Pig farm killer appeals verdict

Lawyers for Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton have filed an appeal against his conviction on six counts of second-degree murder.

He was given life last month for killing six Vancouver prostitutes whose bodies he fed to pigs on his farm.

Pickton's lawyers argue that the judge made errors during the 10-month trial.

Prosecutors are also appealing against the convictions and want Pickton to face a new trial on 26 counts of first degree murder, a more serious charge.

The prosecution argue that the judge, James Williams, erred in law by ruling that one large trial would be too much of a burden on the jury and allowing the trial to proceed on six counts only.

They also contend that he erred in his instructions to jurors.

Prostitutes and drug addicts

Pickton, who has been in jail since his arrest in February 2002, still faces trial over the deaths of the 20 other women.

He has pleaded not guilty.

His defence team filed their appeal on Wednesday. They are also challenging the way the judge instructed the jury and allege that he allowed inadmissible evidence.

In December, Jurors acquitted Pickton of first-degree murder on the first six charges, but found him guilty of second-degree murder - a lesser charge that means a murder was not premeditated.

Most of Pickton's victims were prostitutes and drug addicts from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Police are investigating the cases of another 40 women missing from the region.

News Source : BBC News

Pakistan suicide blast 'kills 22'

A suicide bomber in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore has killed at least 22 people and wounded 60, most of them police officers.

The bomber targeted a group of police gathered outside the High Court building ahead of an anti-government protest, officials said.

He blew himself up after being approached by police.

The attack comes amid extreme political tension following the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.

Parliamentary elections which had been scheduled for 8 January were subsequently postponed until 18 February.

Bodies on ground

The blast happened just before noon local time (0700 GMT), when the courts are at their busiest.

Television footage showed a scene of devastation in the area in front of the High Court.

"The explosion was horrible and a number of people, including police officers, were lying dead on ground," a passer-by, Tariq Javed, told the BBC.

Mohammad Arshad, a clerk in a lawyer's office across the road from the blast, said he saw blood and bits of flesh sticking to the broken windows of his building.

"The whole building shook and when I ran out I saw bodies lying all around. There was flesh and blood everywhere and people were crying for help," he told the Reuters news agency.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Police said the attacker was a young man who had arrived outside the court on a motorbike.

"He parked his bike and walked to the police and blew himself up," police official Jameel Ahmed told Reuters.

Police said the explosion was timed to cause maximum damage.

City police chief Malik Mohammad Iqbal said that all but one of the victims were policemen.

The officers were gathering outside the court building ahead of a protest by lawyers against the rule of President Pervez Musharraf.

Pakistan has seen a massive rise in suicide bombings since 2007.

According to the Interior Ministry, the country was hit by over 50 suicide attacks last year, which claimed at least 3,000 lives.

Government officials had warned of an increased risk of attacks in Lahore ahead of the Shia Muslim holy month of Moharram, which starts on Friday.

News Source : BBC News

Deepika – Yuvraj, love game in Sydney?

Bollywood heartthrob Deepika Padukone and the dashing Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh were spotted at a popular Sydney restaurant having a gala time together.

According to the grapevine, Deepika flew down to Sydney on Wednesday after Yuvi sent out a special invite for his latest love interest to catch him in action during the ongoing India-Australia test series. Some sources are also adding fuel to the love-fire by stating that it was Yuvi who sponsored her entire trip to Australia. Meanwhile, Deepika’s Publicist; Atul Kasbekar has refused to comment on the matter, neither accepting nor denying the statement.

Sources close to Deepika have said that she has gone there to shoot for a Yashraj film.

According to reports, the couple is very much in a relationship. Some media reports are even speculating about a possible marital alliance between the two.

The couple met at a Mumbai based nightclub a while back and since then have supposedly hit off well. It is also being said that Deepika had played host to Yuvi’s birthday party in December, which in itself, is an indication of their growing intimacy. Though, it may be a little too early to say that they are engaged, but the couple is definitely enjoying each other’s company.

So, Dhoni’s loss is definitely Yuvi’s gain in this love game!

News Source : Samachar

Mahima is back!

You need look no further for a ‘Yummy Mummy’ Mahima Chaudhary is back on the scene, looking absolutely svelte and stunning after the birth last year of daughter Ariana.

Her new film Hope And A Little Sugar, by Tanuja Chandra, is set for a February release, and Mahima is ready to return to the limelight. "Why do people think that life ends for actresses after marriage?" she wanted to know, adding, "for me, it’s just starting! This is my second coming. A year of fresh beginnings. I hope the film brings a lot of sweetness into my career now."

Mahima, who shed loads of weight post pregnancy, is determined to get back to her 48 kg shape of old. "I am enjoying this phase of seeing my baby grow up. It’s so beautiful," she said. "Ariana looks like a boiled egg. I call her katori. She’s so much like me. Not frightened and quite bindaas." When Mahima is not busy doting on her baby, she is busy endorsing products or doing stage shows across the country. She is also vigorously working out, learning kick-boxing, and studying the offers that have started pouring in.

But the actress who entered Bollywood with Subhash Ghai’s Pardes so many years ago, doesn’t want to settle for anything and everything. "I am getting offers to do serious, relationship-based films. But I am not interested. I would like to do a romantic comedy or a Kill Bill kind of action film," laughed Mahima. She said architect husband Bobby Mukherjee is very supportive of her decision to work. "Because he feels I will become crabby and nag him all the time if I sit at home and my world centres around him," she revealed. Why is it that successful women always fall for men who are married?

