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53 per cent turnout in Chhattisgarh in first phase: officials
Raipur, Nov 14 (PTI) An estimated 53 per cent of the 63.9 lakh voters today exercised their right to franchise in 39 Assembly seats of Naxal-hit Chhattisgarh where polling was held in the first phase, election officials said.
While a maximum of 70 per cent turnout was reported in Dhamtari district, 65 per cent of voters cast their ballots in Mahasumund, district electoral officials said.
In Maoist-infested Bastar and Dantewada, the turnout was 60 per cent and 45 per cent respectively.
In Kanker, 50 per cent of the voters cast their votes, Durg 60 per cent, Rajnand Gaon 65 per cent, Narayanpur 36 per cent, Kabirdham 61 per cent and Bijapur 21.02 per cent.
Polling in 27 assembly constituencies began at about 8 AM and ended at 5 PM. Voting started at 7 AM in 12 seats in naxal-hit areas-- Dantewada, Konta, Bijapur, Chitrakote, Narayanpur, Bhanupratappur, Antagarh, Keshkal, Kondagaon,Bastar, Jagdalpur and Kanker and ended at 3 PM.
Electoral fortunes of 379 candidates were sealed in the EVMs with prominent leaders being Chief Minister Raman Singh from Rajnandgaon, Leader of Opposition Mahendra Karma (Dantewada), Assembly Speaker Premprakash Pandey (Bhilai), sitting ministers Hemchand Yadav (Durg) and Lata Usendi (Kondagaon).
The rest 51 seats in the 90-member House will be going to polls on November 20. PTI
Financial meltdown not to affect Indo-US deal: US official
New Delhi, Nov 14 (PTI) The global financial meltdown will not affect the Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation as the demand for energy is still increasing, a top US official said today.
"Despite the financial meltdown, the demand for electricity in India is expected to grow...And each country has to decide how to meet that demand and how much of it should come from nuclear energy," Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Dale E Klein told reporters here at an industry session organised by CII.
He noted that for a lower electricity demand the slowdown in the economy has to be to a great extent.
"There are really no estimates on this," he said, pointing out that the financial slowdown had begun only a couple of months back.
In reply to a question, Klein indicated that the China, which sources a part of its nuclear needs from American companies, could in the future sell the nuclear technology to Pakistan.
France through Areva and US company Westinghouse are supplying a certain number of nuclear reactors to China which will definitely granted access to IPRs some technology, he said, noting Beijing would also like to market those technologies.
"My guess is that several years from now, I do not know how many years, China would be marketing these reactors worldwide as well as the technologies it got from these companies.
"In a free market enterprise that is how the system works. Even when Areva and Westinghouse signed the contracts, they may have been aware of transfer of some intellectual property rights," Klein said. PTI
Malegaon blast: Dayanand Pandey in police custody till Nov 26
Nashik, Nov 14 (PTI) Priest Mahant Amritanand alias Dayanand Pandey, arrested from Kanpur for his alleged involvement in the Malegaon blast, was today remanded in police custody till November 26.
The prosecution also sought permission to conduct polygraph, narco-analysis and brain mapping tests on Pandey which was granted by joint civil judge H K Ganatra.
Pandey, who was produced before the judge, complained of being physically assaulted by officials of the Anti- Terrorism Squad.
Yesterday, he was remanded in ATS custody by a Lucknow court following his arrest on Wednesday.
The court then took him in chambers to examine for injury marks. However, none was found.
The prosecution argued Pandey is accused of having attended meetings held in Bhopal, Pune and Faridabad prior to the September 29 Malegaon blast and also claimed he played a key role in making the bomb used in the strike.
The meetings were allegedly attended by other arrested persons in the case including army official Lt Col Prasad Purohit.
Another arrested accused from right wing organisation Abhinav Bharat, Ajay Rahirkar, had allegedly transferred large amounts of money to Pandey, prosecution counsel Ajay Misar said.
The ATS suspects the money was sent for purchase of RDX and detonators used in the blast, Misar said. PTI
India thrash England by 158 runs in 1st ODI
Rajkot, Nov 14 (PTI) India beat England by 158 runs in the first one-dayer here today.
Brief scores: India 387 for 5 in 50 overs. (Yuvraj Singh 138 not out, Virender Sehwag 85, Gautam Gambhir 51; Steve Harmison 2/75, Samit Patel 2/78).
England: 229 in 37.4 oevrs (Kevin Pietersen 63, Ravi Bopara not out 54, Zaheer Khan 3/26). PTI
I was not trying to prove anything to anyone: Yuvraj
SS Ramaswamy
Rajkot, Nov 14 (PTI) After singlehandedly demolishing the England bowling line-up and setting up India's huge 158-run victory in the first one-dayer here today, Yuvraj Singh said he did not intend to prove anything to anyone.
