The World of News

Ravi promises support to Indian trafficking victims in US

2008-03-10T17:30:00.001+05:30

About 100 Indian victims of human trafficking in the US have found support from Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi who has promised all help.

The workers, who Wednesday quit working for Signal International at Pascagoula shipyard in Mississippi, met in New Orleans, Louisiana, Saturday to discuss their course of action, said Stephen Boykewich, a media spokesperson for the New Orleans Workers' Centre for Racial Justice that is helping them.

The workers were recruited by Dewan Consultants of Mumbai, and brought by Signal, a marine construction company, to the US over a year ago and made to live and work in abysmal conditions.

''The workers demand the US to prosecute Signal for human trafficking and the Indian government to punish recruiter Sachin Dewan,'' said Saket Soni, director of the New Orleans Workers' Centre for Racial Justice.

Ravi has written to the Indian ambassador in the US, Ronen Sen, to investigate the matter and said his ministry would also issue a show-cause notice to Dewan.

The workers have thanked Ravi for his support and are inviting Ambassador Sen to New Orleans for a meeting.

''We will present evidence that Signal International and recruiters in both countries conspired to exploit hundreds of Indians in a labour trafficking scheme,'' said Sabulal Vijayan, a former employee of Signal and one of the rebelling workers' leaders, in a press release issued by Boykewich.

''We also want Ravi to direct Dewan and his associates to refrain from contacting the workers' families in India and intimidating them,'' added Vijayan.

Dewan Consultants has distanced itself from the controversy saying its contract with the workers had ended last year.

The workers Friday met officials of the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. They also plan to report themselves to the Department of Justice as trafficking victims. Their future course of action will depend on whether they are allowed to stay on and work, as victims of human trafficking generally are.

Besides those who quit, 200 other Indians are still working under similar conditions at the Pascagoula shipyard.

''They perhaps don't want to risk leaving at this stage, but will be welcome to join the action that other workers are planning,'' Boykewich said.

The workers, mainly welders and pipe-fitters, belong to Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi. They were lured with promises of green cards to agree to come on H2B visas meant for temporary workers to meet the labour shortage in the region caused by the Katrina Hurricane. They claim they paid up to $20,000 each to recruiters.

Signal brought almost 600 workers from India in end 2006 to Pascagoula and its other facility in Texas.

Soni said the Indian workers lived ''like pigs in a cage'' in a company-run ''work camp''.

One of the workers, Rajan Pazhambalakode, added, ''I've been a guest worker all my life. I've never seen these kinds of conditions. We stayed 24 people to a room, for which the company deducted $1,050 a month from our pay cheques.''

The nature of their visas prevented them from working for any other company, leaving the constant threat of deportation hanging over their heads.

Signal has denied the charges in a statement claiming it spent over $7 million to house the workers.

''Unfortunately, a few of the workers whom Signal had sponsored for H2B visas and recruited have made baseless and unfounded allegations against Signal concerning their employment and living conditions,'' it said in the statement.

Driven by the news that Signal is now recruiting fresh Indian workers through the Mumbai recruiter S. Mansur & Company, Vijayan and his colleagues are demanding that the Indian and US governments put a halt to this international trafficking ring.

News Source : Samachar

India scores a facile win

2008-03-10T17:29:00.000+05:30

Santiago: India ended its league campaign on a good note with a 4-1 defeat of Chile en route to the final of the Olympic hockey qualifying tournament here on Saturday.

With a berth in the final already confirmed following Britain’s 4-0 win against Austria earlier in the day, the Indians played freely and with confidence, but missed far too many scoring opportunities.

Drag-flick specialist V. Ramachandra Raghunath was again in the thick of things scoring two goals (23rd minute, 61st), including one from India’s only penalty corner to take his tournament tally to 10.

Prabhjot Singh (9th) and Bharat Chhikara (23rd) scored one apiece. For Chile, which defended with great fortitude, Felipe Montegu converted its penalty corner in the 63rd minute much to the delight of the partisan crowd.

India finished second overall behind Great Britain with 12 points, followed by Austria (9), Russia (6), Chile (3) and Mexico (0).

India took time to get into its stride despite taking the lead in the ninth minute when Prabhjot deflected home a Bimal Lakra long corner hit.

Past the 23rd minute, Raghunath found the boards off a Prabhjot pass to give India a 2-0 lead that galvanised the side into more action.

Flowing move

Then followed probably the best phase of Indian display in this session when a flowing move down the middle orchestrated by Ignace Tirkey and Tushar Khandekar finally saw Chhikara letting fly from the right for the third goal.

India began the second-half on a strong note, stringing together a few fluent moves while stepping up the pace. Adopting a ‘full-court press’, it kept Chile under pressure, but a goal eluded it.

Rajpal had the best of chances in the first 10 minutes of the half when he launched a lightning counter-attack, exchanging passes with Prabhjot. However, on entering the circle, Rajpal shot wide.

Rajpal had another great opportunity to score. Put through by Roshan Minz, he was way off the mark in the 53rd minute. Almost immediately, it was Prabhjot’s turn to muff a sitter by shooting straight at the goalkeeper.

Intent on attack, the Indians left their back open and Chile counter-attacked. However, an alert William Xalco intercepted inside the circle and sent Prabhjot on his way. Defender Ian Koppenberger, in desperation, brought down Prabhjot near the centre-line and was sent off with a yellow card in the 54th minute.

Third yellow card

Three minutes later, India received its third yellow card in two matches when Ajitesh Roy was given marching orders in the 57th minute for bringing down Cristobal Rodriguez.

The Chilean defence stood up well to the onslaughts, soaking in all the pressure, but a deliberate foul inside its own 25-yard area presented India a penalty corner in the 61st minute and Raghunath converted.

Chile went on the attack, but Prabhodh Tirkey came up with a great tackle.

However, the Indian skipper dilly-dallied rather than clearing the ball and the host went on to force a penalty corner. Montegu sounded the boards with a carpet shot to trigger celebrations in the packed stands.

Chile’s fightback came rather too late in the day as the Indians withstood an avalanche of attacks to come through without further damage.

In an inconsequential game, Russia recorded its second win in five matches by thrashing winless Mexico 9-1

Final league standings (read as team, matches played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, goal difference, points): Great Britain 5 5 0 0 30 3 +27 15; India 5 4 0 1 39 8 +31 12; Austria 5 3 0 2 15 19 -4 9.

Russia 5 2 0 3 15 23 -8 6; Chile 5 1 0 4 10 14 -4 3; Mexico 5 0 0 5 3 45 -42 0.

News Source : Samachar

Lalu Prasad Yadav's effigy burnt in Thane

2008-03-10T17:28:00.000+05:30

A group of north-Indian activists from Thane on Sunday burnt the effigy of Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav at the Wagle Estate Junction for making "provocative speeches" against Maharashtrians.

The activists were led by Dalbir Singh Sinar, the leader of Uttar Bharaitya Saurakshan Samiti.

According to the Samiti, they burnt the effigy to protest against the provocative speeches made by north-Indian leader against Maharashtrians which polluted the atmosphere here while the north Indians lived cordially in Maharashtra without any issues.

While the Srinagar police have registered offences against the mob, no arrests has been made so far in this connection.

News Source : Samachar

BJP-RSS activists attack CPI(M) HQ

2008-03-10T17:27:00.000+05:30

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat on Sunday condemned the “unprecedented” and “premeditated” attack on the party’s national headquarters here by activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and demanded the immediate arrest of those behind the incident.

Five Central Committee members of the party — Hari Singh Kang, Jogendra Sharma, P.M.S. Grewal, V. Srinivasa Rao and Kumar Shiralkar — and some party workers were injured when BJP-RSS activists pelted stones at A.K. Gopalan Bhawan here on Sunday. The incident evoked strong reactions from all political parties; they have demanded strong action against the culprits.

The incident took place in the afternoon when a meeting of the CPI(M)’s highest policy-making body — the Central Committee — was being held at the office. Panic gripped the entire Gole Market area where the building is situated. However, before more police personnel reached the spot, the attackers fled, leaving behind shattered window panes of the building and damaged cars parked on the premises.

Later, the police registered an FIR against senior BJP leaders, including its Delhi unit chief Harshvardhan, Mayor Aarti Mehra, and Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Jagdish Mukhi, and arrested 15 BJP leaders. Sitaram Yechury and Brinda Karat were among the prominent leaders who vehemently criticised the attack. Parties, including the constituents of the Left Front, the Congress, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Samajwadi Party demanded severe action against the culprits.

Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Karat said it was the first time that the headquarters of a prominent national political party was attacked in such a brutal manner. “It was a premeditated attack by the BJP and RSS workers who are now frustrated because of our growing popularity and acceptance of our good work. We are shocked to see how a premeditated attack was carried out at our headquarters when our Central Committee meeting was on,” he said.

News Source : Samachar

Congress sounds poll bugle on waiver pitch

2008-03-10T17:26:00.002+05:30

Congress on Sunday consecrated the "Rs 65,000 crore farm loan waiver" as its plank for the coming electoral battles, with party chief Sonia Gandhi taking centrestage to call it the party's "duty" towards farmers and PM Manmohan Singh urging workers to tell "each and every farmer" about mega debt relief as gift from Sonia.

That Congress would play big on the multicrore debt relief was evident even before the finance minister unveiled it in his Budget speech on February 29. But the sharp pitch of Sunday's farmers' rally in the capital and the volley of self-congratulatory statements left little doubt that UPA's final budget was an election manifesto.

Not only were both Sonia and Singh ballistic on Congress's concern for farmers, they were also belligerent in blaming the BJP for farm sickness. So much so that Sonia dubbed the saffron show of concern as shedding "crocodile tears".

Though she was blunt at critics in saying they were like the "pot calling the kettle black", the statement was just ambiguous enough to include in its broad sweep the Left and UNPA, who have joined hands to target the Centre on farmers' issues. The bid to appropriate the community saw Sonia assert the party ahead of the coalition: "If somebody is really concerned about farmers, it is us, Congress, UPA government."

Farmers apart, the rally's consequence lay in Sonia Gandhi choosing to touch on terrorism, believed to be the party's soft spot. Sonia said Congress did not care for a certificate from a home minister who was in charge during the worst terror strikes in the country's history and "extended hospitality" to terror agents. Though she stopped barely short of naming BJP's PM candidate LK Advani, Congress appears to be veering towards playing a budget-rejuvenated 'aam admi' against the saffron poll plank of terror in elections. Interestingly, the nuclear deal was not mentioned by any leader.

Enveloped in negativity owing to a string of poll defeats and backing down to Left's aggression to visible deflation of morale of its cadres, Congress managers feel that the loan waiver has resulted in a goodwill among rural poor which, if tapped well, can mark a turnaround in its fortunes.

News Source : Samachar

Killing fields of Kerala’s Keshpur

2008-03-10T17:26:00.001+05:30

Kannur, the northern Kerala district that sent shockwaves all the way to Delhi today, is to the CPM what Nagpur is to the RSS.

Kannur can also be called Kerala’s Keshpur, a place synonymous with political vendetta and bloodshed in Bengal.

Once known for stirring legends whose overriding theme was vendetta and clan rivalry, Kannur was the cradle of Marxism in Kerala, where the world’s first elected communist government came to power in 1957.

Feudalism, poverty and a complex caste system helped Left leaders make easy inroads and, by the fifties, the district had turned into a Red fort.

In the early sixties, the Nagpur-headquartered RSS, backed by a Mangalore business lobby, started sneaking into the communist bastion. Things took a bloody turn in 1968 when Left cadres killed an RSS activist.

Since then, it has been a battle for supremacy as the two outfits focused on forming party villages where opponents were unwelcome.

Both nurtured “killing squads” and, after every round, they would tally the “goal” — the term used to settle scores.

The recent history of killings started in Kannur in 1977, after the countrywide Emergency was lifted. The Marxists, many of whom suffered at the hands of police, targeted Congress workers who, they alleged, had betrayed them.

However, once the CPM-Congress clashes subsided, violence broke out between the CPM and the RSS.

In the latest round of clashes, seven political workers have died. Five of the dead were BJP workers and two were from the ruling CPM, while several others were injured in the retaliatory strikes that started after a local RSS leader was attacked by a group of alleged Left activists last Wednesday.

A seriously injured M.P. Sumesh is battling for life at a hospital in Kozhikode.

The RSS hit back within half an hour by killing a CPM worker, triggering more violence that spread to other areas as seething cadres sought out rival activists and attacked their homes.

The cycle of violence is similar to the bloodletting in West Midnapore’s Keshpur between 1998 and 2001 when the CPM and the Trinamul Congress were locked in a turf war. But unlike in Keshpur, where the violence has ended, Kannur has been smouldering for nearly half a century, accounting for over 250 murders.

The epicentre of the trouble — Thalassery — happens to be the constituency of state home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.

The bloodletting had become so frequent in the seventies that ground-zero Thalassery was often referred to as Thalachchedi, which means “behead” in Malayalam.

Many maimed victims, still seen on the streets of Thalassery and Panoor, are walking reminders of the culture of political intolerance.

The eye-for-an-eye, tooth-for-a-tooth battle between the CPM and the RSS caught national attention when K.T. Jayakrishnan, a schoolteacher, was stabbed to death before his students in 1999.

The fresh clashes have come at a time two efficient officers, A. Hemachandran, who was inspector-general (northern range), and Kochi commissioner Manoj Abraham, who was given additional charge of Kannur, have been shunted out.

Abraham, who made a name for himself by cracking down on New Year hooliganism in Kochi, was specially brought in to clean up Kannur but lasted less than five days in his new job.

News Source : Samachar

Rejected by royals, applauded here

2008-03-10T17:25:00.000+05:30

A film which sparked such protests in the UK that it had to be withdrawn from a royal charity gala screening has been shown for the first time in India at the MAMI festival.

Brick Lane, the adaptation of the Monica Ali bestseller, was screened to a packed house on Saturday, as part of the festival’s Film India Worldwide section.

Traders in London’s Brick Lane, famed for its Bangladeshi restaurants, had forced the producers to shoot the film elsewhere after a fierce campaign saying it portrayed Bangladeshis as backward. Last October, the film was pulled from premiering at the Royal Film Performance because the royal family was worried about the controversy and the event, which normally raises millions of rupees for people working in the film industry, was cancelled.

The movie revolves around Nazneen, a Bangladeshi villager who moves to East London for an arranged marriage and ends up having an affair with a market trader.

Lead actress Tannishtha Chatterjee, a Bengali who lives in Mumbai, told HT after the screening, that the film does not have clichés. “I met a lot of women in and around Brick Lane with similar stories to tell,” she said. “But this film was not about an Asian woman battered by her husband, but about a woman who finds her own solutions in life.”

Chatterjee (29) said it was universal story about displacement and a woman finding a voice. “I think the message of the film was to show that in any journey, when you take a big decision, there is a sense of liberation as well as of loss.”

Chatterjee said she was “overwhelmed” by the response at MAMI. “I have been surprised that despite being in a secluded location, this year’s MAMI festival has been running packed shows. It shows there is an interest in India from all quarters.”

News Source : Samachar

DMK candidates for Rajya Sabha polls

2008-03-10T17:24:00.000+05:30

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Sunday announced its candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls, slated for March 26.

A.A. Jinnah, advocate, and Vasanthi Stanley, member of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions, are the DMK nominees, according to a release issued by party president M. Karunanidhi.

The announcement came a few days after Pattali Makkal Katchi founder S. Ramadoss urged the DMK to field only one candidate and sought a Rajya Sabha seat for his party. On Friday, Mr Karunanidhi said while the DMK and the Congress would contest two seats each, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) would be given one seat.

Elections are to be held for six Rajya Sabha seats from the State later this month. Filing of nominations began on Saturday. The date of polls is March 26 in the event of a contest.

Born in Tiruvarur, Mr.Jinnah (67), has been a practising advocate since 1970. He was imprisoned for a year for his participation in the anti-Hindi agitation in the late 1970s.

He was a Trustee at the Chennai Port Trust and Member of the Regional Film Censor Board, Chennai.

A post-graduate in English and native of Srivilliputhur, Mrs. Stanley (45) worked as the Assistant Commercial Tax Officer in the Commercial Tax Department for 20 years.

She entered politics in 1995 and held various party posts. At present, she is the Deputy Secretary of the south Chennai unit of the DMK.

Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Sunday appealed to Dr. Ramadoss to accept the DMK president’s stand on the Rajya Sabha seat issue and help strengthen the Democratic Progressive Alliance. Earlier, he met Mr. Karunanidhi.

Mr. Chidambaram told reporters that he was happy over allotment of an additional seat to the Congress.

News Source : Samachar

Maya set to join forces with don

2008-03-10T17:23:00.000+05:30

Mayavati has agreed to tie up with don-turned-politician D.P. Yadav, in a turnaround from her avowed policy that her party would have nothing to do with criminals.

Yadav’s Rashtriya Parivartan Dal is set to merge with the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party, taking its tally to 212 in the 403-member Assembly.

With Yadav’s party having only him and wife Umlesh as MLAs, the switchover has not attracted the anti- defection law. Speaker Sukhdev Rajbhar, from the BSP, has approved the merger.

The chief minister, who had promised to rid Uttar Pradesh of mafia politics in the run-up to last year’s Assembly polls, did not say why Yadav had become acceptable to her.

Rivals were quick to dub her crusade against the mafia a sham, saying she was encouraging goons opposed to the BJP and the Samajwadi Party.

“Mayavati’s claims that she is against anti-socials now sound hollow,” Samajwadi leader Ambika Chaudhary said.

Yadav’s entry comes a month after the arrest of Samajwadi MP Atiq Ahmad in connection with the murder of BSP legislator Raju Pal in January 2005. Mayavati has also accused him of “plotting to kill” her.

But Yadav, who had crossed over from the BSP to the Samajwadi Party in 1998 before switching to other parties, appears less of a threat. His son Vikas is an accused in the Nitish Katara murder and has been found guilty of involvement in the Jessica Lal killing.

The MLA from Badaun’s Sahswan — his wife represents nearby Bisauli — has blamed the media and his rivals for hatching a conspiracy to implicate him and his son in fake cases.

“My son is in jail (in the Jessica Lal case) for several years only because of political reasons,” Yadav said.

The BJP had offered Yadav a ticket in 2004 but withdrew it following protests from several senior leaders. The Samajwadi Party has also kept him at bay since 2000.

Yadav, who has over 28 criminal cases against him and is known to wield muscle power in the western districts of Uttar Pradesh, claimed he was “a victim of political adversaries and those who were jealous” of his business.

“I don’t think it is proper to hold any one guilty unless it is proved in court,” he said.

Yadav’s party had fielded three candidates in last year’s polls. Vikas had also contested but lost.

Having slammed the BSP when he left it in 1998, Yadav lost no time in making a quick turnaround.

He said he had “always appreciated” the BSP ideology, especially the ideals of founder Kanshi Ram. He recalled that he had won the Sambhal Lok Sabha seat on the party’s ticket earlier.

“The Sarva Samaj ideals of Mayavati has drawn international attention and all parties now fear losing their votes (to the BSP),” he added.

News Source : Samachar

Paralysed techie meets his mother

2008-03-10T17:22:00.002+05:30

It was an atmosphere charged with emotions when mother of Manjunath Kalmani, paralysed neck down since a car crash in the United States, came all the way from their village in Karnataka to meet him in New Delhi.

"I hope my son's treatment is taken care of. We do not have the financial means to take care of him," a tearful Vidyavati said after meeting her son.

Manjunath, a promising software engineer had his life rudely interrupted at the age of 27, when he was reduced to the status of an invalid living under the care of nurses in an alien land after meeting with a car accident.

All he can do now is speak in a rasping whisper.

"Our nodal officer received information from the Indian Embassy that there is a patient Manjunath coming from USA. He arrived and was in very critical condition, having all sorts of problems and I think his brother is not very inclined to come here to see the patient," his doctor, Dr Jagdish Prasad, said.

Kalmani is on a ventilator suffered a brain stroke after the accident and underwent an emergency operation. He is paralysed neck down.

He cannot even breath on his own due to the paralysis and is on a ventilator. Kalmani's brother works in a cooperative society and his father is a farmer in Karnataka while his mother Vidyavati is a housewife.

He was brought to India in an air ambulance after spending four years in US hospitals following the expiry of his visa.

News Source : Samachar

In 4 yrs, Govinda spoke in Parliament for 2 minutes

2008-03-10T17:22:00.001+05:30

Actor-politician Govinda is known for being late on film sets but it appears that his bad habit has crept into his political career as well.

In 2004, when he defeated the BJP heavyweight Ram Naik from Mumbai North many saw at it as a second innings for Govinda.

However, the actor’s political stint has been totally uneventful. Here’s a look at how he fares as a parliamentarian.

Parliament records show that he has attended only 10 per cent of all Parliament sessions in the last four years.
He had had a relatively good year in 2005, attending 15 sessions out of 85.
In 2006, his attendance fell to seven out of 77.
2007 saw the worst with the actor attending only two sessions out of 66.
This year, when the Congress leadership was glowing in its apparent dream budget, Govinda decided to give that the miss too. His account is yet to open this year in Parliament.
Parliament records also show that the actor has spoken only twice in the House – on May 10 and 11, 2005, for a minute each during Zero Hour.

News Source : Samachar

Suchitra Sen discharged from hospital

2008-03-10T17:21:00.000+05:30

Legendary Bengali film actress of yesteryears, Suchitra Sen was on Sunday night discharged from a city hospital where she was admitted with fever and chest infection two weeks ago.