"I can talk about actresses. Most wait a while to get married because they are busy professionally and cannot find the right match. Moreover, we actresses mature faster than other girls, because we have to interact with so many people. Also, we have more than a fair share of unsuccessful relationships. So given these circumstances, actresses tend to get attracted and connect with married men easily as both have seen it all and are mature. I got married mindlessly, but I am glad I did, I am enjoying it," she said.

She is happy that Bobby gives her space in their relationship. "He travels a lot. So we spend as much time as we can, mostly on the weekends, and around big festivals. Bobby puts in more effort than me in our relationship. He’s already had an unsuccessful marriage, so he ensures that he gives more in this one, and I am glad that I found somebody like him," admitted the actress. A new marriage, a newborn baby, new motherhood and a new film the moral of the story is: Never give up hope!

News Source : Samachar

Jennifer wants a sperm donor

Jennifer Aniston is so desperate to have a baby that she’s on the hunt for a sperm donor, according to a new report.


The 38-year-old actress, rumoured to be dating Sex and the City toy-boy Jason Lewis, has reportedly told best pal Courtney Cox that she wants one of her male friends to help her conceive a child.

A source said, "With her biological clock ticking, Jen’s weighing up the relative qualities of all her male friends to soon make the decision which of them is her best bet as a sperm donor. Looks, intelligence and personality are all in the equation because she wants beautiful, bright children to make her life complete. Once she’s reached a decision, she’ll pop the question to a surprised bachelor, explaining she doesn’t want marriage just babies!"

Potential candidates supposedly include current lover Lewis and ex-boyfriends Paul Sculfor and Vince Vaughn. The source added, "While Jen may have soured on marriage after her divorce from Brad Pitt, she’s still desperate to start a family. She has a beautiful mansion complete with a nursery, millions in the bank and a select band of eligible guys, one of whom she’ll soon pick to be a daddy." Agencies

News Source : Samachar

Spears family says Dr. Phil betrayed their trust

The parents of Britney Spears on Wednesday accused popular television therapist Dr. Phil McGraw of betraying their trust by publicizing his visit to the troubled pop star while she was hospitalized last week.

As her parents spoke out, reports swirled that Spears' latest boyfriend -- a paparazzi -- was trying to sell semi-nude pictures of the singer.

A spokeswoman for the Spears family told NBC's "Today" show the star's parents had asked McGraw to visit her in a hospital last week as a private favor when she was admitted after refusing, in a fit of hysterics, to hand back her two children to ex-husband Kevin Federline.

"The family basically extended an invitation of trust as a resource to support them, not to make a public statement," Lou Taylor, the business manager for Lynne and Jamie Spears, told "Today" in an interview.

McGraw issued a statement Saturday saying Spears, 26, was "in dire need of medical and psychological intervention." He later scrapped plans for a special on "The Dr. Phil Show" about Spears and her problems after criticism from other counselors.

Spears spent almost two days in a Los Angeles hospital after being taken from her home on a stretcher after a standoff with police. News reports said she locked herself in a bathroom and became hysterical when Federline's representatives came to pick up their two young sons after a visit.

Spears' life has careened out of control since she divorced Federline in 2006. She lost custody of the boys last year.

McGraw has remained defiant. "Somebody needs to step up and provide a vector to get this young woman into some quality care," he told celebrity TV show Entertainment Tonight.

News Source : Samachar

Miss Bollywood Shilpa in new avatar of ‘Yoga Guru’

The bootylicious Shilpa Shetty is out with the secret of her perfect curves. In a special edition of a DVD called ‘Shilpa`s Yoga’, which targets the European market, she demonstrates simple Yoga techniques against the stunning backwaters of Kerala.

The DVD, released by Fire Fly in UK and Dubai, costs £ 17.99 (approx Rs 1,400).

Shilpa is considered to have the ‘best body in Bollywood’ and her DVD on yoga is sure to appeal those who want a sexy, super toned look. The DVD shows carefully researched workouts that aim not only at strengthening and toning, but also healing.

“Shilpa is the sexiest yogi the world has ever seen," says her publicist Dale Bhagwagar. "In `Shilpa`s Yoga` she demonstrates simple techniques against the stunning coastal backdrop of Kerala.

She explains how to transform mind, body and soul, with unique ways to build stamina and get revitalised, while discovering inner peace," he adds.

Although Shilpa has been a punctilious practitioner of yoga, she undertook some extra training under trainers Shiv Kumar Mishra and Vinayak Dixit to master the asans (poses) before shooting for the Yoga DVD.

News Source : Samachar

Madonna visits Mumbai`s religious sites on India visit

Madonna, dubbed the Queen of Pop, visited a synagogue, a church and a mosque on Wednesday in India's financial capital as part of a holiday with her family.

The 49-year-old multiple-Grammy-award winner was accompanied by her film director husband Guy Ritchie and Australian author Gregory Roberts, whose bestselling autobiographical novel "Shantaram" is set in Mumbai.

Dressed in a black T-shirt, jeans, shawl and boots, the pop star and her group, which included bodyguards, visited the 124-year-old Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue in south Mumbai.

After a meal at the plush Moshe's restaurant at upscale Cuffe Parade neighbourhood, Madonna and company visited the Afghan Church, which was built by the British to commemorate the dead of the First Afghan War of 1838.

This was followed by a quick look at the famous Haji Ali mosque, one of Mumbai's most popular landmarks.

