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India to focus on time-bound projects with Russia, France & US
Mumbai, Oct 12 (PTI) With the historic signing of 123 agreement with the US, India now will focus on time bound projects with that country as well as France and Russia under the technical cooperation for the expansion of its nuclear power.
The signing of 123 agreement with the US is an enabling step to move forward in the expansion of nuclear power in the country. But India along with these three countries has to carry out a lot of diplomatic and technical procedures concurrently to operationalise the agreements, Chairman, Atomic Energy commission, Dr Anil Kakodkar, who returned from US last night, told PTI.
Several steps, including ratification of these agreements, commercial negotiations and IAEA safeguards, have to be carried out, he said.
India will first put Tarapur units 1 and 2, Rajasthan units 1 and 2 and Koodankulam units 1 and 2 that are already under separate safeguards agreement with IAEA under the single umbrella of India specific safeguards agreement, Kakodkar said.
"Of course, before placing the Indian reactors under IAEA safeguards as per the separation plan, it is important to kick-start the nuclear cooperation and that is very crucial," he said.
Meanwhile, the American and the French companies are expected to begin their serious discussions shortly with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), a government of India undertaking that deals with nuclear power. PTI
Australia lay the platform for the kill
Sutram Suresh
Bangalore, Oct 12 (PTI) Australia were made to fight for their runs today as they painstakingly laid the foundation to go for the last-day kill against India in the first cricket Test which was heading for a nail-biting finish.
After the Indian tailenders led by Zaheer Khan (57 not out) stretched the first innings to 360 and narrowed down the lead to 70 runs, the visitors battled their way to 193 for five at close on the penultimate day to gain an overall lead of 263 runs.
It turned out to be engrossing contest between the bat and ball on a deteriorating Chinnaswamy track as the Australians pushed for a substantial lead to exert pressure on the hosts on the final day.
The runs were difficult to come by as the Australians kept losing wickets at regular interval but still had the upper hand in the game considering that the pitch would deteriorate further on the final day.
With just one day left, the visitors will look to add a few quick runs in the morning tomorrow before having a crack at the Indians.
Simon Katich (34) and first innings centurion Michael Hussey (31) were the notable contributors as they ensured that the Australian second did not fall into pieces.
Shane Watson (32 batting) and Brad Haddin (28 batting) added some quick runs late in the day to consolidate the position for the visitors. PTI
Yuvraj to lead India Blue in Challenger Series
Bangalore, Oct 12 (PTI) Test discard Yuvraj Singh will lead India Blue in the Challenger Series for N K P Salve Trophy to be held in Cuttack from October 23-26.
The national selection committee, which met here today, also chose Mohammed Kaif and S Badrinath to captain India Green and India Red respectively in the three-team limited overs tournament.
The series will give chance to players like Robin Uthappa, Virat Kohli, Yusuf Pathan and Piyush Chawla to impress the selectors.
Leg-spinner Amit Mishra and pacer R P Singh, who are in the current India Test squad against Australia, are in the India Blue and India Green teams respectively.
The teams: India Blue: Yuvraj Singh (capt), A Rahane, Robin Uthappa, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthick (vice-captain, wk), Ravinder Singh, Irfan Pathan, Yougesh Takawale (wk), Ashok Dinda, Pradeep Sangwan, Amit Mishra, Arjun Yadav, Siddarth Trivedi, R Ashwin.
India Red: S Badrinath (capt), M Vijay, F Fazal, Manoj Tiwari, Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Jaydev Shah, Abhishek Nayar, Wriddiman Saha (wk), Praveen Kumar, L Balaji, Piyush Chawla, Vinay Kumar, Monish Parmar, Parthiv Patel (wk).
India Green: Mohammad Kaif (capt), Shikar Dhawan, Naman Ojha (wk), Suresh Raina (vice-captain), Cheteshwar Pujara, Saurabh Tiwari, Yusuf Pathan, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Manpreet Goni, R P Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Rajat Bhatia, Abhinav Kumar (wk), Pankaj Singh. PTI
Terror attacks in Pak handiwork of insiders: Govt
Islamabad, Oct 12 (PTI) Rattled by a wave of suicide bombings, Pakistan government has said that such attacks were perpetrated by people from within the country and not by Indians or Americans, a rare candid statement from authorities here.