Hospital sources said Sen was discharged at 9.55 pm and was taken to her home in an ambulance amidst tight security.
The cabin in the nursing home's ICU and all entrances was under tight security in view of a woman's attempt to enter her cabin during her stay there.

The 77-year-old reclusive actress, who has often been compared to Greta Garbo who also preferred to remain in her cocoons, has not been seen in public since her retirement from the film world in the late 1970's.

Sen, who featured in romantic partnerships on screen with late Bengali megastar Uttam Kumar from the 50s to the 70s and in Hindi films like 'Aandhi', was admitted to the nursing home on February 25 night.

She was, also admitted in the second week of October last.

News Source : Samachar

Ishant Sharma owes it to coach Sharvan

2008-03-10T17:20:00.002+05:30

Wiry but athletic, ambitious but realistic too; 6ft 4in, but very down to earth; Ishant Sharma is a phenomenon, the latest rage in cricket, and a nightmare for a batsman like Ricky Ponting.

The success in Australia has changed his life. “I have hardly had time to meet my friends and spend time with my family.” He is not complaining but just making a point as he pulls up his car at a quiet corner for us to talk. His coach, Sharvan Kumar, is, fittingly, in the navigator’s seat.

When Ishant first came to Sharvan three years ago, it was not for cricket. Manvinder Singh, a Railways cricketer, brought the 16-year-old with a request — he needed admission to a school where he could also pursue his cricket. Ganga International School was Sharvan’s choice. Two days of practice at the school, and three days at the Ramjas Sports and Mountaineering Institute ground in West Patel Nagar, some hard work under scorching sun for months, and Ishant was on the right track.

“Sir, please mention Manvinder gave me the first break,” says Ishant at the outset. A good sign that he has not forgotten to remember his well-wishers. “I owe Sharvan Sir all my cricket,” Ishant quickly adds.

Eventful journey

It has been an eventful journey for Ishant from the time he came under Sharvan’s guidance. “He was tall and looked sharp, had a good action. He was wayward but he showed the spark,” says Sharvan of his first meeting with the talented fast bowler.

Natural high arm action, a natural instinct to bowl in-swing, not the best run up but “fantastic” release of the ball. For Sharvan, this gangling speedster is the best advertisement of raw talent. “This is just the beginning. I expect him to develop into a meaner and craftier bowler.”

“His confidence was stunning,” recalls Sharvan. Within six months of regular practice, Ishant was bowling for Delhi under-17, claiming 14 wickets in a match against Haryana. He was picked for under-19 too and played a game of North Zone one-day league for the senior side.

Last season was a landmark leap for this 19-year-old. He bowled for Delhi, tirelessly in the matches, in the ‘nets’, and bowled long spells for the under-19 squad too. He was picked for the under-22 team but mercifully spared, following a request from his coach. Ishant’s progress was rapid.

“I am glad he is learning fast. There is encouragement at every step. His overall game has matured,” gushes Sharvan. That he is a good learner is established. Ishant has worked hard on his run up, pace, line and length. He is not aiming to improve by bowling close to the stumps.

“It is tough,” confesses Ishant. “I want to become a complete fast bowler. I always concentrate on line and length, variations without compromising on pace. I know speed is my strength.”

Reflecting on the Australian tour, Ishant is candid, “I was told it would be very tough. I had made a promise to myself that I would make the most of it. I had to learn on and off the field and there was no place for any distractions. I was not going to allow my cricket to be dominated.” Ishant gets an affectionate pat from Sharvan.

Sharing the dressing room with senior players was a blessing. “I was amazed by their hunger and self-belief to succeed. That was the best lesson I learnt on the Australian tour.”

Ishant remembers his coach and family at every peak that he scales. “I know the value of my coach and my family. I know I can bank on them always. If they push me, it is for my benefit. I know it is just the beginning,” says Ishant, giving ample insight into his maturity.

He is reminded of the importance of education. “No compromise on pace, no compromise on education either. Have extra classes but study,” warns Sharvan. There is another gem too. “Be game fit, not gym fit.” Which means an hour of intense training daily.

On the stardom, he blushes, “I am enjoying it. It can get taxing at times when my privacy is invaded. But I know people wish me well,” he smiles, obliging a kid, who is gasping, having chased the car almost a kilometre for his hero’s autograph.

News Source : Samachar

Unchecked influx straining Mumbai: Deshmukh

2008-03-10T17:20:00.001+05:30

Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Sunday said that unchecked influx into the city has put considerable strain on Mumbai's infrastructure.

"Public amenities such as water, suburban rail network have to bear the burden (of influx). But we cannot stop people from coming to Mumbai," the CM said at a press conference after his meeting with the Opposition on the eve of the budget session of the state legislature.

On MNS's anti-north Indian stir, he said he received a slew of complaints from industrialists, saying production had been affected up to 50%. Many north Indian migrants have fled Nashik and Pune.

The Opposition Shiv Sena-BJP leaders have asked for a white paper on Maharashtra's "precarious" fiscal condition. "The state is reeling under a staggering debt of Rs 1,50,00,00 crore. The government bonds have no takers.

The ruling Democratic Front government should bring out a white paper on the state's precarious fiscal condition," said BJP leader and former finance minister Eknath Khadse.

News Source : Samachar

India fails to make it to Olympic hockey

2008-03-10T17:19:00.000+05:30

Scoring twice in the first-half, Britain ended India's Olympic dreams with a 2-0 win in the final of the World Hockey qualifying tournament at Santiago.

Barry Middleton (4th minute) and Richard Mantell (10th) struck for Britain who then showed the discipline and character to withstand intense pressure to emerge deserving winners while qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Eight time gold medallists India thus failed to make it to the Olympics for the first time since their debut in 1928.

While the Britain players celebrated to the accompaniment of the song "We are the Champions", the Indian, heads bowed, shoulders slumped, could only watch the jubilant scenes of a team that played smarter if not better hockey.
On the day, it was Britain who showed a lot of steel in dealing with the massive pressure they were subjected to by the Indian forwards. The difference was that Britain, who had beaten India 3-2 in the league, capitalized on the two early chances that came their way, while the Indians did not.

In contrast, India could never really settle down and the two yellow cards to their key players, midfielder Sardara Singh and forward Prabhjot Singh filled their cup of woe. It brought the number of yellow cards to five in three matches.

India also blew five penalty corners with neither Ramachandra Raghunath with his drag-flicks nor Dilip Tirkey with his direct hits able to convert. In fact, their set-piece drill in the second-half was rather pathetic, as the ball was not even stopped cleanly.

News Source : Samachar

Prabhakaran makes public appearance to pay homage to Sivanesan

2008-03-10T17:18:00.000+05:30

Making his first public appearance after claims of his injuries surfaced over three months back, elusive Tiger supremo V Prabhakaran paid homage to a slain pro-LTTE lawmaker in the rebel-held Wanni area in Sri Lanka's embattled North.

Attired in his Army fatigue with a Tiger emblem in his cap and sporting a steel wrist watch, the well-built 54-year-old Prabhakaran offered floral tributes to K Sivanesan, a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP who was killed in a roadside bomb attack on Saturday, according to the photographs released by the LTTE.

A small group of people around Prabhakaran stood in rapt attention with hands crossed in awe and respect during the homage-paying ceremony at an undisclosed location in Wanni. It was not known when the event happened.

Prabhakaran is seen in the photographs with trim black mustaches and light black smudges above his cheeks. Earlier, in a statement, Prabhakaran had conferred the honour of mamanitan (great man) on Sivanesan while alleging that the TNA MP was killed in an explosion carried out by Sri Lankan security forces.

News Source : Samachar

Parents of missing 19-year-old girl fear she was sold to a Thane brothel

2008-03-10T17:17:00.000+05:30

The Mumbra police arrested four youths on Sunday for kidnapping a 19-year-old girl after she refused to marry one of them. According to the police, the girl had managed to call up her parents and told them she had been kidnapped and sold to a man who was taking her away. The girl’s parents — Rakesh Singh and Kusumlata Rathod — fear their daughter might have been sold to a brothel in Thane.

On February 29, while Rakesh was at a handloom mill in Bhiwandi where he works, Kusumlata had gone to visit a few relatives leaving their daughter Geeta alone at home. When Kusumlata returned, she found Geeta missing from the house.

“We waited for her to return till late in the evening and then filed a missing complaint at Mumbra police station. We could find her at all the possible places and after police sent wireless messages. On March 1, Geeta called up from Thane, saying she was kidnapped by their neighbours Sachin Jadhav, Nitin Jadhav, Jyoti Landage and Deepak Landage. She told us that she has been sold to some unknown person who was taking her away,” Rakesh said.

SACHIN LIKED GEETA

Sachin had proposed to Geeta in January. However, Geeta’s parents refused the proposal as she was too young. Rakesh said, “When Sachin reacted angrily, we had a small tiff. I think he wanted to take revenge. On the day Geeta was kidnapped, some people had seen her leaving with Jyoti, who must have helped Sachin in kidnapping Geeta.”

The girl’s father then informed the police about Geeta’s phone call. The police registered a case of kidnapping and managed to arrest all the four accused on Sunday.

K P Mali, police inspector and investigation officer in the case, said, “Our first priority is to locate Geeta now. We have interrogated the accused, but they have not given any clues as yet. We are tracing the number from where Geeta had made the call.”

Meanwhile, Rakesh, Kusumlata and their son Suresh are doing the rounds of red light areas across the city. Kusumlata said, “I want my daughter back and I’m ready to go to any part of the world in search of her.”

News Source : Samachar

Zardari, Nawaz Sharif clinch deal

2008-03-10T17:16:00.000+05:30

In an act of unprecedented statesmanship, Pakistan’s two main democratic parties on Sunday resolved the differences dogging their power sharing talks to announce they would form a historic coalition government and demanded that President Pervez Musharraf convene the new National Assembly without delay.

The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) will join the Pakistan People’s Party-led government at the Centre, while the PPP will join a PML(N)-led government in Punjab. The two parties have agreed that the superior judges sacked in the November 3, 2007 emergency imposed by the retired General Musharraf will be restored within a month of government formation, through a resolution of Parliament.

The agreement came exactly a year after General Musharraf’s first attempt to remove the then Chief Justice, Iftikhar Chaudhary, on March 9 last.

“We feel we are standing on the verge of making history,” said PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari at a joint press conference with PML (N) leader Nawaz Sharif at Bhurban in Murree, where the two met in the afternoon.

Mr. Sharif said that by giving substantial victories to both parties, the people had mandated that they should join hands and work together.

“Musharraf saab says it is a hung verdict and no party has won. It may be a hung verdict, but it is against him, and it is against dictatorial rule. He must accept this reality, accept the people’s verdict and he must not create any obstacles in the path of government formation,” said Mr. Sharif.

A joint “summit declaration” signed by the two leaders before a massive media assembly said: “The coalition partners are ready to form the governments and the National and Provincial Assemblies should be convened immediately.”

The PPP is expected to announce its prime ministerial candidate in the next couple of days. Significantly, the joint declaration also states that that the prime ministerial nominee of the PPP will be “fully supported” by all coalition partners, and that “it was suggested by the PML(N) that the prime ministerial candidate should be one who can deliver on the joint agenda of the coalition.”

This appears to indicate that PPP deputy leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim may not be in the running, and that the party may settle for a candidate from Punjab. In a sign of a rift in the making between him and the PPP leader, Mr. Fahim told television channels that he was not invited to the Bhurban meeting.

News Source : Samachar

70% want to talk to BPO agents of opposite sex: Study

2008-03-10T17:15:00.002+05:30

If you dial a call centre, whose voice do you want to hear at the other end? Amitabh Bachchan’s baritone was the overwhelming answer in a recent survey on call centres.

While Bachchan was voted favourite-celebrity-to-answer-a-call by both men and women, there were gender differences when it came to the other questions. To start with, the men said they preferred talking to women and the women customers said they preferred talking to men. The survey thus confirmed what has long been an open secret.

The study was conducted by Avaya GlobalConnect and the Sydney-based research firm callcentres.net. Questionnaires were emailed to 300 respondents in India who had recently used the services of a call centre. They were from various income groups.

Exactly 70% said that they preferred talking to an agent of the opposite sex. And almost one-third were more demanding—they wanted the agents to be both of the opposite sex and younger than them.

The study comes at a time when a number of banks and telecom companies have begun diverting their customer-query traffic to their call centres rather than have people visiting their outlets.

Even government monoliths like the Indian Railways and state-owned telecom companies, which have a less-than-shining record of customer service, are setting up call centres to address queries. The customers don’t seem to mind with 58% saying that interacting with call centres made life easy.

More than gender, it was the age groups that responded in different ways. The youngsters or Generation Y (16 to 30 years) had the most complaints and said it was usually a problematic process.

They also had the lowest service expectations from the men and women at the other end of the phone. Middle-aged customers or the Baby Boomers (46 to 61 years) had the highest expectations about service quality.

The Silent Generation (62 to 82 years), surprisingly, found the least problems with call centres. They were more than happy to speak to a number of different people on the same call, as long as it helped resolve their problem.

What did customers look for in an agent? Once again there was a gender difference: for males it was being helpful, while for females, intelligence was most sought after.

News Source : Samachar

BCCI acts on CA's demand, bars Bhajji from speaking out

2008-03-10T17:15:00.001+05:30

The BCCI has told off-spinner Harbhajan Singh to stop talking to the media on the just-concluded tour of Australia where he was involved in the racism controversy.

"Yes, we received a mail from Cricket Australia about Harbhajan Singh. He has been told not to talk to the media on the Australian tour. He has to accept our directive," BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah on Sunday.

Harbhajan was found guilty of using abusive remarks against Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds and was fined by the International Cricket Council-appointed judge John Hansen.

Harbhajan was called a "little obnoxious weed" by Mathew Hayden during the later part of the one-day triseries for which the Aussie opener was reprimanded by Cricket Australia.

On his return to India, Harbhajan was quoted in the media as terming Hayden "a liar" and wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist "no saint", which he later denied.

News Source : Samachar

Rape established in Scarlett case

2008-03-10T17:14:00.000+05:30

In Goa, the first arrest has been made in connection with the alleged rape and murder of British teenager Scarlett Keeling.

Samsung D'souza, one of the men seen with Scarlett shortly before she died, was arrested.

However, he was not charged with murder but with rape. Three other men have been questioned on Sunday.

The police had earlier dismissed her death as a case of drowning, but have swiftly moved into action after the second autopsy report mentioned that Keeling could have been murdered.

A murder case was registered early on Sunday morning.

One of the three detained men was a man called Shanaboy, is known in local and police circles as a drug dealer.

According to the police, some of these men including Samsung were seen trying to sexually abuse Scarlett, near the shore just before she died.

Even MLAs of the area are now certain about the drug angle.

Agnello Fernandes, Calungute MLA said, ''According to locals, there is a drug angle. Scarlett did consume drugs.''

NDTV learnt that immediately after Keeling's death, the Anjuna police had interrogated Shanaboy and had recorded his statement.

However, the drug angle was deliberately kept out of the investigations at that stage.

The mystery behind Scarlett's death gives rise to two questions - one, why didn't the doctor who conducted the first autopsy mention that she could have been murdered?

Second, Why didn't the police mention the drug angle when they had earlier interrogated people involved in the drug trade?

Scarlett's mother Fiona Mackowen is for the first time relieved with the way investigations are moving.

News Source : Samachar

8 years on, Manjunath gets a kiss from mom

2008-03-10T17:13:00.000+05:30

It was a moment Manjunath Kalmani had waited eight painful years for. On Sunday, the paralyzed software techie's eyes welled up when he saw his mother, Vidyawati, at his bedside at Safdarjung Hospital's ICU. She gently ran her hand over his forehead and kissed him. This was their first meeting since Manjunath was terminally crippled in May 2002 and both thanked The Times of India profusely for making it possible.

On March 8, TOI had reported that Manjunath — a techie who was paralyzed neck down in a road accident in the US — was transported back to India on March 5 after his visa had expired and admitted at the Safdarjung Hospital. This newspaper has since been inundated with calls from well-wishers wanting to help the 33-year-old quadriplegic. A Lucknow-based institute has even offered to adopt him.

"I knew his condition was bad. All this while I have consoled myself for not being with him thinking that Manju was getting good medical attention in the US and was fine. But when I was told that he had been brought to India and I saw his photograph on television, I couldn't stop myself," said Vidyawati. Accompanied by her son-in-law Linganagouda Patil, Vidyawati arrived from Koppal in Karnataka at 3.15pm and went straight to meet Manjunath in the hospital from the airport.

The family had long wished for this reunion with fading hope as Manjunath was in the US and the chances of his recovery were grim. In their hour-long meeting, Manjunath spoke to all his family members back home in Karnataka. "He couldn't speak but he heard his father, brother and sister talk to him. He did try to speak as he couldn't stop himself," said Patil.

Vidyawati thanked TOI for highlight Manjunath's story. "I'll always be thankful to TOI for what they have done. Had they not written about my son, I don't know what would have happened to him. If so many people are coming forward to help us it is just because of the newspaper's efforts," she said.

She also appealed to the Karnataka government and the Centre for help. "I appeal to the Indian and Karnataka governments to help us as we can't afford Manjunath's treatment," she said.

Vidyawati got a recent album to show Manjunath the new members of the family — two-year-old Ganesh and seven-year-old Goutami, children of his sister Veena. "He has never seen them. He had spoken to Goutami once. He was very happy to see the pictures of their home and those of other family members," said Vidyawati with tears in her eyes.

After reading about Manjunath's plight in The Times of India and the tremendous response from across the globe, Karnataka government officials met the techie on Sunday. "We have asked Safdarjung Hospital to give us a report of his medical condition. We have been informed about the various medical complications he has. We would be sending the report to our government," said G R Manjesh, resident commissioner, Karnataka Bhawan. The state government has also made arrangement for the family's stay in Delhi.

News Source : Samachar

India may have solved cheap energy question

2008-03-10T17:12:00.000+05:30

When police bring the traffic to an abrupt halt in Raipur, capital of the remote Indian state of Chhattisgarh, drivers know what to expect next. Soon, flashing red lights atop speeding government vehicles come into view. Raman Singh, Chhattisgarh's chief minister, is passing through.

Government motorcades are a common sight in Indian capitals. But what is different about this one is that all of Chhattisgarh's official vehicles, including the chief minister's Tata Safari jeep, are run on oil from the wrinkled black nut of a shrub-like tree called jatropha.

Unlike biofuels made from crops such as soybeans and maize, jatropha is inedible, grows on non-arable land and needs little water or care. "It has good potential, no doubt about it," says Suhas Wani, principal scientist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, near Hyderabad.

News Source : Samachar

New Russian president already the butt of jokes

2008-03-10T17:08:00.001+05:30

A joke circulating among Russians these days has Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev waking up in the Kremlin in 2023 with a vicious hangover.

Putin says to Medvedev, "Which of us is president and which of us is prime minister today?" "I don't remember," Medvedev replies. "I could be prime minister today.""Then go fetch some beer," Putin says.

It tidily sums up the ambiguities of Russia's new power-sharing agreement whereby the baby-faced Medvedev will serve as president with the stern Putin serving below him as prime minister _ tapping into widespread speculation that it's really Putin who will be the boss.

This new odd couple at the pinnacle of power has become ideal fodder for the cherished and once dangerous Russian tradition of poking fun

at leaders through satirical jokes called anekdoty. The latest crop play on the contrast between Putin and Medvedev, riff off of the novelty of a two-headed state, or spin puns out of Medvedev's last name, which stems from the Russian word for bear.

Anekdoty have long been a litmus test of public opinion _ and individual liberties _ in a country where in the past people faced exile, prison or worse for expressing their opinions directly. "Anekdoty sometimes live for a day and sometimes survive for centuries," said linguist Sandjar Yanyshev.

"They remain the main genre of oral tradition in Russian folk culture." George Orwell once called the joke "a tiny revolution," and nowhere was that taken more literally than in the Soviet Union.

Despite the danger, Soviet citizens told stories lampooning Josef Stalin's heavy Georgian accent. His successor Nikita Khrushchev was ridiculed for his redneck joviality and introduction of corn on collective farms, in regions where it was too cold to grow the crop.

News Source : Samachar

Small home loans may cost less

2008-03-07T10:19:00.000+05:30

Small home loan borrowers may soon have enough reason to cheer. Bank loans up to Rs. 20 lakh are likely to cost less with Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday favouring a cut in the interest rates.In an interaction with the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), Mr. Chidambaram said: “I shall certainly bear in mind that there is public demand that interest rates for borrowers, who borrow [for housing] up to Rs. 20 lakh, must be lowered.”

He, however, made it clear that it was for banks and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to take a call on this issue. “I made a number of efforts to impress upon the bankers in this regard ...it is a constant effort that I will have to make...the bankers will have to take a call, [the] RBI will have to take a call.”

Nearly 80 per cent of housing loans fell in the category of below Rs. 20 lakh and these loans involved less risk than those above that amount. Therefore, banks had incentives to lend to the borrowers at lower rates of interest.

Mr. Chidambaram pointed to the unenviable position of the RBI Governor in trying to strike a balance between low inflation and high growth. “He [RBI Governor] can never please everyone. It is his judgment call what should be the interest rates in order to contain inflation and promote growth,” he said. From the government’s point of view, it was important to promote growth without stoking inflation.

Home loans comprise about 12-35 per cent of the total loan portfolio of banks. The loans given by banks and housing finance firms add up to about Rs. 2,00,000 crore.

