear power operations in the country.

The discussion was organised by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST). Participants included experts from Russia, France, Japan, the US, South Korea, Germany and Britain.

Addressing the conference, MoST Deputy Minister Le Dinh Tien saidnuclear power has become an important power source worldwide, Xinhua reported.

Vietnam's consistent viewpoint is to use nuclear power for peaceful purposes, he said.

According to a master plan, Vietnam's first nuclear plant will be launched by 2020.

In November 2009, Vietnam's National Assembly approved a project to build two nuclear power plants in central Ninh Thuan province with a capacity of about 4,000 MW.

Vietnam has signed cooperative agreements with Russia and Japan on building these plants.