Those carrying out terrorist attacks in Pakistan are neither Indians nor Americans, Interior Ministry chief Advisor Rehman Malik told a seminar organised in Lahore yesterday by a society affiliated to the influential 'Jang Group of Newspapers'.
"Rather, they are our own brethren while those who were urging them to do so were also our own people," Malik was quoted as saying by newspapers. The war on terror would continue "till the last terrorist was eliminated" as it was a war for the survival of the country, he said.
"Our own people are involved in terrorism. However, the arms and rocket launchers seized in tribal areas are coming from across the border (with Afghanistan)," Malik said in an obvious reference to the missile attacks by the US-led forces coalition forces.
Authorities had arrested at least 14 would-be suicide bombers due to effective and improved security measures. Out of 10,000 foreigners who came to Pakistan after the end of the Afghan war against the Soviet Union, 3,000 had married local women in the tribal areas and were "now living as sons-in-law of the tribal people", he said. PTI
10 militants killed in Pak clashes
Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Oct 12 (PTI) Pakistani security forces today killed 10 militants in the troubled northwestern Bajaur tribal region and arrested two suspected would-be suicide bombers in the southwestern Balochistan province.
Ten Taliban fighters were killed in Bajaur Agency as security forces targeted militant hideouts as part of their ongoing anti-militancy offensive in the area bordering Afghanistan, TV channels reported.
With this, the death toll in clashes in Bajaur since yesterday has risen to 23.
The Pakistan Army has claimed that it has killed more than 1,000 militants in Bajaur since it launched an operation in the region in August.
Army officials have said the success of the operation in Bajaur is key to ending the militancy in the tribal belt.
In Balochistan, security forces arrested two suspected would-be suicide bombers during a raid on a hotel in Zhob district. The raid was carried out following a tip-off about the presence of terrorists in the hotel.
The arrests were made three weeks after a suicide bomber attacked a security forces vehicle in Quetta, killing several persons. The arrested would-be suicide bombers were blindfolded and taken to an undisclosed location for questioning.
Meanwhile, militants have beheaded four pro-government tribal elders in Bajaur, taking the total number of elders killed over the past two days to eight. The bodies of four other tribal elders who were beheaded were found yesterday.
All the eight tribal elders were abducted on Friday in a bid to prevent the local population from supporting the anti-Taliban operation. The tribesmen in Bajaur have formed lashkars or militias to take on the Taliban.
Reports said up to 40 tribesmen were believed to be in the custody of militants. PTI
Equity, forex mkts channels for spreading crisis to India: RBI
Sridhar Krishnaswami
Washington, Oct 12 (PTI) The Reserve Bank has warned that the global financial crisis can spread to India through equity and forex markets, while money, debt and credit markets could be impacted indirectly due to the continuing onslaught.
However, the country may escape the worst consequences of the crisis, even as "the equity and the forex markets provide the channels through which the global crisis can spread to the Indian system," RBI Governor D Subbarao said here on Saturday.
Speaking at the International Monetary and Financial Committee Meeting of the Fund, he said the other three segments of the financial markets which could get affected indirectly are money, debt and capital markets.
He added that the cost of borrowings have increased for India Inc because of factors like risk aversions, deleveraging and frozen money markets, which is also affecting the availability of funds in the international markets.
Subbarao, who took charge as RBI Governor last month when the financial crisis was unfolding, said that the unavailability of funds in the international markets will mean additional demand for domestic bank credit in the near term.
Referring to capital flows, he said reduced interest of investors in emerging economies could impact capital flows "significantly" and the looming recession will impact Indian exports.
India's exports during the first five months of the current fiscal registered a growth of 35.1 per cent to 81.2 billion dollars as against 60.1 billion dollars in the same period a year ago.
In the capital market, FIIs have net pulled out 10.05 billion dollars in 2008 so far, while they have net pumped in 2.15 billion dollars in the debt market, according to SEBI figures. PTI
Govt for more policy changes to encourage inflows: Chawla
Washington, Oct 12 (PTI) After easing external commercial borrowing norms, the government is preparing to unleash more measures to encourage capital inflows to ensure that liquidity crisis do not hit the Indian financial systems, says a top finance ministry official.
"We have already done something in ECB. It is possible to do more as we go along. We will take more policy change to allow more capital inflows," Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Ashok Chawla told NDTV in an interview.
Asked about the effects of ongoing global financial crisis on India, he said, "India is not entirely shielded from the effects of what is happening in developed countries. The impact so far as India is concerned is indirect.