Madonna, Ritchie and their three children arrived in Mumbai Tuesday morning by chartered plane from the historic city of Udaipur in western India, where they spent New Year's Eve.

On Tuesday, Madonna walked through narrow lanes in a slum and visited a flea market.

She also met Bollywood star Suniel Shetty on Tuesday night.

Around New Year's Eve, Madonna and family spent nearly a week in the desert state of Rajasthan, where they went for horse-riding trips and kite-flying.

News Source : Samachar

‘Molest’ 9 in teary defence

On any other day, visitors to Siddhivinayak Building could have walked into a full-blooded shot off a cricket bat. The pads, wickets and gloves were all gone today — tears had replaced the sound of laughter and running feet.

“Our careers are over, our lives are ruined,” cried Derek Jadhav, one of the 14 accused of molesting two NRI women on New Year night.

The 19-year-old and eight of the alleged molesters — all residents of this building in suburban Mumbai — today spoke to the media, the first time since the Juhu incident.

“We have been tried by the media. I wasn’t even there at the spot. I left office around 2pm and spent New Year at a friend’s place,” said Amit Kapoor, 26, an insurance agent. “I have my ATM slip to prove that I had withdrawn money at 11:30pm that day. How can I be there in two places at the same time?”

Derek claimed they were just onlookers and the photographers, who had identified them, had clicked the wrong persons. “Why didn’t they say the women and their male friends were behaving obscenely and were dead drunk? Why was only one side of the story publicised?

“We saw a crowd of 150 surrounding two couples. We became curious and got thrown into the scene,” said Derek, who along with the others headed for Shirdi after their release on bail yesterday.

Their family members and friends had arranged two cars to take them for a darshan of Sai Baba.

Nilesh Bhagatkar, 19, whose photograph was splashed in the media, was in tears. “The guy in the white shirt, who we hear is the main accused and who the police are yet to trace, pushed us. We were dragged in by the crowd,” he cried.

News Source : Samachar

Lost and found at our airports

The most absent-minded people perhaps fly from Delhi, going by the huge heap of forgotten items — the country’s biggest — collected at the Indira Gandhi International Airport over the past one year.

In 2007, passengers left behind belongings worth more than Rs 10 crore at airports across the country, says the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which looks after airport security. Almost half of these items, worth Rs 4.75 crore, were found at the Delhi airport. Despite handling more passengers, Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport is second with unclaimed items worth Rs 1.2 crore.

The list of forgotten items has almost everything — from expensive mobile phones, laptops and cameras to cooking oil, desi ghee, hair oil and even walking sticks. One left behind a fishing kit. And then, some forgot their clothes.

People have even left behind cash; from a bag containing Rs 5 lakh found at the Delhi airport to a Rs 5 note at the Ahmedabad airport.

The most-forgotten are the mobile phones (90 per cent). “During security check, passengers have to deposit their mobile phones on a tray. Many forget to take it back,” said a CISF officer. Laptops and cameras come next. In Delhi, two other items dominate the list — liquor (all kinds) and knives. “Most don’t know that you cannot carry knives, screwdrivers or liquor on board. When we find a liquor bottle with a passenger’s name, we give it to the airline so that he gets it at his destination,” the officer said.

“We view such items, especially mobiles, as security risks. These items go a check, after which we try to locate the owner,” said CISF spokesman Vertul Singh. If the passenger is not found, the item is deposited with the airport manager. “We return items to claimants after verification. The items are auctioned if no one claims them for more than one year,” said a senior airport official.

News Source : Samachar

Sydney Test divides cricketing world

International Cricket Council’s sacking of Steve Bucknor has widened the chasm in an already divided cricketing world post Sydney Test controversy with former players finding themselves on either side of the border on the heated topic.

ICC’s decision to remove Bucknor from the rest of the series has fuelled anger among many former players who thought the international body has bowed to cash-rich Indian Board’s financial might.

India’s stance of staying back in Sydney and suspending the tour is being seen as a blackmail tactics to put pressure on ICC.

Unsporting behaviour

Australia’s unsporting behaviour and Ricky Ponting’s role in the entire race row has come for sharp criticism with many former players calling for his head while others firmly backing the skipper, saying he was right to report Harbhajan Singh’s alleged racist remarks.

Former England captain Tony Greig said “my understanding is that they have been instructed to report any racist comment, so if he is instructed to do it, he has to do it.”

“I hope the people in cricket are capable of sorting this out. It is a pretty big indictment on our game if they are not” he said in Herald Sun.

Neil Harvey, former Australian skipper and 1948 Invincible member, held a different opinion and said “Ponting should have kept his mouth shut and nothing would have happened.”

Former Australian coach John Buchanan said “The ICC have changed their rules and the captain is required to report that. Ricky was between a rock and a hard place. The captains are the ones driving the ship. He reacted by the book, so it’s hard to criticise him.”

South African great Barry Richards felt the storm was brewing for a while since the ODI series in India.

“This has been brewing for a while since the Australian players were in India. It is probably good that it was brought out into the open. Had they settled it off the field, all it would have done was driven it underground for a little while.”

Former Australian captain Steve Waugh felt a better understanding between the two captains and coaches would have helped to diffuse the tension.

“Perhaps a better approach might have been for both captains, coaches and the named players to get together at the end of a day’s play and work out a solution before they went past the point of no return,” Waugh said.

Retired Australia pacer Glenn McGrath came out in strong support of his former skipper.