News Source : Samachar

Pardon granted to Indian national Kashmir Singh challenged

2008-03-07T10:18:00.000+05:30

A lawyer has challenged the pardon granted by President Pervez Musharraf to Indian national Kashmir Singh, who was freed after spending 35 years on death row in a Pakistani jail, even as the move was criticised by religious leaders and organisations.

Singh was freed after his case was taken up with Musharraf by caretaker Human Rights Minister Ansar Burney. He was reunited with his family in India two days ago.

Lawyer MD Tahir, in his petition filed in the Lahore High Court yesterday, said Attorney General Malik Qayyum had earlier stated that Singh and other Indians in Pakistani jails were not entitled to be released.

Noting that many Pakistanis were languishing in Indian jails, Tahir asked the High Court to declare Singh's release as illegal, unconstitutional and without lawful authority.

Tahir also referred to his plea to PML-Q general secretary Mushahid Hussain Sayed to seek the government's help for the release of Afzal Guru, who has been sentenced to death for his role in the attack on India's parliament.

Religious leaders and organisations too have taken exception to the presidential pardon granted to Singh, saying it was in stark contrast to the apathy shown to a large number of Pakistanis who had suffered worse violations of their fundamental rights.

Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad said Musharraf had exercised his discretionary powers in favour of "enemies of the state and foreign citizens" though he never treated Pakistanis in a similar manner.

The religious leaders also slammed Musharraf for "not showing mercy" to the militants and other radical elements who were holed up in Islamabad's Lal Masjid, against which the military conducted an operation last year. Over 100 people were killed in that operation.

News Source : Samachar

Friendship with Hrithik explains on-screen chemistry: Ash

2008-03-07T10:17:00.002+05:30

Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan made a perfect couple and their on-screen chemistry sizzled in both "Dhoom 2" and "Jodhaa Akbar". The actress attributes the chemistry to their rapport off screen.

"Hrithik has been a special co-star. We've shared a fantastic rapport that gets translated into wonderful chemistry on screen. We're both genuinely committed to our craft. That apart, we share a special friendship from the time we did a commercial together many years ago," Aishwarya said in an interview.

Aishwarya said that she met Hrithik for the first time when she was offered "Mission Kashmir".

"I had been approached for Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 'Mission Kashmir'. That's the first time we met. He was very new then. I was also offered 'Krrish' but had no dates. We never came around to working together in a movie until 'Dhoom 2'. It was a very new genre for me.

"I think part of our comfort level comes from the fact that Abhishek and Hrithik are childhood friends. So, vicariously, I was already a part of that bratpack. I'm so amused when I hear them sharing childhood memories of parties that the two attended together. All three of us had a ball during 'Dhoom 2'."

Excerpts from the interview:

Q: Your life changed completely -- from Ms to Mrs - during the making of "Jodhaa Akbar".

A: Yes, that's true (laughs). I get married while the movie was being made and that makes it very special. Five years ago, I'd have never imagined I'd have got married during the making of a movie. I'd have thought I'd finish a movie, take time off for my wedding, like any other girl getting married. Never did I imagine I'd be working through my marriage.

When I look back I smile at how it all happened. The making of every shot and every frame in "Jodhaa Abkar" has been unique for the team. We worked through changing weather and different circumstances and those don't show up on celluloid. That's quite an accomplishment. We were in Rajasthan for a while and then in Karjat. The whole team worked really hard.

News Source : Samachar

Saga of anti-north Indian tirade continues

2008-03-07T10:16:00.000+05:30

A day after Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna carried an editorial against Biharis, Sena Member of Parliament Sanjay Raut said Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh should be thankful to his party for standing up to defend the state's image.

Bihar and Uttar Pradesh parliamentarians had raised the issue of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's anti-north Indian campaign in the Parliament earlier this week. MNS chief Raj Thackeray was criticised by several people, including Janata Dal (U) MP Prabhunath Singh who equated Raj with Punjab militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. "We had one Bhindranwale. Don't create another. It is not good for the unity of the country," said Singh. He also asked that the RBI headquarters be moved from Mumbai to Delhi.

Then the Shiv Sena, in an attempt to recapture the Marathi sons-of-the-soil plan from Raj, targeted Biharis, calling them an "unwanted lot" in all parts of the country. A Saamna editorial said: "They are not wanted in southern India, Assam and also Punjab and Chandigarh. The Biharis have antagonised local population wherever they had settled. The UP-Bihari MPs have shown their ingratitude towards Mumbai and Maharashtra with an anti-Marathi tirade in Parliament."

The editorial also termed Bihar MP Prabhunath Singh a "murderer" and added that "his place is in jail but he is in Parliament"

News Source : Samachar

Harbhajan issue brought us together: Yuvraj

2008-03-07T10:15:00.001+05:30

Yuvraj Singh didn't have a memorable tour with the bat in Australia. Dropped from the Test side after failing in the first two matches, he didn't really get into his groove even in the One-Day games but after the win he too is over the moon.

Yuvraj Singh: Ya obviously, three months is a long tour and we were missing home. Actually, this is the first time that it happened to me that I was missing home but coming back with a victory is always fruitful and I am very happy with way the boys played.

Bhupendra Chaubey: What is a big thing that you take from this tour, other than your own good performances?

Yuvraj Singh: I didn't have much of good performances but as a team effort, it was great. I have never played in a team, which was as competitive and as aggressive on the field as this one. Obviously, beating Australia in Australia is a big thing. Not many teams do that and we are very happy with the achievement.

Bhupendra Chaubey: You know Harbhajan Singh more than most other members in the team. Do you think all that was happening - off the field controversies, do you think somewhere down the line it did bring the entire team together?

Yuvraj Singh: Obviously, after Sydney Test, we all stood by Bhajji because we knew he played the game in the right spirit, he is very aggressive. Basically, to handle so much of pressure and abuse from the crowd but he is mentally very strong to face such a huge amount of pressure on his head.

Bhupendra Chaubey: But was that something that was working on the entire team? One bowler being targeted and did that mean that the entire Indian team came together to rally around him?

Yuvraj Singh: Yes, of course. He has been very aggressive and he has always played for the team and we always wanted to support him and he has got a good record against Australia and he has always taken wickets against them. But it is not about performing or not performing, it was about standing by your teammate and we wanted to do that.

News Source : Samachar

Pardon granted to Kashmir Singh challenged

2008-03-07T10:14:00.001+05:30

A lawyer has challenged the pardon granted by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to Indian national Kashmir Singh, who was freed after spending 35 years on death row in a Pakistani jail, even as the move was criticised by religious leaders and organisations.

Singh was freed after his case was taken up with Musharraf by caretaker Human Rights Minister Ansar Burney. He was reunited with his family in India two days ago.

Lawyer M D Tahir, in his petition filed in the Lahore High Court on Wednesday, said Attorney General Malik Qayyum had earlier stated that Singh and other Indians in Pakistani jails were not entitled to be released.

Noting that many Pakistanis were languishing in Indian jails, Tahir asked the high court to declare Singh's release as illegal, unconstitutional and without lawful authority.

Tahir also referred to his plea to PML-Q general secretary Mushahid Hussain Sayed to seek the government's help for the release of Afzal Guru, who has been sentenced to death for his role in the attack on India's Parliament.

Religious leaders and organisations too have taken exception to the presidential pardon granted to Singh, saying it was in stark contrast to the apathy shown to a large number of Pakistanis who had suffered worse violations of their fundamental rights.

Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad said Musharraf had exercised his discretionary powers in favour of ''enemies of the state and foreign citizens'' though he never treated Pakistanis in a similar manner.

The religious leaders also slammed Musharraf for ''not showing mercy'' to the militants and other radical elements who were holed up in Islamabad's Lal Masjid, against which the military conducted an operation last year. Over 100 people were killed in that operation.

News Source : Samachar

I could buy 1000 bikes from IPL money: Dhoni

2008-03-07T10:13:00.000+05:30

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni spoke exclusively to NDTV's Anjali Doshi on the recently concluded tour of Australia. Excerpts:

On Dhoni the captain, and his rapport with the team
I am funny, sarcastic and aggressive. Not very vocal but can be if I am angry and I love my teammates. I am a transparent person. Whatever happens on the field, I just repeat it at the press conference. There is nothing confidential about it. More importantly I have a good rapport with my team, they respond well to me and that is why they understand me. After the end of every match I speak to them. I am not really supposed to rate myself as long as everything is fine and we are winning, it's fine. But the problem starts when we don't do well. Then we come under lot of scrutiny. But that's how it is.

On the CB Series win
It is very special beating Australia in Australia. A lot was said about them and how tough they are in big matches like finals. But it was good to see our youngsters taking up the responsibility. I hope we get a few easy outings now but jokes apart nothing is easy in international cricket.

On the upcoming youngsters in the team
Piyush Chawla and Praveen Kumar performed really well, and when a team performs well like this it leads to stability, this is the core team, and will change only little depending on conditions. Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Piyush Chawla and Harbhajan Singh were outstanding performers.

On the controversies surrounding Harbhajan
Harbhajan was under pressure and he came and did a great job. He is an aggressive player, but he has not done any wrong. The Aussie newspapers were constantly targeting bhajji and he was always described as controversial off spinner, maybe next time he comes here he should change his name.

On Australia's sledging and the mood in the dressing room
The spirit in the dressing room is great, we try and listen to music and keep it a happy space. The controversy egged us on to do even better. We chose not to report many incidents because I don't believe in a principal standing and watching over everything. These differences are on the field and need to be sorted out there.

On choosing between country and club, and the money in IPL
I am excited about playing in the IPL. I calculated that with the money I earn there I could buy over 1000 bikes! If I ever had to choose between country and a club, I would choose country, because how much money do you need, so far what I have earned is enough for me and my future family. Playing for the country is always most special to me.

News Source : Samachar

Left sets deadline on nuclear deal

2008-03-07T10:12:00.000+05:30

In a significant political development, the Left parties on Thursday asked the government to convene a meeting of the UPA-Left joint committee on the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal by March 15.

CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat has sent a letter on behalf of the Left parties to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is also the convener of the committee. The Left has demanded the urgent meeting to ascertain what the government wants to do about the nuclear deal. Mr. Karat’s letter cites media reports that the negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency on the draft safeguards agreement have covered considerable ground.

The latest move of the Left parties, on whose support the minority UPA government depends for survival, comes in the wake of visiting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher reminding India of a stiff May deadline to finalise the deal. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, replying to the debate on motion of thanks to the Presidential address in Parliament, spoke of the government’s efforts to evolve a consensus on the deal. He also appealed to his predecessor, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, to “listen to the call of his conscience” and back the nuclear deal by rising above party politics.

In his letter, Mr. Karat also seems to have taken cognisance of Mr. Mukherjee’s March 3 suo moto statement in Parliament. The statement indicated that the government had not given up on the 123 agreement and also that the government’s understanding of the controversial Hyde Act was different from the Left’s view of it.

The agreement between the UPA government and the Left parties is that without initialling the draft IAEA safeguards agreement, the government would come back to the committee, which would take a decision on it. Thus the draft agreement would fall within the purview of the UPA-Left joint committee, which has not met since November 2007.

Left sources believe the next joint committee meeting will be crucial. “If the government wants to still proceed with its course of action on nuclear deal, we will also be free to choose our own course of action”, a senior Left leader told The Hindu.

News Source : Samachar

BIHARIS, MUSLIMS NEED NOT APPLY

2008-03-07T10:11:00.002+05:30

Raj Thackeray’s anti-Bhaiya virus seems to be spreading. A BPOs in Noida has reportedly told the HR firm doing its hiring that “candidates from Bihar, UP and those who are Muslims are ineligible”.

This sort of discrimination in BPOs may have come out in the open in this particular case, but the virus has invaded the industry. People from these states admit to even hiding their origins to escape discrimination.

Even the HR firm was surprised by the pre-condition set by the BPO. “Though we were surprised, the BPO organisation, Netambit, explained that people from UP and Bihar have a problem with their diction, especially with words like insurance where the ‘sh’ sound is pronounced as ‘s’,” said Nadeem Faruqi, director, Connect Global, the HR firm. He was unable to get any logical explanation as to why Muslims were also excluded.

Uma, the HR head for Netambit, said, “We do not prefer people from UP and Bihar because of their strong mother tongue influence.” However, she added that the HR firm was trying to malign them. “It is not at all true that we’ve said they are ineligible. In fact, we also do not prefer candidates from the North-East. Even they have a very strong mother tongue influence.”

But Faruqi was firm. “Why should I want to malign them? For me, this is my business. We have been getting them candidates for the past three months. We have been verbally instructed that they don’t want candidates from UP and Bihar. They also do not want Muslims. I myself am a Muslim, but we didn’t probe much because for us this is business. They are our clients, they have specific needs, we service those needs,” he said.

While this one instance has come out in the open, there are many instances where such discrimination remains undetected.

Keith Rowe, director, HR Solutions, another consultancy, confirmed this. He said, “This kind of pre-conditioning exists in both big and small BPOs. We had many clients telling us categorically that they did not want candidates from a particular state, belonging to a particular caste or creed. In fact, this caste system works in another way in this sector. Looks and gender can also be qualifiers or disqualifiers. We also get requests for good looking.

News Source : Samachar

Victory in Oz as good as T20 win: Robin

2008-03-07T10:11:00.001+05:30

Fielding coach Robin Singh on Wednesday rated the Indian cricket team's victory in the tri-series in Australia at par with the triumph in the Twenty20 World Cup last year.

"I think it's probably as good as the T20 World Cup victory," Singh said.

He added that the young talent in the team played brilliantly and stood up to the test.

"It feels pretty good, the guys played brilliantly. Young guys stood up to the test and Sachin (Tendulkar) led from the front," Singh added.

On being asked about the mood in the Indian team, he described it as "brilliant".

He, however, declined to comment whether the team, at any stage, felt the absence of senior players like Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid.

"I think we won the series and that is important," he added.

News Source : Samachar

Compulsory ID cards for Indians in U.K.

2008-03-07T10:10:00.000+05:30

Citizens of India and other non-European Union countries will be issued compulsory identity cards from later this year as part of the British government’s plans to improve security and prevent identity fraud.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith on Thursday said the non-EU nations would be the first to be required to have the cards. It would then be rolled out to airport baggage handlers. People in other sensitive security roles would get them from 2009. Students would need to have the cards from 2010.

Britain would introduce biometric passports from 2012. People could use either the cards or the biometric passports to prove their identities, Ms. Smith said.

News Source : Samachar

3 Indian women on Forbes richest list

2008-03-07T10:09:00.000+05:30

Ahead of the International Women's Day, three Indian women have powered their way to the Forbes list of global billionaires.

The three Indian women include Savitri Jindal (shown in photo) having a net worth of USD 8.2 billion, Bennett, Coleman & Co's chairperson Indu Jain at USD 4.4 billion and Anu Aga of the Thermax group with a net worth of USD 1.1 billion.

France's Lilince Bettencourt is the world's richest woman with a net worth of USD 22.9 billion, placing her at the 17th position on the list led by Warren Buffet, who is worth USD 62 billion.

However, the Indian women featuring on the list are way behind as compared to their male counterparts in terms of the ranking. Savitri Jindal ranks at the 110th place on Forbes Billionaires list that has 1,125 members.

Indu Jain, the 71-year-old chairperson of media powerhouse, has been placed 236th on the list, while Anu Aga ranks 1,014th.

Aga took over as chairperson of Thermax, the maker of energy, environment management systems, in 1996 after the death of her husband Rohinton, stepped down in 2004 in favour of daughter Meher, the magazine said, adding that she is still on board and is involved in social causes.

Besides, Savitri Jindal has been the chairperson of O P Jindal Group since husband Om Prakash's death in 2005.

"Her four sons, Prithviraj, Sajjan, Ratan and Naveen, run the USD 8 billion (sales) steel, power empire. Sajjan, the most ambitious, says he plans to invest USD 15 billion in aluminium, cement and infrastructure over the next three years. Youngest, Naveen, who last July inked a $2.1-billion deal to mine iron ore in Bolivia, is a Member of Parliament," the Forbes magazine added.

News Source : Samachar

Left swallows Russia bitter pill

2008-03-07T10:08:00.000+05:30

Dmitry Medvedev’s landslide win in the Russian presidential election has pitched the Indian Left on the horns of a dialectical dilemma — it’s downcast at the thrashing the communists have got but it isn’t prepared to damn the election as a “Kremlin-controlled and rigged” affair because the West is doing so vociferously.

Medvedev, 43, became the youngest leader of the world’s largest country earlier this week, sweeping an election widely seen as a command performance effected by his mentor and Russian strongman Vladimir Putin.

A lawyer and Putin protégé since his days as a KGB operative in Leningrad (St Petersburg) 25 years ago, Medvedev secured an unprecedented 71 per cent of the vote. His communist rival, Gennadi Zyuganov, ran a far second with barely 17 per cent, a 13 per cent drop since the last election.

Senior leaders of the Indian Left are despondent about the dwindling fortunes of their Russian comrades and privately concede that the Putin regime is, in part, responsible.

“His determination to stay in power and his vice-grip over the Russian economy and state machinery made Medvedev’s election a foregone conclusion,” said one. “Nobody was in doubt that Putin will do everything to consolidate himself, Medvedev’s election means just that.”

It is perhaps of some significance that for a country that has been intrinsic to their consciousness, neither the CPM nor the CPI has chosen to make any official comment on the Russian elections.

However, in the global context, the Left appears to be making a distinction between Putin and Russia; it won’t participate in western condemnation of the elections.

“The West must accept the democratic verdict,” CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechury told The Telegraph. “It cannot choose who the Russian people should elect, that is just like saying they won’t accept Hamas even though they had been elected by the Palestinian people.”

D. Raja of the CPI was even shorter with allegations of widespread rigging. “How can we decide sitting in Delhi or wherever that rigging happened?”

International and Russian observer groups had criticised the elections as “unacceptably heavily Kremlin-orchestrated to transfer power to Putin’s handpicked successor while opening a path for Putin to retain power”.

Apart from being a trusted Putin crony, Medvedev also controls Gazprom, the powerful energy company that Russia has often used as a battering arm of diplomacy, especially with nations like Ukraine and Georgia that have challenged Russian hegemony in the region.

But Left leaders and academics are advising against “toeing the western line” on the elections. Indeed, they appear worried by New Delhi’s low-key response to Medvedev’s election and view it as part of the “increasing pro-US tilt” in India’s foreign policy.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did send out a congratulatory letter to Medvedev, but it was dispatched three days after his victory was announced and without any of the publicity that usually accompanies such missives.

“Such a reaction does not reflect the enthusiasm we have traditionally had in relations with Russia,” said Anuradha Chenoy, a Russian studies scholar at JNU. “It is obvious that Indian foreign policy is trying to attune itself to western positions on major global issues. Whether it is Palestine or Iran or even Kosovo, India seems to be dangerously abandoning its traditional friends and policies in favour of western positions.”

CPM MP Nilotpal Basu said the Indian reaction was “confirmation” of “apprehensions that India is not acting out of national self-interest” in foreign policy matters.

“We know it is becoming a unipolar world but there are multipolarities in it,” he said. “To look at what the West is saying on the Russian election before deciding on your own response is indication of just the kind of things we have been warning against. The minimum required from India was an immediate message of congratulation to the new Russian president.”

News Source : Samachar

Ishant’s family denied entry to Kotla

2008-03-07T10:07:00.002+05:30

In a shocking turn of events, promising India pacer Ishant Sharma’s family was denied entry into the Kotla on Thursday during team India’s felicitation ceremony due to unavailability of a valid invitation.

The DDCA has long been in the news for such happenings in the past during international matches, but this happened on a day the galleries were opened for public for free, and that too during a public function.

The Delhi and District Cricket Association did not even find it necessary to send an invite to Ishant’s family for the function, although the pacer was being awarded a cash prize of Rs 2.5 lakh by the association for his swashbuckling performances on the Australian soil.

The Delhi lad’s family only managed to enter th Kotla as the ceremony was nearing it’s end. They were not available for comment.

DDCA played the blame game thereafter despite being the hosts of the function.

"The whole ceremony was being organised by the BCCI, it’s their responsibility, not ours," said DDCA vice president C.K. Khanna.

However, DDCA secretary S.P. Bansal tried to douse fires, saying lack of time was the real culprit behind the fiasco.

"The whole function had to be organised at such a short notice. We had less than 24 hours to manage the event. I do agree things were messed up," Bansal said.

Asked whether the Delhi player’s family had been sent an invitation for the event, Bansal replied: "We had send the invitation passes to the families of all Delhi players, I do not know how they did not get one. But it’s for all to see that managing so many luminaries and almost a 35,000 crowd is no easy task."

News Source : Samachar

Team wants complaint lodged against Crowe

2008-03-07T10:07:00.001+05:30

The Indian cricket team management has urged the BCCI to take up the matter of match referee Jeff Crowe's investigation into the false media charge — of Harbhajan Singh making monkey gestures at the crowd during the tri-series finals in Sydney — with the International Cricket Council (ICC).

"It's atrocious. How could the match referee decide on intervening in the matter, that too on the basis of media reports. There was no word to the Indian team management and the next day the match referee said he found nothing wrong and that he had cleared Harbahajan," said a fuming team manager Bimal Soni while departing from Melbourne.

"This is totally baseless. We have asked the BCCI to look into the matter and secretary Niranjan Shah has written to the ICC seeking an explanation in the matter," added Soni.