"Yes, it was disappointing to miss out on the Test series against Australia but I was very happy with the Indian team's performance (2-0 series win). I did not go into the match today with the intention of proving anything to anyone other than myself. I wanted to prove to myself that I was good enough to play at this level," said the left-handed powerhouse after tearing into the England bowlers.
Yuvraj, who struck seven sixes and 15 fours in his 78-ball blitz and narrowly missed out on joining former captain Mohammed Azharuddin as the scorer of the fastest one-day hundred for India, said initially he was a bit nervous coming to the crease but the blazing start given by Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir helped him take his time to settle down.
"I was a bit nervous as I had not scored many runs over the last few weeks. But the blazing start provided by Viru and Gambhir allowed me to play quietly in the beginning. The fact that Suresh Raina was playing shots at the other end also eased the pressure on me. It game me time to settle down and in getting to know what the wicket was about," he said.
Yuvraj rated the knock as among his best in one-day cricket, said he was not surprised with the decision of rival captain Kevin Pietersen of allowing him a runner as the injury had happened when he was batting and he had not carried it into the game. PTI
Moores unhappy with lack of aggression among England bowlers
Rajkot, Nov 14 (PTI) Struggling to digest their third biggest ODI defeat in terms of runs, England coach Peter Moores today criticised his bowlers, saying they lacked aggression.
Moores defended captain Kevin Pietersen's decision to field first on a batting pitch, a move that clearly boomeranged with India amassing a massive 387 for five.
Though it was never going to be easy chasing down such an intimidating total, Moores felt England's four-pronged pace attack should have been more aggressive.
"Our bowlers didn't bowl consistently all the way through. They could have been more aggressive with the ball," Moores said.
"We have got some quick bowlers who are tall and generate enough bounce. But they were not aggressive enough," he added.
James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison bowled 38 overs among them, conceding 268 runs for only three wickets.
On the decision to field first, Moores said, "We thought the wicket would do little bit early on but actually you never know it for sure." The England coach said India put up a sterling batting show and Yuvraj Singh, who slammed an unbeaten 138 off just 78 balls, played an extraordinary knock today.
"They played very well for a 380-plus score and Yuvraj's was a very, very special innings. The ground was small too and he was playing out of skin," Moores said.
On injured Ryan Sidebottom, the coach said the pacer bowled in the nets and was gradually getting into shape.
"He bowled in the practice sessions yesterday and today and is getting into the shape for (the next match in) Indore," he said. PTI
US drones resume fresh missile strikes in Pak killing 13
Islamabad, Nov 14 (PTI) Missiles fired by suspected US drones today hit a village in Pakistan's restive Waziristan killing 13 people most of them foreign militants, officials said.
In the fresh attack, four missiles struck the house of a tribesman, Ameer Gul, at a village Waladeen Budarn overnight killing the people, most of whom TV channels described as Arab militants.
The missile attack-19th in the tribal regions since August this year-came even as fresh surge of violence ripped across North-western Pakistan, where police reported that an unknown gunman had made an abortive attempt to kidnap a Japanese journalist.
The journalist was wounded in the kidnap attempt along with his translator. The failed attempt comes just a day after a gunman abducted an Iranian diplomat from the provincial capital of Peshawar.
The Pakistani Interior Ministry today blamed Taliban for the abduction of the diplomat.
Pakistani officials claim that mostly civilians are killed in such attacks. However, US and NATO officials dispute this saying they have killed several key al-Qaeda and Taliban operatives in such raids.
Witnesses said that 10 out of 13 killed were Arab militants. Taliban gunmen cordoned off the missile-hit area and did not allow other tribesmen to approach.
The latest strike came a day after Pakistani Foreign Ministry said that such attacks violated international law.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari had conveyed Islamabad's protest over these missile strikes in the course of his meeting with the US Secretary of State Condolezza Rice in New York yesterday. PTI
Suspected US missile strike in Pakistan kills 12
Islamabad, Nov 14 (PTI) A fresh suspected US missile strike killed at least 12 people several of whom appeared to be foreign militants in Pakistan's restive Waziristan tribal region in an overnight attack.
Four missiles struck a house in the north Waziristan, a region said to be a stronghold of Taliban and al-Qaeda militants who mount attacks on Afghanistan from the area.
Though there was no official word on the fresh attack but locals said that missiles hit house of a tribesman Ameer Gul at a village 'Waladeen Budar', located between North and South Waziristan, near the Afghan border.
TV channels reported that at least four missiles were fired at a house late last night, killing at least 12 people.