“I think it is sad and disappointing that it gets to the stage where you have a bad game and they are calling for your head,” McGrath was quoted saying by The Age.

“What is there, eight international umpires on the panel? And if a couple of teams aren’t happy with umpires then all of a sudden you have got one to choose from,” he said.

News Source : Samachar

Investors rush to open demat accounts

Rising demand

Market men attribute the rise to the expanding geographical profile of the broking community in the country.

The stipulation that allotments under the IPO process be made only in dematerialised form has meant more demat accounts.

The upcoming Reliance Power has been a major pull for a large section of people opening demat accounts.

---

Our Bureau

Mumbai, Jan. 9 Retail interest in stock market has picked up if trends in ‘active’ demat accounts published by the two depositories is anything to go by.

At National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) the number of active accounts grew 7.25 lakh during October-December 2007 quarter compared with 5.22 lakh in the immediate previous quarter. At the CDSL the growth had been even more dramatic with a near two-fold increase in the number of accounts. The outstanding active accounts grew by 6.9 lakh in the last quarter of 2007 compared with 3.8 lakh in the third quarter.

Geographical profile

Market men attribute the rise, among other things, to the expanding geographical profile of the broking community in the country with many of them opening branches in tier-two and tier-three towns.

The middle class boom characterised by the increasing income levels is enabling a large section of the society to seek opportunities to increase their wealth by investing in equity is another factor, said another

“Last six months have seen a lot of good IPOs which have attracted a lot of retail participation as they did not want to miss the opportunity to make money by investing,” said Mr Sanjay Someshwar, sub-broker, Ventura Securities Ltd. The stipulation that allotments under the IPO process be made only in dematerialised form has meant more demat accounts.

According to some others the increasing retail interest is not only because of the new IPOs but also because of the spate of new fund offers by both new and existing players in the mutual fund industry in the past months.

“The mid-cap and small-cap stocks have also started to give good returns which have attracted huge investor interest,” said Mr Jignesh Desai, head of institutional sales, SBICAP.

Reliance Power

A section of brokers do think that the upcoming Reliance Power has been a major pull for a large section of people opening demat accounts.

“Since the Reliance IPO was announced, there is a line outside every DP office and hundreds of application forms are pending and it seems like a mad rush of people wanting to open demat accounts,” added Mr Someshwar.

“The market is moving fast and so people from every nook and corner of the country seem interested in investing in the equity markets,” said Mr Shailendra Nahar, dealer at Mehta Equities Ltd.

News Source : Samachar

Ponting said no to truce

Indian captain Anil Kumble has revealed that he made a peace offering to his Australian counterpart on the same evening that Ricky Ponting made a complaint to the on-field umpires about Harbhajan Singh’s alleged racist remark, suggesting that the two captains sort the issue out before the hearing, but Ponting turned the offer down.

Kumble’s official confirmation of his request to Ponting in the larger interests of the game came on Wednesday, a little after Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland chose to put a spin on things, saying, “A number of days ago, he (Ponting) made the offer to Kumble for them to get together and talk through any differences and reconcile any differences that might be existing between the two captains and the two teams.”

There has been no such offer from Ponting to date, it has to be emphasised. Kumble, however, had twice requested Ponting that they sit down and clear the air — first when the charge was laid by Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson on Friday last and at Sunday night’s marathon hearing conducted by match referee Mike Procter.
Kumble’s reasoning had centred around the seriousness of the charge and the ramifications it could have on the cricketing world and beyond. Ponting, it is learnt, showed little interest in rapprochement, perhaps mistaking Kumble’s generous apology for an offence that hadn’t been committed by Harbhajan as a sign of weakness and guilt.

Last Wednesday, Kumble told Ponting that if Harbhajan had caused any offence at all, he was willing to apologise on his behalf as captain of the team.

Kumble had also reiterated that the off-spinner hadn’t made a racist remark and that the apology was intended as a conciliatory gesture. Ponting didn’t wish to see reason. At Wednesday’s press conference here, Kumble said that he had tried to convince Ponting of the need to get on.

“I did make a request to Ponting if we can sort it out amongst ourselves. His response was that it had already been reported to the umpires... I anticipated and envisaged that it would spiral into a larger issue,” he said. Perhaps now, the sagacity of India’s 37-year-old skipper will not be lost on Ponting, who has had his intemperate moments, not least during a night-club brawl in Kolkata in 1998. Hopefully, the Tasmanian will be wiser for this experience.

News Source : Samachar

ISI blamed for Bhutto assassination

Pakistan's powerful intelligence service, the ISI, is the "number one accused" in the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, a senior Britain-based leader of her party has said.

"ISI is number one accused for the murder of Ms Bhutto, Pakistan's great leader," Amanullah Khan, a leader of the Pakistan People's Party, said on Wednesday night.

"Her assassination is calculated. Her killing is a fascist act and ISI and CIA should shoulder responsibility for her assassination," Khan said at a condolence meeting organised by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Third-World Solidarity at the Boothroyd Room of House of Commons.

He said Bhutto was longing to go back to Pakistan in her effort to restore democracy there but was "deceived and stabbed in the back by ISI."

Khalid Mahmood, a Labour MP, said Bhutto knew the threat to her life but the "West cajoled and forced her to return to Pakistan."

Lord Nazir Ahmad described Bhutto as a "rare woman who lived and fought for democracy and died for democracy."

He claimed President Pervez Musharraf "is responsible for creating terrorism, extremism and fundamentalism in Pakistan and sooner we get rid of him is better for the country."