Even Harbhajan was more than surprised. "If the media had its way, they would have not allowed me to even move my hands except when bowling. That the media back home also bought the story is what baffles me more," said the player.

TOI has learnt that match referee Crowe even objected to Harbhajan wearing a red skin (inner wear) to keep himself warm.

"He cannot wear white for sure but now the referee insists that he wear blue," a source said just ahead of the second final in Brisbane.

News Source : Samachar

N-deal: India misses date with IAEA

2008-03-07T10:06:00.000+05:30

The nuclear deal, now a veteran of several near-death experiences, is beset with deadlines. It's not merely the US giving a July deadline or a March deadline by the IAEA, or even the Left parties giving their own deadline for a meeting of the UPA-Left committee.

There is one deadline that India has already missed. The IAEA board of governors started its meeting this week, and would have worked on the Indian agreement. It will now need an extraordinary meeting for the Indian safeguards pact.

Given the nature of the agreement, the board will ideally need a month to consider it, unless it gets railroaded into a quicker decision.

The NSG will be no walkover either. The NSG plenary is scheduled for May 19 in South Africa, and the expectation is that the Indian dossier will be on the table by then.

Then there is the consideration of whether the international community would want to take up the Indian case if the UPA government falls. The US may not particularly care, and neither will the other major nuclear trading nations. But the deal sceptics may make this a reason to delay giving India a clearance in nuclear commerce.

News Source : Samachar

'Army Chief's remark on LAC unnecessary'

2008-03-07T10:05:00.002+05:30

The government feels that the controversy over Army chief Gen Deepak Kapoor's remarks with regard to "incursions" across the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh was quite avoidable even as it did not publicly suggest that the Army chief should have been more discreet.

Top government sources said the Army chief's remarks that China had a differing perception of the LAC and that "when we come up to their perception, we call it incursion, and likewise, they do" might have been unnecessary.

"Serving officers must be careful while speaking on sensitive issues," said a member of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).

On Friday, the issue had figured in Rajya Sabha where Leader of the Opposition Jaswant Singh had been critical of the Army chief. Referring to an interview of Gen Kapoor, he had said that borders were not a question of perception but determination.

"He (Army chief) has no authority to comment on these matters," Singh had said, adding that Gen Kapoor was lowering the dignity of his post. The government has not conceded the Opposition leader's criticism, but the view seems to be that the Army chief's office had best be shielded from any sort of controversy, particularly relating to matters that have a bearing on politics. Relations with China and Pakistan — Gen Kapoor also spoke of polls in the neighbouring country — are politically sensitive.

While Gen Kapoor was not saying anything that is not self evident — the government hopes that polls in Pakistan will lead to stable politics and both China and India often accuse one another of incursions — such issues were best left to the political authority. Heads of the armed forces were not expected to offer an assessment which had clear political overtones.

The armed forces are a critical part of the geo-political view that government takes on various matters. Gen Kapoor's view that Pakistan army will be too heavily engaged in domestic issues to embark on any adventurist enterprise could very well be the government's assessment, but can be seen to be over-stepping the line demarcating political authority and army matters.

On China, too, the Army chief's views essentially underline that the border dispute was a political issue that needed to be resolved at the level of the two governments.

Till that happened, China would insist on viewing Indian armed presence along the LAC and in areas like Tawang as a "violation".

This is hardly surprising as China has consistently refused to issue visas to Arunachalese on the ground that they did not need such documentation to visit "their own country".

News Source : Samachar

Former Mrs Sarkozy to wed event planner in New York

2008-03-07T10:05:00.001+05:30

The Versace fashion house said that French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s ex-wife will wed event planner Richard Attias this month in a Versace gown.

Cecilia Ciganer-Albeniz and Attias “have chosen to wear Versace for the happy occasion of their wedding, which will take place in New York later this month,” the company said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.

Versace said the former French first lady would wear an Atelier Versace dress and Attias a classic Versace two-button tailored suit.

“All of the immediate wedding party has also chosen to wear Versace,” the company said.

Cristina Colli, a Versace spokeswoman in Milan, said she could not provide a date or location for the wedding. The French magazine Point de Vue reported on Wednesday that the marriage would take place on March 22.

A call to Attias was not immediately returned. Ciganer-Albeniz left Sarkozy, the then-presidential hopeful, in May 2005 to live with Moroccan-born Attias, but returned to Sarkozy’s side in the run-up to the French vote in May of last year. Ciganer-Albeniz and Sarkozy divorced in October, and he married Italian-born model-turned-singer Carla Bruni on Feb 2.

Bruni’s previous romantic liaisons included Donald Trump and Mick Jagger.

News Source : Samachar

Identity cards for Indians in UK made mandatory

2008-03-07T10:04:00.001+05:30

Foreign nationals, including Indians, will have to have Identity Cards in the UK with effect from November this year, it was officially announced on Thursday.

However, for British citizens, the ID will be introduced from next year.

Fingerprints will be collected from foreign nationals before they are issued with a card, which will show details of the holder's immigration status and entitlements - whether they are allowed to work or access benefits, and how long they can stay in the UK.

Within three years all foreign nationals applying for leave to enter or remain in the UK will be required to have a card, as about 90 per cent of foreign nationals in Britain will covered by the scheme by 2014/15, the announcement said.

From 2009, the scheme will be extended to UK citizens. The first ID cards will be issued to people working in specific sensitive roles or locations where verification of identity will enhance the protection of the public.

This will start in the second half of 2009, with the issuing of identity cards to those working in the country's airports.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly will jointly chair a meeting of industry representatives to ensure the smooth introduction of these new measures.

From 2010, young people will be able, on a voluntary basis, to get an identity card, which will assist them in proving their identity as they open their first bank account, take out a student loan or start employment. Later that year the scheme will be opened to voluntary applicants of any age.

From 2011/12, all passport applicants will also be registered on the scheme as they apply for the new biometric passports containing fingerprints.

British citizens enrolled on the National Identity Register will be able to choose whether to have a passport or an ID card or both.

This will enable an accelerated roll-out of the scheme and, alongside nationals will be issued with identity cards by 2009/10. Fifty per cent will receive identity cards by 2011/12 with 90 per cent coverage by 2014/15.

News Source : Samachar

India Asia's biggest source of billionaires

2008-03-07T10:03:00.000+05:30

The wealth amassed by Indian billionaires is more than 3.5 times those in China, even as the world's most populous nation saw the highest number of newcomers joining the billionaire club over the past one year.

Despite China seeing a maximum 28 people joining the ranks of those with at least one billion dollar, India has managed to retain its position as Asia's biggest source of billionaires.

With 19 newcomers, India has 53 billionaires with a combined wealth of $340.9 billion, according to the Forbes list of world's billionaires released on Thursday.

In comparison, China has 42 billionaires - second highest in Asia - with a combined wealth of $95 billion.

India and China are followed by Hong Kong (26), Japan (24) and Australia (14) in terms of number of billionaires.

Last year, India had overtaken Japan as the biggest Asian nation in terms of number of billionaires. Japan has slipped even below China and Hong Kong this year.

Besides, India also holds the honour of having the largest number of four billionaires in top ten - NRI steel baron Lakshmi Mittal (4th), Mukesh Ambani (5th), Anil Ambani (6th) and KP Singh (8th).

In the top ten, there are two Americans - Warren Buffet at the top and Bill Gates at third - and one each from Mexico (Carlos Slim Helu at second), Sweden (Ingvar Kamprad at 7th), Russia (Oleg Deripaska at 9th) and Germany (Karl Albrecht).

However, India still remains way below the US in terms of total number of such people, which has as many as 469 billionaires worth a total of $1.6 trillion.

There are 656 non-US billionaires worth a total of $2.8 trillion. Among BRIC countries, Russia has the highest number of billionaires (88) with a combined wealth of over $470 billion. Brazil boasts of 18 billionaires worth $65.1 billion.

News Source : Samachar

Indian English will conquer globe: Expert

2008-03-07T10:02:00.000+05:30

English will fragment into "global dialects", forcing speakers routinely to learn two varieties of the language — one spoken in their home country and a new kind of Standard English with pronounced Indian characteristics, a leading expert on English has said.

The new Standard English, which will be understood globally, would be necessary if the growing ranks of English-speakers around the world are to understand each other, said Professor David Crystal, one of the world's foremost experts and author of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language.

The new Standard English's likely Indian characteristics would signify the end of the primacy of American English. Future users of global Standard English might routinely say "I am thinking it's going to rain" rather than the British "I think it's going to rain", said Crystal.

"In language, numbers count. There are more people speaking English in India than in the rest of the native English-speaking world. Even now, if you ring a call centre, often it's an Indian voice you hear at the end of the phone. As the Indian economy grows, so might the influence of Indian English," he explained.

Because Indians tend to "use the present continuous where we would use the present simple (with an Indian saying) 'I am thinking, I am feeling, I am seeing' rather than 'I think, I feel, I see'... this way of speaking could easily become sexy and part of global Standard English," said the professor, who has written more than 100 books.

News Source : Samachar

I'm learning from youngsters: Sachin

2008-03-07T10:01:00.000+05:30

Sachin Tendulkar played the leading role in helping India beat Australia in the CB Series finals. Upon the team's arrival in India, he spoke to NDTV on a host of topics, like being the oldest member of a very young Indian side. Excerpts:

Looking back at his career
Eighteen years have been a fantastic journey. I have enjoyed every moment of it. It was my dream to play for India. After my debut (in 1989), every day has been special. I am still living my dream.

On the team atmosphere
There are plenty of youngsters in the team. The dressing room atmosphere is very lively. I like the atmosphere. It is fantastic to be around such good players. They're very talented. The team has a good blend of seniors and juniors... perfect combo.

On how the young players will shape up
All the youngsters are very talented. All they need now is the right direction and to focus energies in right direction to become better. They've worked hard. All I can say is the future looks good. But don't put too much pressure on them and let them play their own game. I've been part of terrific sides and this is one of the top sides I've been a part of.

The progress since the World Cup
After the World Cup, the team that played in Ireland, England and in India against Pakistan has been changed slightly. I hate comparing that team to this one. To get to this level takes a lot of hard work, sacrifices and dedication and family support, a combination of a lot of things. When someone has gone through so many tough times, it's not fair to compare them. We need to respect both teams just as much. It has been fantastic to be a part of both.

On the Australian tour
This series has been very satisfying. I wanted to do well here. The reception I got here was fabulous. This will always be something special for me. It was overwhelming and I will always remember it. We played very competitive cricket. We were competitive in Tests and won the ODIs, which makes it a very special tour.

On his personal form, and thoughts of the future
I am not thinking of retirement. I have heard lots of rumours about it. I don't know who is starting them. If you know I'm retiring let me know, so I'm not caught off guard. People have their own agenda and ways of judging things. I don't read articles. They don't help me in any way. People who help me, I'm regularly in touch with them. And if they think there is anything I need to work on, they tell me about it. Someone who writes needs to have the credibility. After playing for so many years I know what is expected of me and what is right and wrong. I focus my energies in the right direction

On learning from the new generation
When I started dealing with (my children) Sara and Arjun I learned to be more patient and now I'm getting to learn lots of lessons from the youngsters in team. They're young but all chalu guys. They're good-humoured and keep dressing room lively.

News Source : Samachar

Haryana deputy chief minister's son passes away

2008-03-07T09:59:00.000+05:30

The 14-year-old son of Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan died in Chandigarh on Thursday.

Mohit was suffering from prolonged illness and breathed his last at the Fortis super-specialty hospital at Mohali near Chandigarh.

Mohit was the grandson of former Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda condoled the death of Mohit and expressed his condolences to the bereaved family.

News Source : Samachar

Terror taking rural bank route: RBI

2008-03-06T10:07:00.000+05:30

A hitherto unknown corporate entity was found depositing Rs 1 crore in a rural bank in remote Punjab on a daily basis for over a month and taking it out at the end of the day as loan.

In a similar case, in an urban cooperative bank in western Uttar Pradesh in 2006, an individual was found to have deposited more than Rs 250 crore over a period of time and having taken it out at the same time.

Such cases could have easily passed off as suspect money laundering transactions allegedly involving local traders and businessmen but after intelligence agencies arrested two associates of Hurriyat leader G M Bhat in November last year, suspicious transactions in cooperative and rural banks have attracted heightened security concern.

The government has warned regional rural banks (RRBs) and urban cooperative banks (UCBs) to be on guard against tainted money finding its way into their depository with the probability of terror outfits misusing such accounts to fund terror activities. In a notification issued to all RRBs and UCBs, the Reserve Bank of India said all banks should develop suitable mechanism for enhanced monitoring of accounts suspected of having terrorist links and report all such transactions to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

Jamali Khan and Danish Anwar — who were detained in Udhampur in November 2007 while they were ferrying a consignment of Rs 50 lakh to the Valley from Delhi allegedly at Hurriyat leader Bhat's instructions — had been working together in the Ajmer branch of a cooperative bank.

Investigations had revealed that Jamali, when he was posted in the bank's Daryaganj branch in Delhi in 1985-86, used to convert dollars into Indian currency for Bhat and had in the process converted up to $800,000 for the Hurriyat leader who also had an account in the same branch. Later, Jamali left the bank job and worked as fulltime hawala operator for many terror outfits.

Though the recent RBI guidelines of keeping an eye on suspicious transactions are part of an old ‘know your customer' norm, reiteration of the fact through a fresh notification comes at a time when many enforcement agencies have warned the government of huge money being laundered through these RRBs and UCBs and many having suspect terror links.

Banks have been advised to carry out risk categorisation review of customers once in six months and introduce a system of periodic updation of customer identification data (including photographs) after the account is opened. Even in the case of low risk category customers, the periodicity of such updation should not be less than once in five years, the RBI has said.

At the same time, the bank has asked RRBs and UCBs not to deny account opening facilities to unsuspecting customers. "It is clarified that, in such cases, banks can obtain an identity document and a utility bill of the relative with whom the prospective customer is living along with a declaration from the relative that the said person (prospective customer) wanting to open an account is a relative and is staying with him/her,” the RBI note said.

News Source : Samachar

Maha govt seeks legal view against Sena chief

2008-03-06T10:05:00.001+05:30

The Saamana piece by Sena chief Bal Thackeray against Biharis triggered protests in Patna even as Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar called for dousing racial hostilities.

Angry groups burnt effigies of the two Thackerays. Nitish called for a meeting of politicians from Bihar and Maharashtra to discuss the invective-laden assault on Biharis.

The Saamna piece also provoked angry reactions in Parliament on Wednesday with a privilege motion being moved against Thackeray by RJD MP Devendra Yadav. Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said the Shiv Sena chief's remarks amounted to contempt of the House. The opinion piece, which makes nephew Raj's migrant invective sound tame by comparison, has caused further confusion in the Maharashtra Congress leadership, which has been severely criticized for not taking swift action against Raj.

Chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who is in Delhi, called on Congress president Sonia Gandhi to discuss the latest outburst. Sources said that Deshmukh, who has been instructed to "handle the situation with a firm hand", has already asked his home department to seek legal opinion on what action should be taken.

Thackeray's comments come in the wake of Supreme Court strictures against Raj for his anti-national attitude and the Mumbai police gagging him from making any more inflammatory speeches. At the Centre, the Congress has been under tremendous pressure from its alliance partners such as the RJD to crack down on Raj Thackeray. Now, the chief ministers of several northern states are also demanding that immediate action be taken against Bal Thackeray.

In what appeared to be the playing out of factional politics, PCC chief Prabha Rau, when asked about the tension over North Indians, said the chief minister was busy in his son's wedding for a few days and would now handle the situation. Though it appeared a sarcastic comment, the CM played it down, saying it was natural for all family persons to be busy on such occasions. He said as the issue concerned an editorial, it had to be examined carefully.

Mumbai city Congress chief Gurudas Kamat strongly condemned Thackeray's statement. He said that the "gutter language used not only proves that Thackeray has not changed over the years but that for political mileage he is ready to go to any length to incite violence". He also condemned the so-called support given by film stars Salman Khan, Sunil Shetty and Nana Patekar, all of whom had criticised the gag order imposed on Raj Thackeray by the Mumbai police.

Sociologists point out that Maharashtra has always provided jobs for both skilled and unskilled migrants. In the late 1970s and 1980s, it was a much sought-after and investment-friendly state because of the availability of cheap labour and a liberal political leadership. The volatile political atmosphere of the last month has adversely affected the industrial climate in the state, said a top government official.

News Source : Samachar

Daughters against rape

2008-03-06T10:04:00.001+05:30

Daughters against rape
Amidst the recent deluge of rape cases in the state, this one stands out, if only for its gruesome irony. Two daughters of a rapist father have demanded exemplary punishment to their father for raping a seven-year-old girl.

The incident took place at Haladia, about 200kms from the capital. The man in question, Karunakar Das (40), had allegedly raped the girl on Saturday and had later killed her.

Police arrested the culprit soon thereafter. “Our father should not be released from custody. He should be hanged till death for this heinous crime,” said Rajani, the youngest daughter. “We don’t feel secure with our father anymore,” said the elder daughter Sarojini, a class VII student.

Lord of the poor
Orissa has a Garib Rath at last. The special train, announced last year in the rail budget, has been pending since. But following chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s forceful protest, union ministry of railways announced its introduction on Sunday.

However, the train would only ply between Ranchi and Bhubaneswar, thrice a week. This time round, Lalu has linked Darbhanga in Bihar with the pilgrim town of Puri by introducing a special train, which will enable pilgrims from Bihar to undertake a comfortable journey to visit Lord Jagannath in Puri.

Apparently, Lalu’s Jagannath darshan with his family last month has paid off. He had spent nearly two and half days at Puri, and had offered prayers to the Lord.

Courtship under fire
The gang-rape of a university girl in Samblpur, about 500 km from Bhubaneswar, has angered the State Commission for Women (SCW) to such an extent that it has taken to moral policing to curb rape cases in Orissa.

Codenamed ‘Operation Park’, it involves raiding reputed parks of the city. When the first raid was conducted last week, out of fear and shame, many lovebirds ran amuck to find cover. A few were injured in the process.

However, some were also caught as the commission had taken the help of police to lay the siege. They were then admonished and asked not to visit secluded corners of the part. As a result, couples are now keeping away from parks fearing humiliation.

Interestingly though, the operation has not gone down well with some NGOs, who have threatened to drag the commission to court.

News Source : Samachar

Combative Manmohan a new phenomenon

2008-03-06T10:03:00.000+05:30

Many prime ministerial aides have found themselves exasperated at Manmohan Singh’s preference for bland, give-no-offence-to-anyone prose over their sharply-worded, cogently-argued drafts.

On Wednesday, Dr. Singh seemed to have discovered the joys of partisan rhetoric.

In his reply in the Lok Sabha to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address, he displayed a hitherto-unsuspected capacity for parliamentary combat and political partisanship. He ended up giving by far his best parliamentary performance as Prime Minister.

The tenor and content of the Prime Minister’s Lok Sabha speech — he repeated the formulations and provocations later in the Rajya Sabha also — should suggest that the ruling coalition is finally getting into the mood for a grand electoral face-off with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.

More significantly, the government seems to have decided to take head on the BJP’s Hindutva-centric political pitch. For the first time, the Prime Minister was unapologetic for wanting to give a policy break for the deprived sections, including the minorities.

Dr. Singh even made bold to say that he would plead “guilty” to L.K. Advani’s charge of “appeasement” of the minorities. No circumlocution, no ambiguity. A Prime Minister simply reaffirming the secular polity’s commitment to inclusive governance.

No less combative was Dr. Singh in defending his government’s new deal for the farmers. In the process, he minced no words in accusing the NDA regime of causing “distress” to the agriculture sector.

What must have taken the Opposition benches by surprise was his rhetorical over-kill when he suggested that having first caused “distress” to the farmers and then fobbing them off with “pittance” the NDA leaders had no business shedding tears for them. Never before had the Lok Sabha heard this kind of sharp and partisan words from Dr. Singh.

Repeatedly, the Prime Minister mentioned the Leader of the Opposition by name. It would appear that the Prime Minister has been wanting to return the compliment. In the last four years, Mr. Advani has taunted Dr. Singh as “the weakest prime minister.” Today, Dr. Singh served notice on Mr. Advani that it would no longer be a one-way affair.

Nor did Dr. Singh allow himself to be pushed on the back foot in defending the record of his government on internal security. Rather, he kept arguing that internal security was too important to be a subject matter for partisan debate, but he nevertheless did manage to take pot-shots at Mr. Advani’s stewardship of the Home Ministry. The rapier was twisted further when he recalled the “shameful” spectacle of a foreign minister (Jaswant Singh) escorting terrorists to Kandahar.

Nuclear deal

In the Rajya Sabha, the Prime Minister was not hesitant in trying to divide the Opposition. He quoted to his advantage the former National Security Adviser, Brajesh Mishra’s endorsement of the India-U.S. civilian nuclear agreement, as also paid his respect to the “Bhishma pithamaha of Indian politics”— Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The Congress benches were gleeful that — to quote a Minister of State — he “gave it back to Mr. Advani.”

Congress president Sonia Gandhi was the first to compliment Dr. Singh on his performance. She also prompted her son Rahul Gandhi to congratulate the Prime Minister — the advice was promptly followed.

Having predictably encountered disruption from the NDA benches in the Lok Sabha, Dr. Singh did not flinch from repeating his litany of charges against the NDA in the Rajya Sabha. At last, the Prime Minister had arrived politically.