"Our banks and financial institutions are not hit by what is happening in these countries. What is impacting us is that capital from these countries will see a dip because they have to handle their own funds," he said.
In a bid to encourage flow of fund, the government last month increased the overseas borrowing limit to USD 500 million from USD 100 million for infrastructure companies.
At the same time, it widened the ECB window by including mining and petroleum into infrastructure sector.
Pinning hopes on action plan finalised by G-7, Chawla said from the crisp, aggressive, five-point action plan finalised here, markets will take it as a sign of serious endeavour on part of the developed countries to proceed with setting their house in order.
"This will send a positive signal and markets next week should open on a calm note," he said.
The five-point plan includes decisive action and use of all available tools, taking all necessary steps to unfreeze credit and money markets and kick starting secondary mortgage markets. PTI
Film projects worth Rs 100 cr riding on Big B
Mumbai, Oct 12 (PTI) Film projects worth at least Rs 100 crore are riding on megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who was admitted to a hospital here after he complained of severe abdominal pain.
Bachchan, who was admitted to Lilavati hospital in suburban Bandra yesterday on his 66th birthday, would be under observation for another 48-72 hours.
Megastar's son Abhishek had yesterday said that his father was responding well to medication.
Bollywood was stunned to hear of Bachchan's sudden illness, who was shooting for Leena Yadav's 'Teen Patti', a Rs 25-25 crore film, at different locations in Mumbai till Friday.
Bachchan has completed shooting for Sujoy Ghosh's 'Aladdin', a Rs 35 crore film starring Ritiesh Deshmukh, Sanjay Dutt in which he plays the role of a genie.
The actor was also shooting recently for Sujit Sarkar's 'Shoebite', which has a budget of Rs 20 crore.
Besides, Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Chenab Gandhi' and Chandraprakash Dwivedi's 'Kunal' were to go on floors soon.
Trade sources said Bachchan's illness would affect shooting schedules of these films.
Trade analyst Amod Mehra said that more than a monetary loss, Bachchan's illness is a major setback to the industry as "he is an institute.... A living legend".
The industry prays for his speedy recovery, he said. PTI
Big B is 66 years young!
Mumbai, Oct 11 (PTI) The legendary thespian of Indian cinema, Amitabh Bachchan, whose deep baritone is synonymous with his success and fame, turned 66 today.
The Shahenshah of Bollywood, who continues to dominate the Hindi film industry even in his sixties, took a break from shooting to spend the day here with his grandchildren who have come over from Delhi for their Dussehra-Diwali vacation.
After completing work in 'Alladin' and 'Shoebite', Big B, as Bachchan is popularly called, is currently shooting for 'Teen Patti', a flick directed by Leena Yadav.
Eager to catch a glimpse of their matinee idol, hordes of fans from all over the country stationed themselves outside his bungalow 'Jalsa' in suburban Mumbai while the television media was also present in the area for sound bite and stories.
Over the years on his birthday, the Bollywood legend has been coming out of his house to greet the fans. This year has been an eventful one for the Big B. He had releases like 'Sarkar Raj', 'God Tussi Great Ho', 'Bhootnath' and 'The Last Lear'.
Besides, 'The Unforgettable Tour' was his biggest world concert in several years in which he was accompanied by his son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya. The tour, spanning over a month, covered the US and Europe.
But, the highlight was that the Big B turned blogger. His blog has been the most visited and read with keen interest by the media and fans.
Controversies and criticism had their fair share in Bachchan's life. He was accused of illegally acquiring agro land in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, by claiming to be a farmer. He, however, later got a clean chit from the Allahabad High Court. Bachchan was also embroiled in another land row in Maharashtra. PTI
Digest of national stories for the week Oct 4- Oct 11
Saturday Udalguri (Assam): Fourteen more people are killed, two of them in police firing, as clashes between Bodos and illegal Bangladeshi migrants continues in Udalguri district where the army staged a flag march.
New Delhi: The Congress-ruled Delhi government faces a major embarrassment when a group of farmers disturbed the address of Congress President Sonia Gandhi in a rally organised by it.
New Delhi: India and the US unable to ink the pathbreaking civil nuclear agreement with New Delhi making it clear that it would do so only after President George W Bush signs it into a law, an occasion when it expects certain misgivings to be cleared.