Bhutto's friend at Oxford and journalist Victoria Schofield described the PPP leader as not only "a charismatic politician, but a devoted mother and wife."

News Source : Samachar

Black armband to protest Bhajji's ban

It might not come to a pass but Indian cricketers did think about wearing black armbands as a mark of protest in the three-day game which begins at the picturesque Manuka Oval on Thursday.

Indian cricketers have relented to the extent that the deadline on the solution they seek on Harbhajan Singh's ban issue has now been pushed back to one-day series.

Till today, the mood in the camp was to seek a positive answer by the Perth Test.

Much of it has happened because the BCCI Working Committee has empowered its president Sharad Pawar to take a decision on his own accord. He does not have to seek the advice of his colleagues now, he could just pick up the phone and tell ICC or the Indian cricketers about the board's decision.

Pawar so far has been amenable to cricketers' cause which is reflected in the quick climbdown which the International Cricket Council (ICC) has done on a number of issues.

Umpire Steve Bucknor has been shunted out, chief match referee Ranjan Madugalle has come over to oversee the rulings of the match referee Mike Procter, a high court judge of New Zealand has been appointed to expedite the Harbhajan matter and yet the Indians are in an unforgiving mood.

Skipper Anil Kumble though is conscious that his team needed to clear its mind free from the swirling words of rumour and high passions and concentrate on the immediate task of finding the team to challenge Australia in the third Test in Perth.

Indians have sought to play 12 players in Thursday's game which should give everyone a fair go in the middle. More so batsmen as there are a couple of spots on shaky grounds.

Wasim Jaffer and Yuvraj Singh have not shone with the bat and Virender Sehwag and Dinesh Karthik are aware that they are just a match away from coming back into the reckoning.

The word emanating from India suggests that two national selectors, Venkatapathy Raju and Ranjib Biswal, are to come over to Australia. From the stated position of the Board that no selector would be allowed to travel with the team, it seems they are now willing to look the other way.

News Source : Samachar

Experts' report set to reignite Ram Setu row

he stage is getting set for renewed hostilities between UPA and Sangh Parivar over the Sethusamudram project with T R Baalu's Shipping Ministry touting the report of experts to say that no man-made structure (Ram Setu) existed.

The report will enable Baalu's DMK leadership to renew pressure for early commencement of the project at a time when the Sangh Parivar has upped its ante on it amid all indications that it may be an issue in the armoury of the rejuvenated BJP.

The government constituted a 10-member committee of "eminent" persons headed by S Ramachandran, vice-chancellor of Madras University, to examine the Sethusamudram ship canal project in the wake of the furore over the Centre's affidavit doubting the historicity of Lord Rama.

The report says, "As per the geological, geographical and remote sensing investigations carried out so far, the Adam's Bridge area is of natural origin with a particular stratigraphic sequence, formed due to marine geomorphological and coastal shoreline processes. Studies by Geological Survey of India also confirm this."

The government has defended the Rs 2,427-crore project that will dredge a channel in a narrow strip of sea between India and Sri Lanka, claiming that it will help reduce distance and cut costs for freight traffic.

It, however, has been vociferously opposed by the Sangh Parivar, besides conservationists who are concerned about the repercussions on the marine ecology.

After its wins in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, BJP, which has accused the government of insensitivity towards the beliefs of the majority community and of attempting to destroy evidence of the existence of a ‘sethu' (bridge) believed to have been built by Lord Rama, has indicated its desire to use it as one of the themes for the coming elections.

Incidentally, Ramachandran also headed the monitoring committee on the Environment Impact Assessment for the project.

Making a strong pitch for the project, his report suggests that most of the apprehensions are based on wrong presumptions and not on any fact or scientific data.

The committee has argued that no archaeological studies have been undertaken in the Ram Sethu/Adam's Bridge area. "As yet, no evidence pertaining to archaeological remains of any manmade structure are known from this area," the report stresses.

However, the expert panel has recommended that archaeologists should be associated during the dredging work of the project in the Adam's Bridge area in order to report and recover artifacts and archaeological features, if any.

News Source : Samachar

Parents under attack: Ricky

Parents of Australian captain Ricky Ponting are feeling the heat in an ugly fallout from the controversial Sydney Test as they have reportedly received abusive phone calls.

Ponting said his parents were forced to change to a new phone number following the anonymous calls in which he was criticised.

“There were a few people who rang in the past few days having a dig,” Ponting told a newspaper.

“It was disappointing for them (parents) to have to go through them,” he said.

Ponting and his players are under fire even within the country for their role in the Sydney Test which was marred by controversies.

Ponting rejected claims he and his side were arrogant but said there were elements of his side’s performance in the second Test that “in hindsight you might do a little differently.”

“I don’t think anyone wants the way Australia plays cricket to change,” he said.

“Everyone likes to see a tough, uncompromising brand of cricket. But, if there are areas in our game to improve on then obviously we need to address that.”

News Source : Samachar

3 teenagers stabbed in Haryana

In yet another incident of school violence, a Class X boy of a public school in Sohna, along with six-seven of his friends, attacked three of his classmates with sticks and knives on Monday.

The three students have been grievously injured, said the police.

The school authorities and families of the victims have claimed that the boys paid for objecting to an incident of eve-teasing.

Said Ashok Bhardwaj, the principal of Deep Secondary Public School, Khedla village, where the boys study, ‘‘On Saturday, there was an altercation between one of the victims, Pradeep, and the assailants as he had objected to their teasing a girl, who is also a student of our school. As soon as we received a complaint, we took up the matter with the accused’s parents.’’