News Source : Samachar

Hillary ends string of defeats

2008-03-06T10:00:00.002+05:30

Democrat Hillary Clinton on Wednesday scripted a spirited comeback with wins in key states of Ohio and Texas, ending party rival Barack Obama's impressive 12-win streak, while John McCain easily captured the Republican mantle for the November showdown for the White House.

"This nation is coming back and so is the campaign," a beaming Clinton, who is bidding to be the first woman President of the United States, told supporters in Ohio.

With 76 per cent of the precincts reporting in Texas, Clinton had taken 51 per cent of the vote to 47 per cent for Obama, who is hoping to be the first African-American president of the US, TV channels reported.

A total of 355 delegates were at stake in Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island which were grabbed by the 60-year-old former first lady who had been facing mounting pressure to call it quits in case of a defeat in these contests.

With today's victories, Clinton will dent Obama's lead in the delegate race. Before the latest contests, Obama had 1,385 delegates compared to Clinton's 1,276. A total of 2,025 is needed to secure the Democratic Party nomination at its national convention to be held in Denver in August.

In Ohio, which has 141 delegates at stake, polls projected at least 16 percentage points lead for Clinton.

Earlier, Obama won the Vermont primary (15 delegates), clinching his 12th straight win over Clinton.

Septuagenarian John McCain surpassed the magic number of 1,191 delegates to clinch the Republican presidential nomination with victories in all the four states at stake.

The victory marked a remarkable return from wilderness eight years after losing a similar bid to US President George W Bush.

"It's a very humbling thing," said McCain, a former Vietnam war veteran who spent over five years as a POW, said.

News Source : Samachar

Top Pakistan parties want Musharraf to seek confidence vote

2008-03-06T09:59:00.000+05:30

Pakistan's two largest winning parties in the recent general elections have agreed to move a resolution in the first parliament session asking President Pervez Musharraf to seek a vote of confidence, the News reported on Wednesday.

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the two largest parties in parliament, decided to move the resolution in the very first session of the National Assembly, which is to be held before March 10.

The decision was made during a meeting between PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and top PML-N leaders here Tuesday evening.

The parties also agreed on a resolution asking the United Nations to probe into the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

The PPP won the most votes in the Feb 18 elections and will form a coalition government with the PML-N led by another former premier, Nawaz Sharif.

News Source : Samachar

‘India turning into major drug haven’

2008-03-06T09:57:00.000+05:30

There are new trends in the way narcotics are moving into and through India and across the world. But a United Nations drugs watchdog’s report says there is one thing that does not appear to have changed: the big fish still manage to get off the hook.

The International Narcotics Control Board had in its report 11 years ago noted that many law enforcement agencies did not have the resources or skill to do more than apprehend street sellers. “Eleven years later, that still appears to be the case in many countries,” the INCB’s latest report released on Wednesday said.

The agency noted that South Asia is being targeted for cocaine trafficking, and that international syndicates have been using India as a major transit point for Europe-bound consignments and also as a destination country.

Narcotics Control Bureau chief K C Verma, however, suggested trafficking in cocaine was not as serious a problem. The report said cocaine seizures continued to occur with regularity in 2007, usually about 1 kg per month.

News Source : Samachar

A 'different' Shivratri for Gyanendra

2008-03-06T09:56:00.000+05:30

After portraying the image of reincarnation of Lord Vishnu for almost two-and-half centuries, Nepal’s King has now been barred from giving alms to sadhus.

It has always been a tradition in “Hindu” Nepal that the King gave alms to the sadhus at the sacred Pashupatinath temple, disciples of Lord Shiva.

But, the Girija Prasad Koirala-led government on Wednesday ordered the Pashupatinath temple to bar King Gyanendra from giving alms.

This year, instead of the King, the Pashupatinath Temple’s Guthi Sansthan would distribute alms on behalf of the government. Last year, during Shivaratri, devotees mobbed King Gyanendra’s motorcade, and vehicles were also stoned. Usually, the monarch gave away clothes, blankets and minor allowances to the sadhus.

As Nepal is now getting ready for the crucial Constituent Assembly election, King Gyanendra has lost all of his political authority, and is no more the head of the state. He has also been removed from the post of Supreme Commander of the Nepal Army.

In the fast changing political scenario in Nepal, the monarch has also lost cultural rights. The controversial king is now barred from attending important religious events like Phulpati, Bhoto Jatra and Indra Jatra.

In fact, the government’s decision to end the King’s religious role at the Pashupatinath temple is the last nail into the coffin. The Shah Dynasty, which ruled Nepal for 239 years, is all set to be a history.

News Source : Samachar

Mutton biryani awaits Irfan

2008-03-06T09:55:00.000+05:30

“I don’t know when he is coming home, but I will definitely keep his favourite dish - mutton biryani – ready for him,” said Shamim Bano, the proud mother of the Sultan of Swing, Irfan Pathan, on Wednesday.

Team India’s magnificent victory over the might Aussies in Brisbane has created an Eid-like atmosphere in the Pathan household.

“The celebrations will continue as I reckon this the biggest victory in the history of Indian cricket, of which Irfan is a part,” she said. Glued to TV throughout the match, Shamim Bano said, “It was a very high-voltage encounter with fortunes swinging like a pendulum.

We had butterflies in our stomachs till the final ball was bowled. But Irfan showed character in the final moments to win the match for us. He deserves a grand reception, which will be his favourite biryani and aloo sabji.”

Father MK Pathan said, “The match went to the wire and Irfan once again emerged the winner. Dhoni kept faith in my son and he justified his captain’s decision (to bowl him the last over).”

News Source : Samachar

BrahMos test-fired

2008-03-06T09:54:00.000+05:30

BrahMos, the supersonic cruise missile, on Wednesday lifted off from the Indian Naval ship “Rajput” speeding in the Bay of Bengal and destroyed a target on an uninhabited island in the Nicobar group of islands situated in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago.

It was the 15th launch of BrahMos but this was the first time that the missile was fired from a ship towards a target on land. “We kept a target on the sand dunes of the island. It was hit. It was a precision-mission. This is an important mission for us because the Navy is acquiring the capability, with the same BrahMos, to destroy targets on the coast,” said A. Sivathanu Pillai, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited. The previous 14 flights of BrahMos were from ship to ship, land to ship, and from land to land.

Dr. Pillai, who spoke from the Campbell Bay island, called it “a fantastic test.” The launch was executed by trained Naval personnel on board the Rajput. The test-firing took place at 10.30 a.m. BrahMos travels at a speed more than three times that of sound and can hit targets 290 km away. It is a joint product of India and Russia.

Dr. Pillai said Defence Minister A.K. Antony phoned him up to congratulate the missile technologists of BrahMos Limited, the Defence Research and Development Organisation and Russia on the success. Mr. Antony said it was a major breakthrough in enhancing the capability of BrahMos.

News Source : Samachar

Getting into an engineering college may become easier

2008-03-06T09:53:00.000+05:30

The IT industry may have been hit by a slowdown but engineering colleges are in no mood to let that get in the way of expansion plans.

So far this year, 1,120 trusts have applied to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for permission to start new engineering colleges across the country. Never before has the regulatory body received as many applications in a single year.

India now has 1,668 engineering institutes and getting into one isn't very tough if you're not shooting for the best — more than 70% of the applicants manage to get in compared with a mere 1% about 20 years ago. But with thousands of seats likely to be added to the national pool, getting into an engineering school could be a breeze — especially for women students.

AICTE's acting chairman, R A Yadav, said more than 10% of the applications are for opening "girls only" colleges, a fallout of the government's proposal introducing concessions for institutes which promote technical education among women.

Till last year, AICTE used to accept applications to start new colleges all through the year, but that has changed now. "Only the applications that receive a green signal by June 2008 will be able to start functioning from the coming academic year," said Yadav.

However, there's a debate about whether many of the engineering colleges are churning out full-fledged engineers or mere technicians with a diploma.

A recent study by Duke University says that for every one million citizens, the US produces roughly 750 technology specialists, compared with China's 500 and India's 200. The report, "Framing the Engineering Outsourcing Debate: Placing the United States on a Level Playing Field with China and India" by Gary Gereffi and Vivek Wadhwa, says that in 2004, while roughly 70,000 engineers graduated in the US, 6,00,000 graduated in China and 3,50,000 in India.

News Source : Samachar

S.M. Krishna quits as Governor

2008-03-06T09:52:00.001+05:30

Maharashtra Governor S.M. Krishna has resigned, sources in the government said here on Wednesday night. Mr. Krishna has sent his resignation to President Pratibha Devisingh Patil.

The sources said Gujarat Governor Naval Kishore Sharma was likely to be given temporary charge of Maharashtra till a regular appointment to the Raj Bhavan in Mumbai was made.

Mr. Krishna, a former Chief Minister of Karnataka, is believed to be keen to return to active politics as the Assembly elections in that State are scheduled to be held within couple of months. The Congress high command is learnt to have bowed to the wishes of Mr. Krishna.

Another former Governor Sushil Kumar Shinde had also quit as Andhra Pradesh Governor to return to Central politics and he is now Union Power Minister.

News Source : Samachar

PM goes into poll mode in Parliament

2008-03-06T09:50:00.001+05:30

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday delivered what virtually sounded like an election speech when he struck an unusually hawkish note in Parliament, asserting that UPA's loan waiver for farmers was an "unpaid distress bill" run up by a callous NDA when it was in office.

Speaking in both Houses, the PM baited the opposition repeatedly, in a speech in which he sought to paint NDA as anti-farmer and duplicitous. With Congress chief Sonia Gandhi thumping her table in approval, Singh went on to blame the opposition combine for "depressed" support prices to the detriment of farmers.

The PM might have taken NDA by surprise as he initially began by speaking of shared objectives like reducing the urban-rural divide and pride in India's high growth rate. If at all, this was a red herring. He soon switched gears, attacking NDA for "exporting our food surpluses at a loss" as he sought to counter the charge that UPA had failed the "aam admi".

The heated response would not have surprised the PM. In fact, his gambit of referring to NDA's "failures", despite the alliance being out of office for four years, was clearly aimed at provoking a showdown. Singh's aggression was as deliberate as it was out of sync with his public image of rectitude. With his party cheering him on, he said, "The distress of the peasant is the legacy of NDA."

Angry exchanges marked the proceedings, and even as the PM sought to dismiss leader of the opposition L K Advani's suggestion that Congress was gearing for polls, Singh's combative stance spurred poll talk. After the speech, BJP said that the PM had turned on the NDA tenure to cover up his failings and said the speech was more suited for a political rally.

News Source : Samachar

Indian batsmen take top three spots

2008-03-06T09:48:00.001+05:30

Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni rule the roost in the batting charts of the CB cricket tri-series, which India won by taming world champion Australia in its own den.

The presence of the Indian batsmen in the top three slots of the batting charts explains their dominance in the series, a major reason why the Twenty20 champions also proved their hold over the 50-over game.

Gambhir, the lone Indian to have struck two centuries in the series, is perched atop the list with 440 runs in 10 innings at an enviable average of 55.

Master batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who shrugged off a barrage of criticism about his form and struck a century and a 91 in the two finals to guide India through, is at the second spot with 399 runs at 44.33.

Awesome average

Dhoni, who played some gritty knocks to pull off crucial wins for the team, is at third place with 347 runs. But the surprise element about the wicketkeeper-batsman, who could not make an impact with his batting in the preceding Test series, was his awesome average of 69.40 which is the best in the whole series. Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara (326 runs at 46.57) occupies the fourth place.

The Aussie entry in the list starts from the fifth spot with Adam Gilchrist leading the charge for his team (322 runs at 32.20), followed by Michael Clarke (314 runs at 39.25), Matthew Hayden (298 runs at 37.25) and Mike Hussey (278 runs at 46.33).

Young Mumbai batsman Rohit Sharma, who played a key role in the first final in Sydney, is at the ninth slot with 235 runs at 33.57.

With his consistent performance, man-of-the-series Nathan Bracken of Australia leads the bowlers’ charts with 21 wickets at an amazing average of 16.52, followed by his charismatic pace partner Brett Lee (16 wickets at 22.25).

India’s find of the tour, Ishant Sharma, takes the third spot with 14 scalps at 20.35.

Indian pace battery of Irfan Pathan (11 at 34.27), man of the second final Praveen Kumar (11 at 17.5) and S. Sreesanth (9 at 25.77) are placed at sixth, seventh and eighth places respectively.

News Source : Samachar

Kapil takes a dig at crores made by BCCI

2008-03-06T09:47:00.001+05:30

Former India captain Kapil Dev, now associated with the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) as the chairman of its Executive Board, on Wednesday had a subtle dig at the Cricket Board for the crores of rupees the latter had made through its own T20 league, the Indian Premier League (IPL).

"I am not impressed with figures of 200 crores, 300 crores, 1000 crores I am hearing. I want people to be convinced with what we are doing," he told a press conference today when asked about the BCCI-promoted IPL.

The business head of the Essel Group which is bankrolling the ICL, Himanshu Modi, responded by saying, "I will accept the cheque (if offered to ICL)" and Kapil quickly retorted "I look at the cricket part and he looks at the bank balance".

News Source : Samachar

Ponting lavishes praise on Ishant

2008-03-06T09:45:00.000+05:30

Australian captain Ricky Ponting gave a thumbs up to young paceman Ishant Sharma, saying the Indian speedster produced “some of the better bowling I have faced in Test cricket.”

“Ishant has been the standout young player in the Indian set up through the tour. Everybody has spoken about him. At different times he has bowled very good spells. The spell he bowled to me in Perth on the last day was some of the better bowling I have faced in Test cricket,” Ponting said.

The Aussie skipper said it would be interesting to watch how the towering Delhi pacer and other youngsters in the Indian team develop over the next few years.

“He’s (Ishant) someone who’s going to be around for a while and play a lot of cricket. It’s something I have always said about the Indian team: they always seem to produce good young players. Let’s see how they develop over the next few years,” he said.

Ponting lamented that the controversies during the tour showed him and his leadership in poor light.

In bad light

“Probably yes. I think a few Australian players and me too (were shown in bad light). I think a lot of it from me was really unavoidable. I was not involved in any of those stuff that happened. I was supposed to do captaining my side but with the Harbhajan incident somehow it came out looking badly. I don’t think I could handle things any differently or any better,” he said.

Ponting, however, denied that his team’s performance was affected due to the off-field incidents or that Harbhajan was spurred to do better.

“I don’t think so it happened. If things get tough, you genuinely play a lot more better cricket and I think he (Harbhajan) tried to play exactly the same way (he performs usually).

News Source : Samachar

Dhoni and his men have left a lasting impression down under

2008-03-06T09:44:00.001+05:30

Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men have left a lasting impression in Australia. Eventually, controversies could not overwhelm cricket.

The Indian campaign in the CB ODI tri-series was a remarkable one. It revolved around a brave captain, an inspirational senior and a vibrant bunch of youngsters. They shared a common attribute — immense self-belief.

Historic triumphs are borne out of confidence. Dhoni’s men were neither overawed by reputations, nor daunted by situations. They played with aggression and seized their chances. They played to win.

Dhoni shows character

The skipper displayed fight and resilience with the willow, kept wickets impressively and led with a mix of instinct and guile. Dhoni showed character. Not too many sides in the period of transition would be expected to stretch the World Cup winner and the runner-up in an energy-sapping triangular ODI series.

Dhoni’s men exceeded expectations. In what could be his last series in Australia, Sachin Tendulkar gleamed brighter than the floodlights at the ‘Gabba when the joyful Indians converged in a heap.

Like those special cricketers, he had made winning runs when it mattered. Hampered by a nagging groin injury, he scored them in pain. And new stars emerged. The unsung Praveen Kumar, a country lad from a wrestling background, muscled his way into the nation’s sporting consciousness with some outstanding swing and seam bowling, with the new and the old ball.

Dazzling at the crunch

Rohit Sharma dazzled at the crunch in the first final. The SCG was ablaze with strokes of delicate beauty as Rohit batted with an amalgam of classical shot-making and sub-continental innovation. Tendulkar’s presence in the middle was a calming influence on Rohit. To the younger bunch, Tendulkar has been a father figure and a role model.

Dhoni too received valuable inputs from Tendulkar. However, as captain, the final call was his. He made all the right moves.

The decision to hand the new ball to Ishant Sharma in the initial stages of the competition was spot on. All along Ishant, a seamer with the off-cutter as his chief weapon, was considered an ideal first change bowler. He struck telling blows against the Aussies at the MCG and the Indians achieved a psychologically important win.

The decision to drop Virender Sehwag and play five bowlers was not lacking in courage either. The inclusion of Praveen in the concluding stages of the league settled the issue against Sri Lanka in Hobart. The ploy to open the attack with Ishant and Praveen in the first final at the SCG also made sense.

The tall Ishant extracted bounce, the shorter Praveen was getting the ball to skid off the surface. Perhaps, the biggest gamble was to play young leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, who had not played a game in the competition till that point, in the finals. Given the three blocks of Power Plays and the complications in managing two spinners, this was bold, attacking captaincy.

Harbhajan Singh and Piyush created the pressure in the middle overs. Not flustered by the crowd reaction, Harbhajan showed fight, heart and skill. Just about everyone contributed. Vice-captain Yuvraj Singh struggled for rhythm but carved out a match-winning effort in the vital league game against Sri Lanka in Adelaide.

Robin Uthappa, kept his attacking style in the shelves for the afternoon, and produced a solid opening knock in the second final. The young guns showed a willingness to adapt to different roles and situations.

Making the right call

The strategy of playing two spinners at the ‘Gabba in the decisive clash was proved right. The Indian think-tank read the pitch correctly. The nature of the surface at the ‘Gabba showed the Aussies were not playing to their strengths. Perhaps, the host was worried about some of its batsmen coming up short on a seaming track with bounce. Australia, eventually, played into India’s hands.

Even as the dust settled on the second final, Adam Gilchrist shared a quiet moment with his family at the ‘Gabba. Cricket’s foremost wicketkeeper-batsman, a pioneer, will not play for Australia again. He deserved a better farewell.

Cracks are visible

Australia faces a testing period. There is no replacement for the influential Gilchrist in sight. Captain Ricky Ponting is being found out on seaming tracks and somebody like Andrew Symonds is, technically, several notches below Damien Martyn.

The Aussies, for a change, are not putting enough runs on the board. Brad Hogg’s retirement will weaken the spin bowling. Pace ace Brett Lee is still firing, but the side misses Glenn McGrath’s precision and temperament. Stuart Clark and Mitchell Johnson are still works in progress.

News Source : Samachar

Did I still want to start my own restaurant?

2008-03-06T09:42:00.000+05:30

I've always wanted to open a restaurant. I had it all figured out. It would be a combination of good food, great ambience and maybe even a theme for extra flourish. Keen friends also signed up for this imaginary venture.

An indicator of the popularity of this ambition was the number of restaurants that had launched in Bandra in a matter of six months. Suddenly there were new take away menus delivered at the doorstep everyday, two Italian restaurants in place of none and a host of perennially occupied cafés. This implied two things: Eating out was no longer a weekend tradition, starting up a restaurant was the seeming formula for immediate success (given the increase in expendable income).

This incidence of restaurants mushrooming wasn't restricted to the suburbs alone. Many had young entrepreneurs at the helm armed only with a basic degree in hotel management. Yet their little outfits appeared to be buzzing and the cash register continuously clicking.

Kainaz was the ideal prototype of this generation of young restaurateurs making an enviable sum of money in her 20's at a job she loved to do. The days I spent with her were memorable for the large amount of chocolate and pastries I was pleaded to consume (mine was only a surface resistance).

Enacting the part of official taster, as we hopped across Kainaz's four kitchens was the reason I visited her café, Theobroma, more frequently, in the pretense of redoing bits of the interview or asking more questions.

However spending time with Kainaz I realized that stress, erratic working hours and unpredictable mishaps posed as the evils in her Hansel and Gretel fairytale. While the shop front represented a picture of composure and orderliness, in the kitchen Kainaz was putting out fires everywhere. A missing ingredient, a tweaked recipe, and surprise visits from health inspectors were part of her daily fare.

Did I still want to start my own restaurant? I did, but not solely on the basis of my passion for food (and recipes gathered from episodes of Top Chef on AXN). Kainaz's example made a strong case for formal training and adequate experience before donning the chef's hat.

Like Kainaz, Pranav was infinitely passionate about his job as bartender. I watched him breathe life into a dull corporate party with his flair skills. While its not hard to coerce a bunch of 9 to 9 office goers into having a drink, Pranav infected them with his charming talk, his wicked humour and his love for dance, getting the inhibited group to boogey on the empty dancefloor.

At 24, he has done the rounds of the city's most illustrious nightclubs and has bought himself a car with the tips he's saved. And even though Pranav fixes a mean Sangria, he never intends to get his customers inebriated nor does he ever drink on the job.

Although a teetotaler, I had lots to learn from Pranav. From his effusiveness I understood that my timidity had no chance of survival as I aspire for a spot in this burgeoning industry.

News Source : Samachar

Krishna quits as Governor, set for Karnataka poll role

2008-03-06T09:41:00.000+05:30

Maharashtra Governor S M Krishna got his long pending wish fulfilled on Wednesday as he resigned from his gubernatorial office after getting the Congress high command’s nod before heading to poll-bound Karnataka.

He called on President Pratibha Patil reportedly to hand over his resignation.