Pakistani officials say that US has so far carried out 19 missile attacks in the tribal regions since August. They claim that mostly civilians are killed in such attacks.
Witnesses said that nine Arab militants were among those killed in the attack. Local authorities in North corroborated that five foreigners were among the dead.
The latest strike came a day after Pakistani Foreign Ministry said that such attacks violated international law.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari had conveyed Islamabad's protest over these missile strikes in the course of his meeting with the US Secretary of State Condolezza Rice in New York yesterday.
After the meeting, the Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had said that US attacks were alienating common people and instead the US administration should shore up Pakistani forces to battle these militants.
A recent US report said that the US administration had allowed such attacks in 2004 with the approval of President (George W) Bush. PTI
Hubble captures first photos of planet outside solar system
Dharam Shourie New York, Nov 14 (PTI) The US space agency's 18-year- old Hubble Telescope has captured for the first time visible- light snapshot of a planet circling another star outside our solar system.
Estimated to be about three times Jupiter's mass, the planet - Fomalhaut b - orbits the bright southern star Fomalhaut, located at 25 light-years away in the constellation Piscis Australis or the "Southern Fish," the NASA said.
Fomalhaut has been a candidate for planet hunting ever since an excess of dust was discovered around the star in the early 1980s by NASA's Infrared Astronomy Satellite IRAS.
In 2004, the coronagraph in the High Resolution Camera on Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys produced the first- ever resolved visible-light image of the region around Fomalhaut. It clearly showed a ring of protoplanetary debris approximately 21.5 billion miles across and having a sharp inner edge.
This large debris disk is similar to the Kuiper Belt, which encircles the solar system and contains a range of icy bodies from dust grains to objects the size of dwarf planets, such as Pluto.
Hubble astronomer Paul Kalas of the University of California at Berkeley and team members proposed in 2005 that the ring was being gravitationally modified by a planet lying between the star and the ring's inner edge.
Circumstantial evidence came from Hubble's confirmation that the ring is offset from the center of the star. The sharp inner edge of the ring is also consistent with the presence of a planet that gravitationally "shepherds" ring particles. Independent researchers have subsequently reached similar conclusions, NASA said. PTI
Citi mulls at least 10k pink slips; to raise credit card rates
New York, Nov 14 (PTI) Vikram Pandit-led Citigroup, the world's largest bank, will hand out pink slips to at least 10,000 employees beginning this week and is also planning to raise its credit card interest rates as part of plans to return to profitability, a report said today.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Citigroup is embarking on "another huge round of layoffs and is raising interest rates on millions of credit card customers" as part of its push to become profitable again.
The fresh measures follow net losses of more than 20 billion dollars over the past year and the subsequent efforts by Pandit, who became Citigroup's CEO late last year, to stabilise the financial giant, the report added.
"Starting this week, Citigroup is handing out pink slips toat least 10,000 employees..." the Journal reported.
In October, Citigroup reported a net loss of 2.8 billion dollars for the third quarter and said that its headcount was cut down by about 11,000 employees during the period.
In the first three quarters of this year, Citigroup cut down its workforce by about 23,000 persons.
Another report in the New York Times said that worst may be yet to come for Citi despite a year of losses, months of share price plunge and a 25 billion dollar government help.
The company's share price have lost nearly two-third of its value so far this year and figures among the top losers on the Dow Jones Industrial Average index.
The New York Times report quoted unnamed Citi executives as saying that the bank has announced plans to cut 40,100 jobs as of the third quarter and "still needs to hand out pink slips to 9,100 workers to meet its goals and bankers are bracing for much of the bad news to arrive early next week." PTI
Europe slips into recession; Eurozone GDP shrinks 0.2 pc in Q3
London, Nov 14 (PTI) It is official now: Europe has slipped into recession with the combined GDP of all the 15 countries sharing the Euro currency shrinking 0.2 per cent in the third quarter.
The Eurozone -- a group of 15 countries which includes Germany and Italy -- has slipped into recession for the first time, after the region's economy contracted by 0.2 per cent for the July-September period this year.
The European Union today said the area has witnessed a negative growth of 0.2 per cent in the September quarter while it had also contracted 0.2 per cent in the June quarter.
Technically, two consecutive quarters of negative growth is accepted as recession.
But surprisingly, French economy grew by 0.1 per cent in the third quarter.
The estimates from the European Union come just a day prior to the G-20 Summit, convened in Washington to discuss ways to tackle the global financial turmoil.
Among the major European nations, Germany and Italy fell prey to recession after two straight quarters of contraction in their respective economies.
The two countries saw their economies shrink by 0.5 per cent in the third quarter, whereas in the second quarter, it was 0.4 per cent for both.