Bhardwaj added that the boys must have hatched a conspiracy after this to teach Pradeep a lesson. And on Monday, they allegedly attacked Pradeep and two of his classmates, Sudhir and Naval, while they were returning home from school.

‘‘The incident happened only a few 100 metres away from the school. The assailants were hiding inside a tent. They pounced on the three boys with sticks and knives, injured them grievously, and fled. The police have not been able to arrest anyone so far,’’ said Pradeep’s father Maha Singh.

Sudhir, whose nose was badly injured, has claimed that he could recognise his classmate as one of the assailants.

Said his father Jitender, “We just want the culprits to be arrested. If the police fail to take action, we will approach the higher authorities. We are now scared of sending our children to school as they may also be attacked.’’

The police have registered a case of physical assault against the schoolboy and some unidentified youths under various sections of the IPC. A senior police officer said they were appealing to the boy’s family to make him surrender. ‘‘We have asked them to convince the boy to surrender. We hope to catch him by Thursday,’’ the officer said.

It was only last month that a 14-year-old boy was shot by two of his classmates inside a Gurgaon public school, following a quarrel in the corridor. Abhishek Tyagi, who received four shots in all, died on the way to hospital.

This time, the three students were lucky to escape with stab injuries.

News Source : Samachar

Biggies pay up for illegal foreign cars

The law has caught up with personalities as diverse as Chandan Basu, son of Marxist stalwart Jyoti Basu, Sameer Thapar of JCT group and actor Suniel Shetty. All of them, and several others, have coughed up heavy fines slapped on them by the customs department for buying expensive foreign cars through an importer who exploited loopholes to evade duties.

Basu, Thapar and Shetty are some of the A-list people to have paid more than double what they would have normally paid for their prized set of wheels. The customs department has handed them a powerful lesson on why short cuts do not always pay.

Among 60-odd SUVs and luxury sedans seized by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) after the scam was unearthed were a Land Cruiser and a Mercedes Benz from Chandan Basu, a Lamborghini Gallardo worth Rs 1 crore and a BMW X5 from Thapar and two Land Cruisers from Ajay Chautala, son of former Haryana CM Om Prakash Chautala. The makes of other recovered vehicles included Mercedes, BMW, Toyota, Porsche, Jaguar and Nissan.

The DRI had made its first seizure in 2002. But after initial inquiry and seizures of 13 cars, sleuths had released them as they could not nail the importers of the vehicles. Then, in 2005, the agency once again registered a similar case and this time unearthed a huge scam of import of foreign cars under the Export Promotion Capital Goods Scheme (EPCG), that provided a 100% duty exemption. The scheme offered exemption in lieu of foreign exchange earnings through commercial operations.

Others who misused the EPCG scheme to get their vehicles at a 50% "discount" included Vardhaman Industries MD Kapil Jain.

In another case in 2005, DRI had seized a Hummer from Shetty and a Porsche from Sanjay Dutt. Shetty was the first to approach the settlement commission and came out of the tax net that very year but had to shell out close to Rs 1 crore for his Hummer, which in normal course would not have cost him more than Rs 80 lakh, sources said.

In the present case, the ruling on which was announced by the customs and central excise settlement commission on January 4, Thapar has been asked to pay a penalty of Rs 12.61 lakh on his Lamborghini in addition to Rs 1.09 crore customs duty. The Rs 1.09 crore worth Lamborghini finally cost the industrialist a whopping Rs 2.40 crore.

The revenue department has been instructed to collect similar levies from all other luminaries who have been caught evading customs duty by misdeclaring the use of the imported vehicles. The commission has given its ruling with regard to 61 cars imported in its January 4 order and, like Thapar and Basu, all the accused beneficiaries have been made to pay almost double the cost of their cars.

For the 61 cars, the revenue earned is Rs 12.77 crore - on account of duty settled - while the redemption fine has been Rs 1.13 crore and penalties stood at Rs 1.76 crore. Besides, the beneficiaries have been asked to pay a simple interest of 15% per annum from the date duty was due upto the payment. The bench observed that the evaders should not be given any immunity from payment of interest.

The customs panel has asked DRI to release seven vehicles still in its possession in accordance to the ruling after payment of the redemption fine.

News Source : Samachar

Strong quake hits Canada: USGS

A strong 6.2-magnitude earthquake rocked the west coast of Canada on Wednesday, shaking the Queen Charlotte Island region of British Colombia, the US Geological Survey said.

The quake struck at 6:40 am (1440 GMT), officials said, 275 kilometers (171 miles) north-northwest of Port Hardy, British Colombia and 624 kilometers (299 miles) north-northwest of Vancouver, the agency said. "But because it was too far off shore, it was not actually felt," said local broadcaster Global TV.

News Source : Samachar

Hewitt hits out at umpiring standards

Australia's Lleyton Hewitt blasted the standard of tennis umpiring after being bounced out of the Sydney International by big-serving compatriot Chris Guccione on Wednesday.

Hewitt did not concede a break point but was on the wrong end of a 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/2) loss to his Davis Cup team-mate in their second round match.

"I feel like the (Indian) cricketers, I think. What's going on with all the refs these days? Useless," Hewitt fumed.

Hewitt attacked the overall standard of umpiring in tennis as "pretty ordinary."

"I think central umpires have probably gone into their shell more so since Hawk-Eye (line-calling technology) has come in, which is fine in major tournaments.