Hours before quitting,

Krishna said he felt “quite relieved” on being permitted to relinquish his post and return to active politics. He said he was optimistic of taking up the challenge of leading the party for the elections in the state. “I am confident that I will overcome the challenges and emerge on top,” he was quoted saying.

The Congress had until recently resisted Krishna’s pleas for a more active role either at the Centre or in Karnataka. But with the assembly elections coming up in the southern state, it decided to send him there as part of its strategy to marshal all its resources so that it leaves nothing to chance in the key state where the BJP is also making a strong bid for power.

Whether Krishna can deliver remains to be seen. But as a Vokkaligga, he is expected to provide competition to JD(S) chief H D Deve Gowda, who hails from the same community. Similarly, with his urbane persona, the former chief minister of Karnataka is also expected to entice the urban and middle class voters. But there is little doubt that his home-coming is likely to upset some state leaders who, like him, was hoping to lay claim to the top post if the party won the state polls.

News Source : Samachar

India's greatest one-day wins

2008-03-06T09:40:00.000+05:30

The twin wins in the CB Series finals against Australia must rank high among India's finest wins in the fifty-over variety of the game.

Here's looking at snapshots of some of India's most memorable wins in one-day cricket.

Prudential World Cup, England, 1983
Nobody in their wildest imagination would have bet on India to reach the semifinals. Yet, led by the talismanic Kapil Dev, they did. In the finals, the odds India to beat the mighty West Indies were an unflattering 66 to 1. And when India were bowled out for 183, the writing was on the wall. Still, Kapil told his men, "Chalo jawaano..." and his own spectacular catch of Viv Richards spurred his men on to consume one wicket after another. Towards the end, Mohinder Amarnath made three quick strikes to wrap up the game, and the meek had inherited the earth.

Benson and Hedges World Championship, Australia, 1985
Under Sunil Gavaskar, India proved that 1983 wasn't a flash in the pan. India had two exciting prospects - a young, wristy stroke-maker in Mohammad Azharuddin and a deceptive leg spinner in L Sivaramakrishnan. Amarnath, Vengsarkar, Gavaskar and Kapil lent solidity to the middle order. At the top, Shastri played the gatherer, Srikkanth the hunter. There was Madan Lal, the seam bowler, and Chetan Sharma, a young tearaway, and of course the experienced Kapil and the spin of Shastri. When that combination clicked together, India were unstoppable. They won all their league matches and the semifinal against New Zealand. In a dream title clash, they beat Pakistan by eight wickets. The everlasting image of the tournament, in which all eight Test teams took part, was Shastri being crowned 'Champion of Champions' and driving his Audi around the MCG.

Hero Cup, India, 1993
Only New Zealand and Australia were not playing the CAB Jubilee Tournament. It made the Hero Cup - with its six-team league - the biggest draw since the 1992 World Cup. Hosts India weren't the most impressive beginners. They started off beating Sri Lanka, then lost big to the West Indies and tied with Zimbabwe. The upturn began with two wins against South Africa - one in Mohali, thanks mainly to Vinod Kambli's 86, and then at the semifinal at the Eden Gardens, where Kambli's illustrious schoolmate Sachin Tendulkar magically denied South Africa the six runs they needed in the last over. In the final against the West Indies, Kambli's 68 took India to 225. It was game on, but Anil Kumble's breathtaking burst of six wickets laid the West Indies low.

Sahara Cup, Toronto, 1997
The playing conditions at Toronto's CSC Club aren't the best in the world. But not the quality of cricket showcased here. It was, perhaps, the last balanced act between bat and ball before cricket's rules were skewered to favour batsmen. India and Pakistan under Sachin Tendulkar and Rameez Raja played some absorbing, exciting cricket in the five-game series. Thanks to Sourav Ganguly's all-round skills - he scored runs and took wickets in all games - India won back the bilateral series 4-1, having lost it 2-3 the previous year.

Independence Cup, Bangladesh, 1998
Effectively, this tournament was a two-horse race. Hosts Bangladesh were easy meat for India and Pakistan. After three league games, a best-of-three final series followed. Tendulkar and Ganguly won India the first final, and Mohammad Hussain and Saqlain Mustaq won Pakistan the second. The next match is what the tournament will always be remembered for. Ijaz Ahmed and Saeed Anwar ran down the Indian bowlers as Pakistan made 314 in their 48 overs. The trophy seemed lost - until Tendulkar and Ganguly got India going at eight runs per over. When Tendulkar departed, in came Robin Singh, the pinch hitter. He made Ganguly run the hard singles and doubles, smashed some boundaries himself, scored 82 but let Ganguly walked away with the limelight for his 124. It was meant to be a day game, but the light faded away quickly. With both sides willing to fight on, the floodlights came on. And it took a rookie, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, to smash the winning boundary off the game's penultimate ball for India to break the world record for run chases.

Coca Cola Cup, Sharjah, 1998
Gaining muscle under Azharuddin's captaincy and Tendulkar's ascent to batting's apogee, India entered this tri-national as strong favourites. It took a hurricane 143 from Tendulkar to edge New Zealand out on run rate. And the master batsman then produced his unforgettable 134, taking on Warne, Fleming and Kasprowicz. No one who saw the innings would forget it as India beat Australia in the final to win the trophy.

Independence Cup, Sri Lanka, 1998
India's run-spree continued through the summer. This time too, New Zealand were the weak link in the draw and India played Sri Lanka in the final. A world-record 252-run opening stand by Tendulkar and Ganguly set the game up for India. Lanka looked good to get their 308-run target, thanks to Aravinda De Silva's blazing hundred but after he fell, the lower order ran out of steam, giving India a 6-run win and a memorable win.

NatWest Trophy, England, 2002
This tournament saw the arrival of the New India we know today. With the whole team delivering, India knocked out Sri Lanka and played England in the final at Lord's. England, thanks to hundreds from Marcus Troscothick and Nasser Hussain, made 325 and the game looked finished. But Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly batted outrageously, knocking off the first hundred runs in no time. Then, five wickets fell in a heap and when Tendulkar departed at 146-5, it seemed it would be another lost final for India. Out came Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif with no pressure on their young shoulders. Their heroic partnership began in singles and doubles, and finished with fours and sixes. Yuvraj made 69, Kaif hung on for his 87, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Champions Trophy, Sri Lanka, 2002
It was Virender Sehwag's tournament - whatever he touched, turned to gold. He plundered England for a 72-ball hundred. Then, in the semifinal against South Africa, he scored fifty and took three wickets to nail the final berth. The finals - the match, and the rematch - were rained off but not before Sehwag showed glimpses of what lay ahead for Sri Lanka. The trophy was shared, but it doesn't hurt wondering what Sehwag could have done in those games.

News Source : Samachar

PM calls Vajpayee 'Bhishma Pitamah' of politics

2008-03-06T09:39:00.000+05:30

Press Trust of India

Wednesday, March 5, 2008 (New Delhi)

Describing Atal Bihari Vajpayee as ''Bhishma Pitamah of Indian politics'', Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday appealed to the former Prime Minister to rise above ''narrow'' party politics and support the Indo-US nuclear deal.

''Bhishma Pitamah of Indian politics Atal Bihari Vajpayee should listen to his conscience and let national interest prevail upon narrow politics,'' Singh said in the Rajya Sabha seeking support of his predecessor on the nuclear deal.

In his reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks on President's Address, Prime Minister assured the Parliament that the government would not compromise on requirements of national security in inking the nuclear deal with the US.

While the Prime Minister mounted a strident attack on the previous NDA Government, Singh had words of praise for Vajpayee for his ''courageous'' steps to foster peace with Pakistan.

''The most courageous steps to build peace were taken by Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and Atal Bihari Vajpayee,'' Singh said in an identical reply in the Lok Sabha.

The Prime Minister said his government has continued the process with President Pervez Musharraf.

Singh noted that the then Prime Ministers late Benazir Bhutto and late Rajiv Gandhi started the dialogue process.

Singh was also happy with former National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra ''coming out openly in defence of the Nuclear Cooperation Agreement.''

News Source : Samachar

Sachin one of most enchanting players of all time: Roebuck

2008-03-06T09:36:00.000+05:30

Showering encomiums on Sachin Tendulkar for his back-to-back match-winning knocks against Australia in the ODI tri-series finals, noted cricket writer Peter Roebuck said the little master counts among the most "enchanting and compelling" players the game has seen.

"Over the past 15 years, cricket enthusiasts have enjoyed many delights but two stand out. Anyone able to follow the careers of Tendulkar and Shane Warne at close quarters has been privileged," Roebuck wrote in his column for The Sydney Morning Herald.

"Both were craftsmen of high calibre but also artists of supreme talent. Warne was a mesmerising tweaker with a fiercely competitive streak. The Indian remains a classical batsman unburdened with ego and capable of exquisite stroke-play," he added.

Roebuck was also all praise for the Indian young brigade for putting up a fearless challenge to Ricky Ponting's men in both the Test series and the one-day tri-series.

"India defended their score with spirit and left the country with heads held high. Throughout a contentious trip these tourists played with tenacity and audacity. It has been a colossal struggle between an ageing champion and a bold challenger," he said.

The former county player said the second final in Brisbane that turned out to be a cliffhanger was a fitting finale to the ill-tempered series and singled out Tendulkar's 91-run knock as the best memory that one could take home from the game.

"A match jam-packed with desperate action has brought a pulsating summer to an appropriately dramatic conclusion," he said.

"Apart from the frenzied finish and the curious outbreak of tackles on the field, the abiding memory of the match came from Tendulkar's bat. The first final, in Sydney, had produced one of the game's finest chasing innings.

"Alas, the hullabaloo distracted attention from Tendulkar's hundred. Accordingly, reporters hoped for a second helping from the maestro. Happily he obliged with a superb effort in the second final," he added.

Roebuck said Tendulkar did well to allow his bat to do the talking when it came to responding to critics who questioned his track record in Australia.

"It is not so long ago that observers wondered whether the time had come for the veteran to slip down the order. He had been losing his wicket to the new ball and seemed to have lost his edge.

"Recently, another critic pointed out that Tendulkar had never scored a one-day hundred in Australia and had a relatively poor record chasing targets. Never awaken the sleeping tiger," he said.

News Source : Samachar

Country is happy and so am I: Anjali Tendulkar

2008-03-05T10:31:00.001+05:30

Sachin’s wife Anjali regrets he missed another century, but considers the series win
as the greatest achievement

MUMBAI: History was made by India as they threw Australia from the champion’s throne by virtue of a 2-0 win in the best-of-three finals played this week.

The games had one thing in common, and that was Sachin Tendulkar’s brilliant form. He scored a classy unbeaten 117 in Sydney Cricket Ground and followed it up with a 91 at the Gabba, Brisbane.

Sachin’s wife, Dr Anjali Tendulkar, was delighted that her husband played a pivotal role in both the finals. “Of course it feels good when India win, and especially when Sachin scores runs. The whole country is happy with this win, and so am I,” Anjali told DNA after the thrilling second final at Brisbane.

Anjali felt that had Sachin scored another hundred it would have doubled the happiness, however she was most glad that India won the Commonwealth Bank series.

“I do feel unhappy but that’s ok. If he scores 91 to give India a good start and the team wins then it is fine. For Sachin, winning the matches for India is more important than scoring a hundred,” she added.

Sachin was hit by the ball during the match; however, Anjali is yet to speak to Sachin about his injury. “I spoke to him after the match, but I could not enquire about his injury because there was lot of noise behind,” she said.

News Source : Samachar

Tendulkar is ICC's world No. 1

2008-03-05T10:30:00.000+05:30

Two match-winning knocks against Australia in the tri-series finals have propelled Sachin Tendulkar back to the position of world's number one ODI batsman displacing the vanquished Australian skipper Ricky Ponting in the ICC Rankings on Tuesday.

Tendulkar is seven rating points clear of Ponting, who had a miserable run with the bat during the series and struggled against a young Indian attack.

The Indian has reached the rank four years after he had last touched it, during the Asia Cup in 2004 in Sri Lanka.

South African captain Graeme Smith at the third spot follows the second-placed Ponting.

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who became the first Indian wicketkeeper to score more than 300 runs and effect 20 dismissals in a series, is at the 10th spot with 728 points, just five below ninth-placed Herschelle Gibbs.

Dhoni's deputy Yuvraj Singh occupies the 18th position with 691 points.

Meanwhile, the historic triumph has helped India gain three rating points to move just a fraction behind third-placed New Zealand in the ICC ODI Championship table, where Australia's lead on top was trimmed to a bare minimum.

Australia, which entered the series on 130 ratings points, dropped to 127 points, the same as second-placed South Africa but above Graeme Smith's side when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.

News Source : Samachar

I was shocked to see what goes on for placements’ at IIMs

2008-03-05T10:28:00.000+05:30

This fortnight, India’s top business schools—the Indian Institutes of Management in Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Kolkata—hold job placement weeks, where companies vie to recruit the best and the brightest of the batch. Companies jockey to recruit on the first day, known as Day Zero. On the condition of anonymity, a recruiter from one such company spoke to Mint’s Aparna Kalra on his experience.

I graduated from an IIM, so I am part of the IIM system but in my time placements were not the circus that they have become now.

I feel that all the gaming that is going on is completely unnecessary. The placements are also based on some socialist principles to ensure that everyone gets a job. They have to be based on market clearing forces.

They have to be more open and a rolling process as it is in business schools in the US. I have recruited at top schools there and the system was simple. Each company came with a list of candidates it wanted to interview, candidates showed up for the interview; at the end of the day the company got a chance to calibrate the candidates against each other and make offers. The candidates were given a lot of time, typically two months, to make up their minds.

When I started recruiting at IIMs three years ago, I was shocked to see what goes on for placements over there.

Companies and candidates squeezed into Day Zero. I-banks are the worst culprits. They will just not let a candidate go. They push the boundaries, make exploratory offers; “I will make you an offer if you accept it right now”.

The candidate is thinking: “If I don’t accept, I am not sure the company I go to next will have a slot for me”.

If you are a recruiter on Day Zero, you are calculating, “One hour into Day Zero, I better make some offers”, without meeting all the candidates.

Apart from pre-placement talks, there is very little time with the candidate. You select from a short interaction and hope like hell that the choices work.

All this is unnecessary. I talked to other companies and they said they have just become part of the system. Plus, the IIMs have socialist principles where a candidate cannot have more than two offers at the same time. This is to ensure that everyone gets a job.

Another pet peeve of mine is a loophole in the system which allows candidates with pre-placement offers (PPOs) to sit for other interviews. Or do a “dream” (interviewing with a company that the candidate dreams to work for). PPO is giving your word to a company that you will join. The loophole allows a candidate who has given his or her word to sit for an interview. This is unethical behaviour.

News Source : Samachar

Home to ‘shy’ wife after 35 years

2008-03-05T10:27:00.000+05:30

The laddoo from wife Paramjit gave Kashmir Singh his taste of freedom at Attari.

“You are as shy as you were when I had left saying I would be back soon,” the 67-year-old said, hands trembling and eyes moist, after he crossed the border checkpost from Wagah in Pakistan this afternoon. Son Sheeshpal, daughters-in-law Manjeet and Sukhwinder, and childhood friend G.C. Bhardwaj struggled to hold back tears.

For Kashmir and Paramjit, 60, today’s reunion at the BSF office symbolised a love story that had survived 35 years of separation. “I thank my wife for doing so much for my release. She also took care of my children,” he said.

Paramjit, who had to work as a domestic help and do other odd jobs after her husband was arrested in 1973 in Rawalpindi and jailed on spying charges, appeared to have put the painful past behind her. “We don’t have much time to cry over what has happened. We must enjoy whatever time we have left with us. Let us go home together. There are people waiting for you,” she said.

After a briefing from intelligence agencies, a procedure followed for all such prisoners from Pakistan, Kashmir reached Nangal Choran, his village in Hoshiarpur, around 4.30pm to a tumultuous reception.

In their moment of happiness, the family didn’t forget to thank Ansar Burney, the Pakistan human rights minister who had worked for the release and persuaded President Pervez Musharraf to pardon Kashmir Singh, who had been handed the death penalty in the 70s.

“I am grateful to President Musharraf, Burney saab, the people of Pakistan and all those who looked after me in jail for giving me a second life,” Kashmir Singh said. Like his new life, his prison uniform had given way to new clothes.

Earlier in the day, Kashmir Singh gave Burney a long hug. “I was finding it difficult to control my tears when I was hugging Singh. I want that all Indians also hug Pakistanis with the same emotion,” the minister said, adding that he would take up the case of Sarabjit Singh, another Indian on death row in Pakistan.

After his release on Monday, Singh spent the night in a luxury hotel before being driven today by Pakistani officials to the border. The only signs of his days in jail were his meagre belongings, stuffed in a small plastic bag.

Kashmir would have been executed in 1978, after his mercy petition was rejected by then President Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry. Later, he was lost in the maze of Pakistani jails, waiting to be led away to the gallows any day.

Today, though, there was little sign of bitterness. “They (the Pakistani authorities) treated me well. I wasn’t beaten.”

Kashmir Singh said he hadn’t gone to Pakistan to smuggle goods or to spy for India. “I was not involved in anything. Nothing was found on me.”

Singh admitted it was a mistake to have gone without a passport. He said would go to Pakistan again, this time with a “passport and work for the good of both nations”.

News Source : Samachar

Kashmir Singh arrives to hero’s welcome

2008-03-05T10:26:00.000+05:30

After languishing in Pakistani prisons for 35 years, 67-year-old Kashmir Singh took the last step to freedom when he crossed the border at Wagah in Amritsar district on Tuesday afternoon. While political party leaders and officials accorded him hero’s welcome, it was an emotional reunion for his family.

Mr. Singh, who received a presidential pardon, had been arrested in Rawalpindi in 1973 and sentenced to death by a military court on charges of espionage.

Charges denied

Talking to reporters at the border checkpost, he thanked Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and the caretaker Human Rights Minister, Ansar Burney, for granting him another lease of life. He, however, denied all charges against him.

Punjab’s Minister for Information and Public Relations Bikram Singh Majithia and Hoshiarpur MP Avinash Rai Khanna and garlanded Mr. Singh near the gates at the zero line. Officials then ushered him into an office room of the BSF post where, away from media gaze, close friends witnessed an emotional family reunion. His wife Paramjit Kaur, physically challenged son Shishpal Singh and some other relatives had been waiting anxiously for the moment since February 28, when news of his imminent release broke.

Praise for rights lawyer

An overwhelmed Mr. Singh recalled that his children were aged six, three and one when he left India. “Had I not seen them on television last night [Monday], I would not have recognised them now.” One his sons, Amarjit Singh, and daughter Manjit Kaur are travelling from Italy to meet their father.

He said he was extremely grateful to Mr. Burney who, as human rights lawyer, spotted him in the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore.

After a brief interrogation by intelligence officers, Mr. Singh was handed over to his family and relatives, who then left for their native village, Nangal Khiladiyan, in Hoshiarpur district in a cavalcade. At various spots en route, people organised impromptu receptions, where locals showered flower petals on him, distributed sweets and performed ‘Bhangra’ to the enthusiastic beats of the ‘dhol’ (drum).

Mr. Singh was accorded a big reception as he entered his village. He was taken in procession to the local Gurdwara and a temple. Drum beats, dancing and bursting of crackers marked the celebrations.

“Healthy and alert”

Mr. Singh’s childhood associate G.C. Bhardwaj, who retired as Deputy Director of All India Radio, told The Hindu on the phone that his friend appeared to be healthy and mentally alert. He said Mr. Singh appeared to be in a hurry to enquire about everybody he knew and was anxious to return to the village and see if the “major” landmarks still existed.

Mr. Bhardwaj, who has vivid memories of playing soccer with Mr. Singh, was among the few who relentlessly carried their campaign for his release. They began seeking justice way back in 1985 when Pakistan released Milkh Raj of Fazilka town, who also faced similar charges.

News Source : Samachar

Apex court stays ban on Jodha Akbar

2008-03-05T10:25:00.000+05:30

The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the orders passed by the Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Uttaranchal governments banning the screening of ‘Jodha Akbar.’

A Bench consisting of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices R.V. Raveendran and J.M. Panchal granted the stay till March 14 when the filing of a petition by the producer of the Hindi film, UTV Software Communication, was mentioned by senior counsel Ashok Desai. The matter is listed for further hearing that day.

Mr. Desai said full clearance had been obtained from the Central Board of Film Certification for screening the film. Still the States, one after another, passed administrative orders banning the screening and if others also issued similar directives, “we will have Bharat darshan.”

Quoting the apex court judgment in the case involving the Tamil film ‘Ore Oru Gramathile’, produced by S. Rangarajan (former publisher of The Hindu), Mr. Desai said freedom of expression could not be suppressed on account of a threat of demonstrations and processions or threat of violence.

News Source : Samachar

Tendulkar came good at the right time: Dhoni

2008-03-05T10:24:00.002+05:30

Mahendra Singh Dhoni led the Indian team to a historic win against world champions Australia in the Commonwealth Bank Series at Gabba in Brisbane on Tuesday.

Not many people had given much chance to the young Indian team against Ricky Ponting's team but in the end Dhoni and his young warriors aided by ageing pro Sachin Tendulkar showed that Aussie can be beaten.

"Of course it was very important because I believe that this is the building stage of my team. Youngsters are in and we have left a few seniors out of the side and there were a lot of questions asked about whether the team can do well in Australia. They say the conditions are tough here to topple the best team in the world," Dhoni said at the post-match awards ceremony.

Dhoni admitted that the team was under pressure at the beginning of the tri-series.