Sunday Hoshiarpur: Two days after Tatas pull out from Singur, Punjab and Haryana governments say they would soon invite the corporate giant to set up the much-touted Rs one-lakh Nano car project in their states.
Bhubaneswar: Maoists claim responsibility for the murder of VHP leader Swami Laxmananda Saraswati that unleashed violence against Christians in Orissa district but the state government does not give credence to the claim.
Monday New Delhi: Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh in the thick of a controversy over his remarks that the Delhi police encounter in Jamia Nagar recently could be fake as the family of slain inspector Mohan Chand Sharma rejected his offer of Rs 10 lakh.
New Delhi: With ethnic violence spreading to new areas in Assam, the Centre despatches 1,400 para-military force personnel to the strife-torn state where bloody clashes between Bodo tribes and immigrant Muslims claimed at least 40 lives. New Delhi: With a desire to see India play an active role in the West Asia peace process, Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas arrives here on a four-day visit that is expected to give a boost to New Delhi's engagement with Palestine.
Tuesday Gandhinagar: Ending suspense after its controversial exit from West Bengal, Tatas announce relocation of the Rs one-lakh Nano car project to Gujarat with an investment of Rs 2,000 crore.
New Delhi: Expelled BJP member H T Sangliana and rebel JD(U) leader Ramswaroop Prasad, who vote in favour of the UPA government in the July 22 confidence motion, are disqualified from the Lok Sabha under anti-defection provisions of the Constitution.
Srinagar: Normal life resumes in Kashmir after authorities lifted the two-day-old curfew from all 10 districts of the Valley as the situation remained peaceful during the restriction period, official sources said.
Wednesday Bhubaneswar: The prime accused in the alleged rape of a young nun during Kandhamal violence in Orissa has been arrested, police say as the Orissa government made fresh attempts to locate the victim to help in investigations.
New Delhi: In a move that is likely to raise the hackles of the media, the Government decide to restrict telecast and publication of exit polls during elections till the conclusion of the final phase of voting so that it does not "influence" the voters. Bhopal: Joining the chorus to ban Bajrang Dal in the wake of attacks on Christians in Orissa and Karnataka, senior Congress leader and Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh say the activities of the right-wing group have "justified" the demand.
Thursday New Delhi: Putting behind memories of grisly bomb blasts, the faithful celebrate Dussehra, symbolising the triumph of good over evil, with fanfare and traditional bonhomie across the country.
Agra: A two-year-old boy falls into a 150-ft bore well in a village near here and authorities launch a massive effort to rescue him but there were apprehensions that water might permeate into the narrow bore from a nearby pond.
Friday Mumbai: Armed Somalian pirates release unharmed three Indians and 26 other members of the crew on board a hijacked cargo ship after keeping them in captivity for more than one and half months.
Srinagar: In a fresh attempt to reach out to separatists in Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh offers to hold talks with all sections of people including those who have stayed out of the political process.
Srinagar: In the face of a bloodbath in the global markets, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh puts up a brave face stating there is no question of Indian economy slipping into recession. PTI
My country has given me three Oscars: Bhandarkar
New Delhi, Oct 10 (PTI) For director Madhur Bhandarkar, three-time national awardee, whose ambitious film 'Fashion' is releasing this month end, winning an Oscar matters little.
"I don't believe in running after Oscars. India has given me three National Awards. They are my Oscars," Bhandarkar told PTI.
The director, however, says he has no objection if his films are selected by the jury for Oscars but he is not ready to be part of the hype and attention that surrounds these awards in India.
"Recognition of Indian people matters the most as they are the main viewers of my films," says Bhandarkar.
Bhandarkar's National Award winning films like "Chandni Bar (2001)", "Page 3 (2005)" and "Traffic Signal (2007) are famous for their strong story-lines and often have a female protagonists as lead characters.
"My latest film is about the emotional journey of a model played by Priyanka Chopra. This film is going to be a landmark in Priyanka's acting career. She has never before played a character with such substance," he says.
So, how did the idea to make a film on fashion industry come? "I have attended several fashion shows as a guest but it never attracted my attention much but when I saw that media was taking such interest and devoting special shows, I became curious.
"I decided to decipher the mystery of fashion to the common public. It is not about pretty faces doing catwalk. I wanted to go behind the screens and bring back other aspects of the industry to the viewers," says the director known for his well researched movies. PTI
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