"But at the smaller tournaments, where you don't have Hawk-Eye, you have to stand up and make decisions.

"So it's obviously tough for them because one week they've got Hawk-Eye and the next week they don't."

The former world number one now has only practice with his coach Tony Roche to maintain his level for the year's first Grand Slam, starting in Melbourne next Monday.

"I had four break points and I didn't face a break point in the whole match.... I wasn't lucky today. I just hope it all comes together next week."

Hewitt has won the Sydney tournament five times and believes he has done enough work on the court to be ready for his first match at the Open.

"I have to focus on next Monday or Tuesday and getting away to a good start and hopefully getting that first round under my belt and building on that," he said.

"I've done all the hard work and now I've just got to trust what I've been doing.

"You get a lot more chances over five sets (at Grand Slams) than you get against guys like Chris here in a three-setter. That can be a bit of a lottery really," he added.

Leading French star Richard Gasquet says he has to adjust to the heavy tennis balls used for next week's Open after his second round exit.

The world number eight and top seed crashed out to the big forehands of Russian 35th-ranked Dmitry Tursunov, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in just over two hours.

Gasquet, a touch player who knocked out Andy Roddick on the way to losing to Roger Federer in the semi-finals of last year's Wimbledon, said he is at a disadvantage hitting the heavier balls on the slower Plexicushion hardcourt surface of the Open.

"It's the wrong ball for the shoulder. You have to be really strong to play with this ball," Gasquet said.

"It's not my game to be really strong. My opponent today can serve 220-225 kph (136-140 mph) but for me, it's really hard. So the (heavy) balls are not good for my game."

Gasquet said he would have to adjust in practice to the heavier Wilson balls being used at the Australian Open.

Tursunov, who now leads Gasquet 2-0 in head-to-heads, will face Sebastien Grosjean in the quarter-finals after the Frenchman beat Spanish eighth seed Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-4.

Veteran Frenchman Fabrice Santoro continued his strong tournament with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Belgian qualifier Steve Darcis and will next play Russian Evgeny Korolev, who eased past Czech Ivo Minar 6-2, 6-3.

Frenchman Gilles Simon went down to Czech fourth seed Tomas Berdych 7-6 (7/3), 6-2, who will face Guccione.

Meanwhile, Czech Radek Stepanek overcame Italian Andreas Seppi in three sets to set up a quarter-final against either fifth seed Carlos Moya or Argentina's Agustin Calleri.

News Source : Samachar

Maruti unveils A-Star concept car

Small is big at the Auto Expo 2008 opening on Thursday. Maruti grabbed Wednesday's honours with a preview of its A-Star concept car.

Apart from A-Star, Maruti Suzuki also on Wednesday showcased two other concept cars – Splash and Kizashi.

A-Star, dubbed the global India car and developed by Maruti Suzuki Ltd's research and development (R&D) team in Gurgaon near Delhi, is sleek, smart and fun to drive.

Designed by Saurabh Singh and Rajesh Kumar Gogu of Maruti Suzuki India, the five-door hatchback with a 1,000 cc petrol engine has been designed keeping the European market in mind.

Maruti Suzuki India hopes to commence production of A-Star by October 2008, said the managing director of Suzuki Motor Corporation, Shinzo Nakanishi. The car would be manufactured from the company's Manesar facility in Haryana, he said.

Exports

By 2010, Suzuki plans to export 100,000 units of the new model to Europe. "Maruti's manufacturing capability has reached a level where Suzuki wants to make small cars for Europe exclusively in India," he said.

The pricing of the car is yet to be worked out, Nakanishi added.

A-Star will be an "A-Segment" car as per the European nomenclature (considered the A-2 segment in India) and Euro-V compliant with a 1.0-litre aluminium petrol engine.

Saying that Maruti enjoyed a 50 per cent market share in the Indian auto market, Nakanishi disclosed that the company would launch one new model in India every year to consolidate its market position.

Ambitious project

The A-Star is considered to be one of the most ambitious projects of Maruti Suzuki India. In fact, the concept car is a first for Maruti Suzuki India's R&D team.

The company has entered into an agreement with Nissan to sell A-Star under the latter's brand name in the US market, Nakanishi said.

Although A-Star attracted most eyeballs and mind space on Wednesday at the Expo, Nakanishi was keen to see the Rs.100,000 car of his rival.

He, however, ruled out a price cut for Maruti 800 and dismissed rumours of Maruti's foray into the Rs.100,000 segment.

News Source : Samachar

UK journo alleges rape, US tourist molested

In an e-mail to the British High Commission, a British freelance journalist has alleged that she was raped two weeks ago by the owner of the Udaipur guest house where she was staying.

The Udaipur police arrested Parvat Singh, owner of the Pardesi Guest House, on Wednesday. “The victim has alleged that on the night of December 23, when she was staying at the guest house, she asked for an extra blanket,” said Govind Gupta, SP, Udaipur. “Parvat Singh personally brought it for her, and then raped her.”

In another incident, a 28-year-old American tourist was also allegedly molested by a priest in front of the Papmochni temple on the bank of Pushkar lake on Tuesday. The priest, 35-year-old Satyanarayan, has been arrested.

News Source : Samachar

Time to say hi to Tata's dream car

All roads will lead to Hall 11 of Pragati Maidan on Thursday. But that doesn't necessarily mean that everyone can stroll in, take a look at the Rs 1 lakh car, touch it and maybe go for a spin. To put it politely, don't even think about it. For the people's car is being treated like a VVIP, with Z-plus security keeping a fierce watch on it.