"After the start the way we played the Twenty20 game, the pressure was on us especially in the batting department. The bowlers were doing well through out the series. But the way we improved our batting and the way we were backing each other and the way we were enjoying each other's success was an important point," the Indian skipper said.

News Source : Samachar

Doctor from Andhra found dead in US

2008-03-05T10:23:00.002+05:30

An Andhra Pradesh doctor pursuing his postgraduation in Pennsylvania was found dead over the weekend, the fourth Indian student to meet a violent end in the US in the past three months.

The 29-year-old student of internal medicine, Akkaldevi Srinivas, was expected to return home in the next two months to practise in Karimnagar town and marry fiancée Jayashree. They got engaged last November when Srinivas was here on holiday.

His family members at Korutla in Karimnagar district said they found out about the death late on Sunday. Srinivas is believed to have died on Friday night.

An MBBS student of the 1995 batch of Gandhi Medical College in Hyderabad, Srinivas had joined Scranton State University for an MD programme in 2005 after completing his MS. He went to the US in 2002.

His phone allegedly went dead on Friday. Worried, his family contacted friends and relatives in the US, and came across a police bulletin about Srinivas’s death. Further enquiries confirmed the report.

His parents, Bhagyalakshmi and Anjaiaha, were shocked. They suspect Srinivas was killed in his room by someone who had come to rob him.

“His body has several knife injuries and cuts,” said one of his associates at the university who identified the body.

“Dr Srinivas has been hit with hard substances on his head and there were several bruises on his body,” said his father, a retired state government employee.

But PTI later said preliminary investigation by the police pointed at suicide.

A friend of Srinivas informed the family that the doctor’s body was found on Saturday in a pool of blood with stab wounds on his neck.

Anjaiaha has left for the US to bring home his son’s body.

His family members have appealed to the government for assistance to bring back the body and get the incident investigated.

Two PhD students from Andhra — Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma and Kiran Kumar Allan — were killed in their Louisiana University campus apartment in December 2007. The police are yet to catch the assailants.

Abhijeet Mahato, a 29-year-old PhD student from Orissa at Duke University, was found shot dead in January. An estimated 80,000 Indian students study annually in the US — the largest number from any country.

In the wake of the recent spate of attacks on students, the Indian embassy in the US has asked the student community to keep it informed about their whereabouts and contact numbers.

The embassy has also asked the students to leave their forwarding numbers in India with it.

News Source : Samachar

Gilchrist walks, into the sunset

2008-03-05T10:23:00.001+05:30

Adam Gilchrist, the most dashing wicketkeeper-batsman in the history of the game, bid farewell to international cricket on Tuesday after ending up on the losing side when India beat Australia in the tri-series finals here.

Gilchrist, who led his team to a historic Test series win against India in 2004-05, announced his retirement from international cricket during the Test series against India in January, ending his illustrious career spanning over 12 years.

However, while his Test farewell went fine with Australia clinching it 2-1, the one-day retirement turned out to be disappointing as India won the best-of-three tri-series 2-0.

The 36-year-old, who played 96 Tests, nonetheless finished his career while at the top of the table of the game's leading wicketkeepers by dismissals, with 416 dismissals (379 caught, 37 stumped) in Tests.

He compiled 5570 Test runs for an average of 47.60 and scored 9612 runs in 287 ODIs for an average of 35.89.

Gilchrist, who played some of his most breath-taking knocks against India, will be remembered for being the captain of the team which conquered the 'final frontier' when they beat India at home in 2004-05 for the first time in 35 years.

The Australian vice-captain has scored 17 centuries, maximum by a wicketkeeper. Gilchrist made it to the Australian squad at a relatively advanced age when he replaced Ian Healy in the side. He gradually became one of the key members in the all conquering Australian team and lent depth to the batting order.

Gilchrist's stellar career also includes the second fastest ever century in Test history -- against England in December 2006 in Perth. He reached his hundred in 57 balls, one more than Sir Viv Richards. In the same innings he broke the record for the most runs in an over during an Ashes Test, plundering 24 from Monty Panesar.

He has also scored hundreds against all nine Test opponents and has also hit more sixes than any other batsman in Test history, recording his 100th six during the recent match against Sri Lanka in Hobart in 2007.

Gilchrist has to his credit the feat of claiming 10 dismissals in a Test against New Zealand at Hamilton in 2000, the first Australian to do so and the third 'keeper from any country to capture as many victims in a single Test.

A three-time ICC Cricket World Cup winner, Gilchrist passed 50 in every World Cup final he played, which must be as important an achievement as any other.

In April 2007, Gilchrist lit up Kensington Oval in Barbados with 149 from 104 balls in the World Cup final against Sri Lanka.

He also holds the ODI dismissal record with 454 dismissals in his 277 ODI's (401 caught, 53 stumped).

In Tests, Gilchrist's unbeaten 149 against Pakistan when all seemed lost, his epic 204 against South Africa in Johannesburg and his 57-delivery century against England will be the high points.
Gilchrist was also among the very few batsmen in contemporary cricket who believed in walking without waiting for the umpire's decision.

News Source : Samachar

ICC rankings: India gains points

2008-03-05T10:21:00.000+05:30

The triumph on Tuesday has helped India gain three rating points to move just a fraction behind third-placed New Zealand even as Australia’s lead on top of the ICC ODI Championship table was trimmed to a bare minimum.

Australia, which entered the series on 130 ratings points, dropped to 127 points, the same as second-placed South Africa but above Graeme Smith’s side when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.

India, in contrast, gained three rating points from the tri-series which it won 2-0. India now sits alongside New Zealand on 113 points but behind Daniel Vettori’s side when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.

Sri Lanka slips

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka, which was the third team in the tri-series, dropped one rating point to return home on 107 after failing to qualify for the final. The scenario has left South Africa’s fate in its own hands as it goes head-to-head with Bangladesh in a three-match ODI series from March 9.

If South Africa sweeps the series, it will reclaim the top spot it surrendered to Ricky Ponting’s side during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 in the West Indies.

However, if Bangladesh manages to win just a game, Australia will open a two-point gap with South Africa which will drop to 125 rating points.

Australia top seed With the last game of the series between South Africa and Bangladesh set to be played on March 15, Australia has been confirmed as the top seed for this September’s ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan as the cut-off date for seedings is March 12, six months before the scheduled start of the tournament.

News Source : Samachar

‘We bearded the lion in its own den’

2008-03-05T10:17:00.000+05:30

India’s 2-0 sweep of the triangular series finals against Australia at Brisbane on Tuesday was hailed by former Test cricketers as historic.

“It was a historic victory and reminded me of the 1971 (Test series) victories over the West Indies and England (away from home). It was a great team effort,” said former India captain Ajit Wadekar.

Wadekar also praised Sachin Tendulkar’s efforts in both of the matches of the final besides praising the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni

“Dhoni has led very well and the team is a nice blend of youth and experience. Sachin (Tendulkar) made a hell of a difference,” he said.

Former Test batsman Ashok Mankad said: “We have bearded the lion in its own den. It was a fantastic effort, winning it 2-0 against the World champions.”

Former Test left-arm spinner Bapu Nadkarni said “It was a Super Tuesday after Super Sunday (when India won the first of the finals and the under-19 team emerged triumphant). They looked very confident during the first finals and continued in the same vein today,” he said.

“The (Aussie) domination is not over yet, but they are scared of India now. We have made a big dent. They have to accept it,” he added.

Chief Selector Dilip Vengsarkar said: “It was a fantastic and historic victory after a 23-year gap,” he said, referring to India’s last win in the 1983 World Cup. “To defeat the top team over last one decade shows that India is fast closing in on Australia,” he said.

Vengsarkar also praised Dhoni for his “marvellous” captaincy and Sachin Tendulkar for his “focus” since landing in Australia.

Former Indian captain Ajay Jadeja said it was an “incredible effort” by the young team. “I think it is unbelievable. We have beaten them twice in a row and that is quite an achievement,” he said.

Navjot Singh Sidhu rated the victory as one of the five best wins recorded by India in the history. “It is definitely one of the top five wins recorded by India in its history. The lions have roared and they have announced their arrival. Indian cricket has a bright future,” the former opener said.

Former Test batsman Chandu Borde, who was the cricket manager of the team in England last year, also praised the efforts of the team besides hailing the administrators for standing by the team during the Harbhajan Singh race row.

“It’s a victory for not only the players but also the administrators who stood behind the team during the Harbhajan Singh episode to boost the players’ confidence,” the former captain said. — PTI

News Source : Samachar

Shah Rukh’s dreamz unlimited

2008-03-05T10:16:00.000+05:30

Actor Shah Rukh Khan wants to build an underground parking lot and a swimming pool behind his Bandra residence. He has applied to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) seeking permission to construct a 20,000-sq-ft underground parking lot and a swimming pool measuring only slightly less, on the ground floor of the six-storey building he has built behind his sea-facing heritage bungalow Mannat at Bandra (West).

Civic officials said the proposal has been forwarded to the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority.

As Khan’s bungalow and building fall under the Coastal Regulation Zone — an ecologically sensitive area near the sea — permission from the Authority is needed to undertake any construction there.

The plan, said civic sources, is related to changes in Khan’s building, which houses the actor’s extra living room, guest room, gym and some offices.

Ashok Shintre, chief engineer (Development Plan, BMC), said: “The plan came to us through Khan’s architect and we have sent it for a No-Objection Certificate to the state coastal zone authority as the changes to be made are for a plot under 2 hectares in area (approximately 2 lakh sq ft). If it were more than that, we would have sent it to the Central Authority,” Shintre said.

Confirming that the coastal zone authority has received the proposal from the civic body, an official said no decision had been taken.

“It will be brought before the Authority in one of its meetings, when such proposals are tabled for clearance,” he added, refusing to divulge when the proposal would be discussed.

Chairman of the Authority Shyamlal Goyal was not available for comment.

Khan’s building is already entangled in a legal suit following a petition filed by non-governmental organisation Bhrashtachar Nirmulan Sanghatana last year, alleging that it encroached on the proposed road in the city development plan and the balconies jutted out of the plot boundary.

News Source : Samachar

Kudos from President, Prime Minister

2008-03-05T10:15:00.000+05:30

President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday congratulated Team India which won the Commonwealth Bank Series.

“It is a fabulous victory. This is a victory based on teamwork and strong determination,” the President said in a message.

The Prime Minister intervened in the Rajya Sabha debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address to congratulate the team. — PTI

New Delhi Special Correspondent writes:

Union Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar praised the players for their “magnificent” performance.

The dedication and spirit with which the series was played was brilliant, he said.

In Mumbai the BCCI announced a cash award of Rs. 10 crore to the team.

News Source : Samachar

Desperate Asian women faking virginity in Britain

2008-03-05T10:14:00.000+05:30

Some Asian women in Britain are going to great lengths to fake their virginity, driven to desperation by concepts of 'honour' in a community where myths about their first sexual experience is still widely held, an Asian radio station reported.

If found to have sex before marriage, the lives of some young Asian women can be at risk and they can be driven away from their homes, experts and community workers told the BBC Asian Network documentary Like a Virgin, broadcast on Monday.

As a result, desperate young women are using fake blood and even going in for reconstructive surgery to fake their virginity, the investigative radio documentary reported.

In an echo of social attitudes held in many parts of the Indian subcontinent, the programme found that most of the 17 to 21 year old men interviewed in the region of West Midlands - home to a large number of Asians - preferred women to be virgins at marriage.

Concepts of honour are strongly held among some conservative Asian communities in Britain and have been linked not only to the practice of forced marriage but also, in some cases, the murder of young women.

An adviser formerly with the national sexual health charity Brook said she personally received requests for information on faking virginity on a daily basis from young Asian women - and that she provided the information because she feared for the safety of these women.

She said: ''They would sometimes come in to the centre because they were concerned about the fact that maybe they had had unprotected sex with a boyfriend and they were concerned about whether other men would know they had had sex before and were not a virgin.''

''The discussions would then go around some of the myths around virginity that girls bleed on the first time of having sexual intercourse. So we were able to say, 'lots of girls don't'.

''The problem is that lots of men and lots of people within the (Asian) community believe that that is true, and therefore they (young women) are very concerned that they will get married and they won't bleed and their husband will believe they weren't a virgin at marriage and all the problems that would cause them in life.''

Social stigma

She said women were using red dye and mock blood that can be bought from novelty shops that they inserted into their vaginas or spread on the bed sheet after having sex. One Pakistani woman said she knew someone who had used a bottle of red ink - and got away with it. ''Her mother-in-law was very happy,'' said the woman.

Underlining the seriousness of the issue, the adviser said she agreed to provide information on how to fake virginity because ''for some young women the risks to them and their personal safety were so great that if they were not able to fake it then the consequences could have been dire.''

A community worker who works with young Asians in west London said some girls have had to flee their homes and go into shelter ''because their life is on the line. Somebody may have found out''.

Linda Cardozo, a gynaecologist at Kings College Hospital in London, said some desperate Asian women were seeking reconstructive hymen-repair surgery, but that it was ''quite difficult to achieve'' the repair because there may not always be enough tissues to bring together.

In any case, there was no guarantee that the woman would bleed.

The main aim of hymen repair is to bleed on wedding night, but of course there are many women who don't bleed on their wedding night, whether they are virgins or not.

This is because the hymen may be very stretchy, they may have used tampons for menstruation, they may have had lot of exercise and subtle tissues and therefore there are many women who have their first intercourse without bleeding at all.

''So there's no guarantee these women will achieve the aim they set out to achieve,'' the doctor added.

Although some 24 such repairs had been performed in the state health sector, the vast majority of such surgeries are thought to take place in the private sector, which each surgery costs between 1,500 and 2,000 pounds.

News Source : Samachar

Shape up or face action, airlines tell air hostesses

2008-03-05T10:13:00.000+05:30

NEW DELHI: Shed flab or face action seems to be the mantra of state-run airliners with regard to overweight airhostesses as three leading public carriers have grounded 43 out-of-shape stewards.

Indian Airlines and Air India, now merged into one entity, have grounded 22 and 16 overweight airhostesses respectively, while Alliance Air has taken action against five stewards so far, the government told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

"Such cabin crew are asked to reappear for weight check periodically and are assigned flight duty once they conform to the prescribed weight limits," civil aviation minister Praful Patel said in a written reply to a question. He said cabin crew who continue to remain overweight are evaluated by a medical board, and based on its assessment and recommendations, further action is taken as per the Terms of Employment.

To a question on safety, Patel said four incidents of breach of separation were reported at the Delhi airport last year and steps are being taken to avert recurrence of such incidents.

The steps include modernization of air traffic services, implementation of safety management system at Delhi airport, modification of standard operating and coordination procedure for simultaneous runway operations and flexible use of airspace for reducing traffic congestion.

News Source : Samachar

India beats Australia in a thriller to claim cricket tri-series

2008-03-05T10:12:00.000+05:30

NIGHT TO REMEMBER: The Indian team basks in the afterglow of its historic triumph in the final edition of the tri-series in Australia. M.S. Dhoni’s side overcame Australia in a dramatic second final in Brisbane by nine runs on Tuesday.

Brisbane: India made history here on Tuesday as Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men held their nerve to win a tense second final against Australia by nine runs and triumph in the Commonwealth Bank ODI tri-series.

India’s first tournament victory in the competition came in the final edition of the ODI tri-series in Australia. In the first match of the best-of-three finals on Sunday, India had beaten the home team by six wickets.

Scenes of joy were witnessed in the Indian camp moments after a battling James Hopes (63 off 80 balls) holed out to mid-wicket off Irfan Pathan with just two deliveries of the final over remaining. The ecstatic Indian cricketers, their supporters cheering them on, ran a victory lap with the national flag.

Paceman Praveen Kumar, whose three-wicket burst with the new ball reduced Australia to 32 for three, was named the ‘Man of the Finals.’ Australia’s left-arm paceman Nathan Bracken was adjudged the ‘Player of the Tournament’ for his outstanding bowling right through the tri-series.

India, opting to bat, made 258 for nine in 50 overs. Sachin Tendulkar, following up his unbeaten 117 in the first final at the SCG, scored 91 (121b, 7x4). The maestro’s opening partnership of 94 in 20.5 overs with Robin Uthappa (30) laid a solid foundation for the side.

India lost its way towards the end of the innings but a fighting 37-ball 36 from skipper Dhoni ensured that the Aussies chased a competitive total. Then, Praveen used the conditions better than his Australian counterparts.

Matthew Hayden (55 off 68 balls) and Andrew Symonds (42 off 56) revived Australia’s hopes after the early collapse but the dismissal of both the batsmen in the 26th over of the innings put considerable pressure on the host. Michael Hussey and Hopes kept Australia in the hunt but the Indians displayed good end-game skills.

The match signalled the end of the careers of legendary batsman-wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist and left-arm chinaman bowler Brad Hogg.

News Source : Samachar

China cites India, hikes defence budget to $57 billion

2008-03-05T10:11:00.000+05:30

BEIJING: China on Tuesday announced a nearly 17.6 per cent hike in defence spending. It cited the high defence spending by India and other countries as part of its justification to enhance military expenditure to $57.22bn.

China spent just 1.4 per cent of its gross domestic product on defence against 2.5 per cent by India, Jiang Enzhul, spokesperson for the National People's Congress told reporters on Tuesday ahead of the annual NPC session beginning on Wednesday.

What Jiang did not mention is that India's military expenses at $26.18 billion (Rs 105,600 crores) were less than half of China's expenditure in absolute terms. Finance minister P Chidambaram announced last week that Indian defence spending will rise 10 per cent to reach Rs 105,600 crores in the 2008-09 budget.

"We do not seek expansion. The purpose is to safeguard our sovereignty, security and territorial integrity," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at another press conference on Wednesday.

A lot of Chinese military expenditure is made under different heads, sources said. Much of the infrastructure that China has built along the border with India has been created with dual usage in mind enabling both civilians and uniformed forces to take advantage of them, informed sources said. This includes both rail and road infrastructure.

"China's expanding and improving military capabilities are changing East Asian military balances," a Pentagon report from Washington said hours before the Chinese government announced the rise in defence expenditure on Wednesday. The report expressed concern over growing arsenal of missiles arrayed against Taiwan. China regards Taiwan as part of its own territory and has been striving for the unification of the two areas.

Jiang said military expenses accounted for 14.1 per cent of India's overall spending while China spent just 7.2 per cent of its total budget on defence. Developed countries spent a lot more with the United States allocating 4.6 per cent of its GDP to defence and Britain spending three per cent of its GDP, he said. The figure for France is 2 per cent and Russia 2.63 per cent of GDP.

The NPC spokesman said that China's approach to defence was defensive in nature and merely designed to safeguard the country's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Its military forces do not "pose a threat to any country".

Much of the new increase in the 2008 defence budget would go to meet the enhanced pay of soldiers and officers and to offset the impact of price hikes besides spending some money on education and training with an improved focus on the use of information technologies.

"There are all sorts of comments on China's defence budget", he said. He was obviously referring to the statements by the United States accusing China about the lack of transparency in military spending. The moderate rise in military spending seen in recent years in China has been possible because of the development in the economy in general and an improvement in government revenue.

Between 2003 and 2007, China's military spending increases at an average of 15.8 per cent a year. This is much less as compared to the growth in government revenue at 22.1 per cent a year, he said.

News Source : Samachar

India Down Under: A bittersweet symphony

2008-03-05T10:09:00.001+05:30

India's tour of Australia is now complete with some sweet, some bitter memories. Here's looking at some of those incidents when cricket took a backseat and left a sour taste in the mouth.

The Sydney fiasco
Cricket took a backseat in the second Test at Sydney. India had a right to feel, correctly so, that the umpires had done them in. India had at least half a dozen calls against them. With one over left in the game, India let Australia win narrowly when a draw really should have been the result. But a day before that, the cricket world erupted with Andrew Symonds claiming Harbhajan Singh had racially abused him. After the game ended, after a prolonged meeting with umpires, players and board representatives, match referee Mike Procter labelled Harbhajan guilty. The Indian players took offence, saying they would not leave Sydney before the charges were taken back. BCCI stepped in and said the tour would not go on if Harbhajan was not declared innocent. In Adelaide later that month, the ICC appeals commissioner upheld India's plea, bringing down Harbhajan's punishment to 50 per cent of his match fee. Australia felt aggrieved at this, India felt vindicated.

The egg on Muralitharan
There's a reason Muttiah Muralitharan has had apprehensions travelling to Australia. The umpiring has been unkind to him, and the crowd vicious and occasionally racist. Hence, the alarm bells rang in Hobart when an uncouth being in Hobart pelted the Lankan with eggs when he was out for dinner. The Lankans were gracious enough to laugh off the incident, with captain Mahela Jayawardene saying Murali would have chased down the goons had the traffic signal not turned green, allowing them to escape in their car.

Harbhajan gets a send-off
India were hot Australia's trail chasing 318 - again in Sydney. Harbhajan, having played a cameo to revive India's hopes, got out. As he walked off the park, there was a brief exchange of words between him and Ponting. Harbhajan later said Ponting was taunting him. "Show us what you've got," Ponting told Harbhajan, who responded by saying that he had made more runs in the summer than the off-colour Aussie captain. This, according to Harbhajan, peeved Ponting and he abused the Indian and ran back to the team huddle before Harbhajan could respond. Ponting and Adam Gilchrist later said this was just part of the whole story.