In the third quarter, major economies including Germany, Spain, Italy, Estonia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, reported negative growth.
Germany, Italy and the UK saw their economies shrink by 0.5 per cent in July-September quarter, while Hungary reported a contraction of 0.1 per cent and Spain's economy shrunk by 0.2 per cent. Further, Estonia's GDP contracted by one per cent. PTI
Sensex ends 151 points lower, RIL declines for 4th day in row
Mumbai, Nov 14 (PTI) Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today closed down by over 150 points as fresh fears of global economic crisis outweighed a surprise, sharp fall in inflation and positive Asian cues, dampening trade sentiment.
The BSE barometer settled the day at 9,385.42, lower by 150.91 points, or 1.58 per cent, while its counterpart on NSE dipped by 38.10 points, or 1.34 per cent, to 2,810.35.
After opening on a strong note, Sensex touched the intra-day high of 9,836.11 on strong global cues and inflation falling to 8.98 percent, a single digit figure after almost five months.
However, selling soon emerged pulling down the key index to red. Brokers said a dramatic selling-spree by foreign funds wiped out early gains and pulled the market into the red even as Finance Minister P Chidambaram expressed confidence that the country will still return a "decent growth".
Chidambaram on his way to Washington to attend G20 meet said the current global economic downturn will impact India to some extent on growth, exports and currency inflows.
Meanwhile, Germany fell into recession and US jobless claims hit a 25-year high with its imports suffering a record drop in September-- all contributed to fall in markets, market participants said.
Blue-chip Reliance Industries, the heaviest among the Sensex stocks, fell for the fourth straight day by losing Rs 13.60 at Rs 1,148.55. In four day RIL has declined by 5.69 per cent.
The second heaviest Infosys Technologies also dropped Rs 41.35 at Rs 1217.90 after Britain's BT Group, one of its major clients, announced a major job cuts. PTI
Delhi students for rural education
New Delhi, Nov 14 (PTI) Four Delhi collegiate have come together in their attempt to brighten the future of underprivileged children in rural areas through education.
The NGO 'Milaan-Be the Change' set up by them a year ago has already three projects in its kitty. The first project 'Swarachna' that has set up a learning centre near Sitapur on the Delhi-Lucknow Highway where three teachers provide education to 48 children.
"We started with money we had pooled together. Around 1.5 acres of land was donated by the community. We did request some corporates to help us out but got no response. The Indian Railways donated Rs 75,000 and an equal amount was given by SMILE foundation," says Dhirendra Pratap Singh, President of Milaan and a science graduate from Delhi University.
Singh now works as a business development manager in a Delhi based firm. Irengbam Debashish Singh, the Vice President and student of Sri Venkateswara College, Delhi University, Sharadindu Goswami, the General Secretary and a software engineer and Annie Gupta, the treasurer and an arts graduate together constitute 'Milaan'.
A vocational training centre at Indore 'Swayam' which works along with the SMILE Twin e-Learning aims to impart skills in English proficiency, basic computer education and other soft skills to youths from economically backward families for enhancing their employment prospects. PTI
India focus at 2009 Spanish Art fair
New Delhi, Nov 13 (PTI) In a sign of the growing popularity of Indian art, leading artists and top galleries from the country have been invited to showcase their works at ARCOmadrid, the prestigious international Contemporary Art Fair of Spain.
The annual fair, which is among the best-known in Europe and a big social event bringing together galleries, artists, collectors, curators, musuem directors and experts worldwide, will host India under its Panorama section, which features art from guest countries.
"Arco is one of the four main fairs in contemporary art worldwide. We chose India to be the focus this year because it is a fascinating country with a rich heritage and has been highlight at various important events like the fashion scene in Paris and the Frankfurt Book Fair," Luis Eduardo Cortes, chairman of IFEMA, the trade fair Institution in Madrid told PTI.
"Also Indian contemporary art is still to be discovered in Spain and we wanted to give young artists a chance to showcase their work to the world," he said.
A selection of 13 galleries by curator Bose Krishnamachari will bring to the fair the recent works of 50 contemporary artists of the Indian scene including stalwarts such as M F Husain, Tyeb Mehta and Subodh Gupta.
Along with established artists younger creators such as pianted Anandajit Ray, sculptor chintan Upadhyay, video artist Manjunath Kamathand multi-disciplinary creator Riyas Komu would offer comprehensive insight into the current art scene in India. PTI
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Sensex: 9385.42, -150.91
The sensex closed at 9385.42, down 150.91
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1 U.S. $ = 48.785 INR
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1 Canadian $ = 40.002 INR
1 Singapore $ = 32.146 INR
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1 Euro = 62.006 INR
1 Qatar Rial = 13.395 INR
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