If that doesn't deter you, the company has employed the services of bouncers and bodyguards, including the formidable Shamser Singh Pehelwan, who looks quite capable of carrying the car all by himself from Pune to Delhi if need be. As he assured us, in chaste Haryanvi, he won't blink before removing troublemakers from the scene, should there be one.

While stories of the car being brought to New Delhi in four pieces and then being assembled in the pavilion have been doing the rounds, a Tata Motors source revealed that the cars would actually be transported in a high security container only on Wednesday night, with guards riding shotgun. A team of authorized personnel, including Tata Motors officials, will spend the whole night at the pavilion. To satisfy the curiosity of critics, a cross-section of the car displaying the components will also be displayed.

Sources close to the company say that a crowd of about 1,500, including media persons and guests are expected at the unveiling of the car. Kamal Nath, Union minister of commerce & industry, Dr Sabyasachi Sen, industry secretary of the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation and MB Rao, managing director (WBIDC) will be among those present.

But the reactions to watch will be those of the heads of all automobile giants present in India, many of whom had scoffed at the idea of a Rs 1 lakh car. Tata Motors has made sure the invitation to witness this ‘miracle' reached its contemporaries. About 250 international journalists are also expected to relay the event across the world.

Even on Wednesday, Hall 11, which houses Tata Motors' products at the 9th Auto Expo, was a packed house as the company lifted the covers off its spanking new Indica and the Sumo Grande. Wednesday's program, which displayed the shortened version of the Indigo and the Indica DICOR, included the routine song and dance schedule with trapeze artists and violin players and the latest Bollywood number - Dard-e-Disco. That only brought in more crowds.

The 5,200 square meter stall, the largest in the entire exhibit, is supposed to seat 500, but was easily teeming beyond capacity. The hype surrounding the car has forced the company to keep a tight lid on any information about it.

The last few weeks have seen a number of emails speculating on the appearance, specifications and even the name of the car. But if, like Ratan Tata, you have been waiting for the last five years, a few more hours is not too much to ask for.

News Source : Samachar

Off the field, India rules world cricket

India, whose controversy-scarred cricket tour of Australia is back on after numerous disputes, is the undisputed powerhouse in the sport off the field, and has been acknowledged as such by the International Cricket Council.

It's hardly surprising then that the ICC acceded to India's request to remove umpire Steve Bucknor from the series to ensure the tour continues.

And there is a distinct feeling within the game that, given the power it wields in the sport, what India wants, India gets.

"India has the biggest cricket-watching population and it's the financial powerhouse," ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed told reporters in Mumbai late last year.

Clearly then, the ICC has good reason to keep India happy. The cricket-mad country, with a population of 1.1 billion, a growing middle class and booming economy, has carried the sport on its shoulders for more than a decade.

India may not have the most powerful cricket team on the field, but its clout off it is peerless because of its financial power.

The television industry estimates that an international cricket match featuring India draws 60 percent of the Indian viewing audience, almost 450 million people.

The pan-Asian ESPN-Star Sports television network, owned jointly by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp and Disney, ensured itself a financial bonanza by bringing cricket to Indian audiences around the world.

ESPN-Star paid an astonishing 1.1 billion dollars last year for rights to ICC events like the World Cup till 2015 -- double the previous deal with Murdoch's Global Cricket Corp.

The network even launched a 24-hour cricket channel, STAR Cricket, to satisfy India's seemingly unquenchable thirst for the game.

"I did not know how to fulfill the demand for cricket with just two channels," ESPN-Star chief Jamie Davis said in a recent interview.

"Forty-eight hours of cricket a day is not enough."

The ICC's main sponsors like Pepsi, Hero Honda, Reliance and Emirates are looking at the Indian market to get returns from the big bucks they pay to join the bandwagon.

The ICC has acknowledged in the past that India accounts for 70 percent of the game's worldwide revenues.

Delhi-based advertising executive Rajmohan Singh said brands that associate themselves with cricket are assured of high-profile returns.

"Nothing unites India's millions more than cricket," he said. "It's the biggest reality show in town and people can't get enough of it."

Singh said 10-second advertising spots for the India-Pakistan final in the inaugural Twenty20 Worlds in South Africa last September cost 30,000 dollars each and were all sold out in advance.

Kerry Packer's Channel Nine reportedly paid 270 million dollars to renew its rights for Australian cricket for seven years.

In contrast, Nimbus Communications had to shell out a whopping 612 million dollars to the Indian cricket board (BCCI) for the rights to televise India's home series for only four years.

India's powerful reach within the game is long. New Zealand cricket chiefs are struggling to keep a first-choice national squad together after a rebel Indian Cricket League offered Kiwi players five times more than what they earned playing for their country.

Almost the entire Australian team -- the undisputed best side in cricket -- has signed up to play in the BCCI's own Twenty20 League in April that offers prize money of three million dollars to the winning team.

Naturally, there is discomfort within the game at the power India has. The Australian media wants the ICC to rein in India's political and financial clout.

But Cricinfo's Charlie Austin does not see that happening in the near future.

"Unless China or America starts playing cricket in a big way in the competitive arena, I don't see it coming," said Austin.

India's influence meanwhile looks likely to increase, with BCCI President Sharad Pawar taking over as ICC vice-president in June before taking the top post in 2010.

News Source : Samachar