Ishant vs Symonds
Earlier, in the same game in Sydney, Ishant Sharma had bowled out Andrew Symonds. Symonds appeared to say something to Ishant on his way back, and the Indian responded by showing the batsman the way to the pavilion. While Ishant was summoned and fined for what was a clear breach of the ICC Code of Conduct, Symonds did was not even called by the match referee for what could have been use of abusive language against the Indian. It led to further bad blood between the two sides, with many feeling that the Australian got off lightly.

'Obnoxious little weed'
Just before the CB Series finals, Matthew Hayden thought it would be funny to go on radio and call Harbhajan Singh an 'obnoxious little weed'. Hayden even said he fancied getting Ishant Sharma in a boxing ring. Cricket Australia stepped in and reprimanded Haydos. Indians thought he got off lightly, Aussie cricketers were enraged this was another instance of their board pandering to the BCCI's whims.

Monkeygate Part 2, almost
In the most recent hullabaloo, the Australian media cooked up a story on how Harbhajan Singh made monkey gestures to racially taunt the Sydney crowd in the first CB Series final. One paper even said the Indian spat at a spectator. There was no conclusive evidence to back the outlandish claims and the matter was given a prompt burial by the ICC.

News Source : Samachar

Delhi Police uncover sex racket

2008-03-05T10:08:00.000+05:30

Delhi Police's crime branch uncovered a sex racket on Tuesday.

Eleven girls and a boy have been taken in custody.

The accused had allegedly been operating a friendship club since August 2007.

News Source : Samachar

Dhoni lashes out at Australian media

2008-03-05T10:07:00.000+05:30

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni lashed out at the Australian media for their unrelenting attempt to pin down Harbhajan Singh all summer after his side had won their first-ever tri-series title here on Tuesday.

"Tomorrow we would be gone. They now need someone to replace him (to keep themselves occupied)," said a calm Indian captain.

"Sometimes it wasn't clear if it was only Harbhajan or Michael Jackson (they were covering)," Dhoni said after India beat the Australians by nine runs to win the best-of-three finals by a 2-0 margin.

Dhoni commended Harbhajan for standing up to the pressure and gave a backhanded compliment to the Australian cricketers and media for keeping him stirred.

"As a captain it helped me. More controversies and he became more determined. He is an aggressive, expressive player - someone who fights hard and wins the game.

"The backlash worked for us. After sometime we got used to it. We knew everyday we open the newspaper there would be something.

"The best thing about human beings is that they get used to it. Maybe now in India, I would search the net for what is going on in Australia (now that we wouldn't be here)," he said.

Dhoni made a few path-breaking decisions on this tour by way of encouraging youngsters as well as playing five specialist bowlers most of the times.

"At certain times, you need to decide whether an extra batsman or an extra bowler would work in your favour. If a batting side is not doing well, you try to keep them down by playing specialist bowlers."

Dhoni refused to take any credit for his side's triumph and had an interesting theory to explain why he retained his calm in moments of extreme crisis during the second finals at Gabba.

"Everyone is under pressure. If bowlers are trying to do well then even batsmen are trying to finish off the job. By delaying things and taking your time, you are putting extra pressure on them.

"Captain ka role nahin hota (It's not captain alone). It's ultimately how your players react under pressure (that matters)."

Dhoni chose the moment to assert that this would be the core side of an Indian team in coming months.

"This is the core side. We may have more spinners at home and a few new faces might come in but this would be the core."

Dhoni also explained the reason for including Piyush Chawla in the two finals as well as his opinion on Robin Uthappa as an opener.

"We wanted to surprise Australia with Piyush Chawla in the finals. He mixes it well; he varies his pace and has a googly that turns on any wicket. He is also very consistent with his line and length. He would become a better bowler with exposure.

"As for Robin, he can do more damage at number six or seven. If he settles down as an opener, he would buy a few more games for himself."

As for himself, Dhoni was happy to get a few extra days break for himself and openly expressed his worry about the amount of cricket being played.

"I haven't driven a bike for a long time. If the series had gone to the last game, we would've boarded the flight on March 9 and hardly got time for ourself as there is a meeting on March 17 or 18.

"We need some rest, either you take a break or god gives you the break. After all everybody is human and constant cricket can exhaust you in the end. You need time to recover, rest is important. As they say, Rest is Best for Test."

News Source : Samachar

Salman, Suneil Shetty support Raj Thackeray

2008-03-05T09:59:00.001+05:30

The support building up for Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray just got extra muscle on Tuesday.

The MNS leader had already got support from the Marathi film fraternity, now it's coming in from Bollywood as well.

After actor Nana Patekar signed a petition pledging his support against the gag order on Thackeray, it is now the Khan khandaan that's backing the north Indian immigrant basher.

Salman Khan, brother Sohail Khan and writer father Salim Khan signed the petition on Tuesday supporting the MNS leader. Joining them is also Suneil Shetty.

The MNS had launched a signature campaign in support of Thackeray, who was gagged by the high court after his inflammatory comments launched a series of violent incidents in the state last month.

The letter, being distributed by the cine artists association already got Patekar's signature on Friday along with some others.

In a letter attached to the petition, Patekar pointed out that the manner in which Thackeray made his point is debatable, but preserving the Marathi language and culture is an important issue.

Raj Thackeray had led violent movement against north Indians working in Maharashtra especially Mumbai.

Thousands of poor labourers from Bihar and UP had fled the state, which generated widespread criticism from across the country.

News Source : Samachar

Aussies will come hard at the Indians

2008-03-04T10:42:00.000+05:30

The first final of the CB Series was one of the rare occasions in the recent past where I saw Australia completely outplayed in a One-Day International.

India bowled better and batted much better to go 1-0 up in the finals, and Australia have only one day to regroup and ensure that they execute their plans better than they did at the Sydney Cricket Ground. I am sure that Ricky Ponting is hurt, not bec ause they lost, but because he must feel that his team were flat and unimpressive on Sunday.

Super Sunday

The Indians, on the other hand, had a super Sunday. The under-19 team lifted the World Cup in Malaysia hours after the seniors had demolished the World champions. I was really impressed by some of India’s juniors, and since some of the members of the one-day team are also barely in the 20s, the future seems bright for India.

The new generation of players is a lot fitter, possesses a more positive body language and is pretty unaffected by reputations.

Special player

On Sunday, there were two moments that really exemplified the attitude of generation next of India’s players. The first was the partnership between Rohit Sharma and Sachin Tendulkar. The latter was on 99, and on the verge of taking a suicidal second run. Sharma responded to the late call and sent Tendulkar back, thus ensuring that the team did not lose a wicket.

I have been really impressed with the maturity and sound technique of this boy. He has been hailed as the next Tendulkar already and is a special talent, but also one that needs to be nurtured, and given time to blossom.

The other special moment was the way Mahendra Singh Dhoni strode in with 30 runs to go. The manner in which he knocked off the remaining runs and took his team to victory was really impressive. There was no conservatism in his approach, and when he was in the middle with Tendulkar at that stage, the game was actually looking ridiculously one-sided.

However, the guy who really took the game by the scruff of its neck was Tendulkar. On Sunday, he answered many questions about his recent performances with a knock that was quite clearly the difference between the two sides.

It was said that he never scored in any game of consequence, and he has now scored in two crucial games — one to get the Indians into the finals, and another to make his team go one-up in the finals. What’s more, he had never ever scored a century on Australian soil. That was a record that must have irked him, and he has remedied that situation as well.

Sometimes, when one has played for as long as Tendulkar, one needs a challenge to really get wound up. This tour of Australia will hold a special place in Tendulkar’s heart because he has been able to contribute at crucial moments for his team in both the Tests as well as the ODIs. He was not fully fit towards the end of the run chase, and if he or Ishant Sharma misses Tuesday’s game it will be a big boost for the host.

Below par

Looking ahead to tomorrow, I see the Australians coming really hard at the Indians. I believe Ponting has given the team a dressing down, and I am not surprised. The batting has been really out of sync in this tri-series, and while the bowlers have bailed the team out on past occasions, they too were below par at the SCG.

The wicket was one on which even 270 would have been hard to defend, and 240 was well within reach of the Indians. Praveen Kumar was a bowler the Aussies were clearly targeting, but he played smart and stuck to the basics. They will target Kumar tomorrow as well, but this time round, they will have to be a little more careful with their shot selection.

The absence of partnerships is clearly hampering Australia’s batting, and it is evident that quite a few of the batsmen are not in very good touch. The notable exception is Adam Gilchrist, who is a very proud cricketer.

He would be determined to go out on a winning note, which means he might come up with one last gem tomorrow to ensure that the finals go into a third game.

News Source : Samachar

Ishant may be the difference, says Nielsen

2008-03-04T10:40:00.003+05:30

The masters of the mind games are at their wits end. They have been beaten at their own game by a side that has scrapped hard all through the summer.

The morning after their six-wicket reverse in the first final at Sydney, Australia conceded that India’s audacity in the triangular affair had left them grappling with demons in their mind heading into the second final of the tri-series at the Gabba today.

“I think you’d be unhuman to not have a bit of a hit to the confidence when you’re not getting the results you’re looking for. It’s the challenge for elite sport,” Australia coach Tim Nielsen said yesterday.

The pioneers of mental disintegration tactics have never looked so grim given their famed bullish reputations. But all of a sudden they have developed a psychological snag and that’s mainly due to the Indian bowlers who have not cringed from the challenge.

Ishant Sharma, with 14 wickets and a bowling average of 20.43 in the series has been difficult to get away and Nielsen pointed that out.

“We’re playing against very good opposition and a bowling attack that’s bowling very well. Our challenge at the moment is to keep these blokes up and keep them in a state of mind that gives them every opportunity. Sharma may be the difference. He’s had a big impact on the summer,” Neilsen said.

Ponting and Co are set to get a breather as the beanpole bowler is likely to be ruled out of with a finger injury for today’s clash.

Mental Reserve

India, however, has played more than any other team in world cricket and it only speaks of their mental reserves although for how long it’ll continue remains to be seen.

“It’s just a matter of trying to maintain your focus and concentration throughout a long summer,” Nielsen said. For an Australian to reveal confidence and mental issues within the ranks is as rare as Harbhajan Singh getting a Christmas card from Down Under. The coach said his side had only a day to overcome their frailties and bounce back.

“We’re doing the best we can. We’re doing a lot of work. As Ricky said last night, it’s probably the mental side of the game that’s let us down a little bit.”

Gilly’s swansong?

The Australian think-tank has had a series of meeting with its players and Ponting admitted to have read out the riot act in the Sydney dressing room.

Given the antecedents of the Gabba track, which has some juice in it for the faster bowlers, Ponting may go in with a four-pronged pace attack and that’ll only ensure Brad Hogg bids adieu to cricket from the stands.

The same can not be said of Adam Giclrhist, one man who’ll play with gay abandon in a game which could possibly be his last in Australian colours. The explosive wicketkeeper-batsman has a had a tremendous sense of occasion and for that he’s most likely to go out swinging.

News Source : Samachar

4 TRS members quit Lok Sabha

2008-03-04T10:40:00.001+05:30

Four members of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) submitted their resignations from the Lok Sabha on Monday in protest against the delay in the creation of a Telangana State. Following their example, TRS legislators will resign from the Andhra Pradesh Assembly in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

The TRS MPs — K. Chandrasekhar Rao, Vinod Kumar Boianapalli, Ravinder Naik Dharavath and T. Madhusudan Reddy — submitted their resignations to Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee soon after the House convened for the day. Later in the evening Mr. Chatterjee accepted the resignations.

The four MPs first trooped into the well of the House but returned to their designated places when the Speaker told them that nothing they said from the well would go on record. Raising the Telangana issue, Mr. Rao said that when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was formed, clear-cut assurances had been given on the formation of a Telangana State.

“The Congress has betrayed the people of Telangana,” Mr. Rao said before proceeding to the Speaker’s podium to submit his resignations. Other TRS members followed him before leaving the House shouting “Jai Telangana” slogans.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and some of its allies in the National Democratic Alliance also walked out of the House to express solidarity with the TRS members.

News Source : Samachar

Virat changed after his dad's death: Mother

2008-03-04T10:39:00.000+05:30

At every nook and corner in the bylanes of Shankar Garden near Vikas Puri, you could’ve mistaken every old lady passing by for U-19 World Cup-winning captain Virat Kohli’s mother. Just the way they took his name, the way they pointed to his house, their inquisitiveness, the pride and the possessiveness in their voice and the glint in their eye, suggested that as if their own son had lifted the Cup last night. Then you meet the mother, Saroj Kohli and one is almost disappointed.

You would expect her to grin from ear-to-ear, acting a bit pricey too, perhaps. But then you know why the house is so incredibly silent and his mother so brilliantly measured in her comments. The heartache is still fresh, and the extraordinary achievement of the previous night - it showed - had reinforced the heartache. " Bahut bari khushi lake diya Virat ne . If his father was alive it would have been a different type of celebrations. Woh khushi alag hoti. Itna khushi aati nahi, jitni honi chahiye ," said Saroj, in almost a hush. "I’m sure he would have called his lawyer friends over for a party in the house when Virat would have returned."

Prem Kohli, Virat’s father, passed away in December 2006 after being bed-ridden for a month due to brain-stroke. And as luck would have it, he passed away in the middle of a crucial Ranji trophy tie against Karnataka. Virat was the overnight batsman for Delhi and he was just taking his first steps in his debut Ranji season. Amazingly, Virat went ahead and played the match. He had to and scored a brave 90. "My husband passed away in his sleep at around 2 in the morning. Virat was in two minds about whether to play or not. Rajkumar Sharma (Virat’s coach since his childhood) who was in Australia then advised him not to let go off a chance since it is so difficult to make it to the team. It was difficult for Virat. He came directly to the funeral after his knock of 90. He was wrongly given out. I remember that too." Not stretching belief, but Virat’s mind vis-a-vis his career was shaped by the unfortunate event.

"Virat changed a bit after that day. Overnight he became a much more matured person. He took every match seriously. He hated being on the bench. It’s as if his life hinged totally on cricket after that day. Now, he looked like he was chasing his father’s dream which was his own too."

Virat’s father, a criminal lawyer, first took the 9-year-old to the West Delhi Cricket Club after the neighbours suggested that Virat shouldn’t waste his time in gully cricket and instead join a professional club. "He’s got great strength in his arms for a kid," a neighbour told Virat’s father even as the lawyer made it his mission of sorts from that day onwards to make sure Virat got the best of training to reach the upper echelons of Indian cricket. Hence, Saroj is so upset that her husband couldn’t live to watch the highest point of his son’s career.

Saroj too couldn’t watch the final herself, for obvious reasons. It was one ball and 13 runs left when she joined family members - Virat’s brother Vikas and his wife - in the bedroom to soak in the atmosphere. Till then she was too nervous to watch. Later Virat called up to ask whether she enjoyed it? To which she replied: "Thank you beta ."

Virat started off his schooling from Vishal Bharti till he shifted to Savier Convent in ninth standard so that it didn’t harm his practice. Saroj has ensured that when Virat returns home he gets his favourite mutton biryani and kheer. She also has another plan up her sleeves and that is of building a separate room for Virat. "He is a big man now. He needs to start living in style," said Saroj. But she can’t help but sign off by saying that if her husband was present then they would have felt that "they have conquered the whole world."

News Source : Samachar

'Very happy' over progress made in IAEA talks: Congress

2008-03-04T10:38:00.000+05:30

Congress on Monday said it was "very happy" over the progress made in the IAEA talks in connection with the Indo-US nuclear deal and sought to bring the Left around for an understanding over the ticklish issue.

"We are happy that India has made significant and notable progress at the IAEA talks. We are particularly happy that a vast and diverse area of differences have been covered, have been ironed out in the fifth round of talks," AICC spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters.

Singhvi made a suo-motu statement at the AICC briefing saying it was "equally optimistic, positive and hopeful" about the deliberations and consultations at the Joint Mechanism of the UPA and Left parties which shall follow after the IAEA talks.

"We are confident of a constructive approach by all concerned... Totally confident and sure of a reasonable approach by all sections of the Joint Mechanism", he said.

The AICC spokesman's statement came on a day when External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee made a statement in Parliament on foreign policy issues including the nuclear issue.

Questioning certain statements from the US, Mukherjee made it clear that its rights and obligations on civil nuclear cooperation came only from the bilateral 123 Agreement and the controversial Hyde Act did not bind it.

News Source : Samachar

“Hyde Act will hurt sovereignty”

2008-03-04T10:37:00.000+05:30

The Left parties on Monday warned the UPA government not to operationalise the India-U.S. civilian nuclear deal and disagreed with the government assertion that the provisions of the controversial Hyde Act would not affect India.

At a press conference, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury said the party did not agree with the government’s view and felt that the Hyde Act would severely compromise India’s independent foreign policy and sovereignty.

“We don’t agree with the government that the Hyde Act’s implications do not exist for India. ... We don’t think that the government should proceed to operationalise the deal,” Mr. Yechury said here.

Reacting to the statement of External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Lok Sabha earlier in the day, Mr. Yechury said though Hyde Act was an enabling provision, the U.S. legislature had given a waiver to President George Bush to enter into civil nuclear cooperation with India “under conditions listed in the Act.” The Polit Bureau in a statement cautioned the government that there was no “political consensus” on the nuclear deal and advised it not to proceed further with the agreement.

“It is ironical that the statement to Parliament says that the government will continue to ‘seek’ a broad political consensus within the country. The government should first respect the majority opinion expressed by Parliament when the 123 agreement was discussed in the winter session of 2007. The government should acknowledge that its stand on the nuclear deal does not have the support of Parliament. There is no political consensus and hence it should not proceed further with the agreement,” the Polit Bureau said.

Dwelling on the Hyde Act, the Polit Bureau said that “it has become a practice for the Indian government to reiterate that the Hyde Act has no relevance for India and it is not applicable to us. No one else believes this to be so. Neither the Hyde Act nor the 123 agreement which has been drafted within the framework of the Hyde Act provisions meet the assurances given by the Prime Minister in his August 2006 statement to Parliament.”

In the same vein, CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta said: “If the government proceeds in the direction of finalising the deal, we will be free to decide our own course of action and the course is known to the government.”

News Source : Samachar

Govt fighting hard to meet N-deal deadline

2008-03-04T10:36:00.001+05:30

The ides of March may be India's internal deadline for completing the IAEA safeguards agreement on its civilian nuclear facilities.

This has reportedly been decided by the government, after the MEA-DAE team returned from Vienna on Sunday with what appears to be the final draft of the agreement.

The government's legal brains will now go through the agreement to see if India can "live with" it. This exercise, sources said, should be completed by the middle of this month.

The completed Indian safeguards agreement is expected to dovetail into foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee's maiden visit (as foreign minister) to Washington on March 23-25, where he is expected to present this to his counterpart Condoleezza Rice.

Politically, sources said, it would make sense for Mukherjee to go to Washington with a concrete document in hand, rather than open himself up to a host of diplomatic harangue.

Sources indicated that the crucial UPA-Left meeting will probably be scheduled after his return and after the CPM's party congress scheduled for March 29. This remains the imponderable because it's not yet clear whether the government will take the agreement beyond the Left's veto - which is a given.

In fact, pre-empting the expected criticism of Rice's statement, Mukherjee stated in Parliament on Monday, "The Hyde Act is an enabling provision that is between the executive and legislative organs of the US government. India's rights and obligations regarding civil nuclear cooperation with the US arise only from the bilateral 123 agreement."

What is not clear is how the government plans to go ahead with the deal if the Left withdraws support and it is reduced to a minority.

Mukherjee had earlier said that other countries would not like to conclude a nuclear agreement with a minority government. This circle has not been squared. Mukherjee gave a spirited defence of the nuclear deal. "The conclusion of the safeguards agreement will enable the Nuclear Suppliers Group to amend its guidelines for civil nuclear commerce with India," he said.

Consistent with the government's policy of spreading the goodies around in the nuclear sector to make it more palatable to the Left, Mukherjee said, "This (the deal) will open the door to civil nuclear cooperation with various countries including Russia, US, France and UK with whom the necessary enabling bilateral agreements for such trade have been discussed and are in various stages of finalisation."

News Source : Samachar

Mumbai doc loses control of car, kills child

2008-03-04T10:35:00.000+05:30

A 14-month-old infant died after being hit by a car driven by a doctor who did not have a driving licence. The accident took place on Sunday and the girl, Sanya Chauhan, succumbed to her injuries on Monday.

Dr Rahul Kulkarni, 28, was initially arrested on charges of rash driving and driving without a licence. “But as the girl died, we have now booked Kulkarni for causing death due to negligence,” said Maruti Naik, senior police inspector of Vile Parle police station. Kulkarni was released on bail on Monday.

Kulkarni was learning to drive his father’s new Ford Ikon when he lost control at a turn and crashed into Kamkar Niwas Chawl.

According to eyewitnesses, Kulkarni, who lives in the neighbouring building, washed the car and, along with his brother, decided to take it out for a spin. After circling the block once, he accelerated but instead of turning left, crashed through the boundary wall of the chawl and landed on the steps of a ground floor house. Sanya, who was sitting on the steps, went under the car’s tyres.

Another girl, 12-year-old domestic help Suchitra M., who was washing vessels in the compound, was injured while trying to rescue Sanya. Kulkarni was dragged out of the car and beaten up before the residents dragged him to the police.

“When Kulkarni was taken to the police, his father Suresh told them that he was behind the wheel,” said Uday Prabhupatka, who lives next door to the Chauhans.

News Source : Samachar