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Business houses under ATS radar for funding Hindu terror group
Sumir Kaul Mumbai, Nov 19 (PTI) The probe into how Hindu outfits accused of terrorism had links with some Army men brought a few business houses under the scanner of Maharashtra's ATS and Central Security agencies investigating the finances of the group allegedly responsible for Malegaon blast.
Sources attached with the probe said that a religious leader from Southern Gujarat was one of those who collected funds from the business houses.
Working on the chain of events about finances of the Abhinav Bharat, a little know saffron outfit allegedly involved in the September 29 Malegaon blast that left six people dead, sources said names of some of the business houses in Maharashtra as well as Gujarat cropped up.
A check was being done whether the business houses were aware about the end use of funds. "We have questioned some of them and we are working to ascertain as to how much of money had been handed over to the saffron outfit," a senior probe official said on the condition of anonymity.
The names of the business houses were not divulged for security reasons.
The money was generally collected by a self-styled religious leader hailing from Gujarat and efforts to seek his custody had not fructified so far, they said. PTI
Indian Navy goes on the offensive against sea pirates
New Delhi, Nov 19 (PTI) In a first major offensive to neutralise the threat of sea piracy off Somalia coast, the Indian Navy has sunk a 'mother ship' of a group of pirates during a fierce battle in the Gulf of Aden.
The pro-active operation from the Navy warship INS Tabar comes a week after it saved two merchant vessels from sea pirates in the Gulf of Aden near the Horn of Africa.
The Navy said the stealth frigate, currently deployed there for anti-piracy surveillance and patrol operations, had successfully sorted out the pirates last evening 285 nautical miles south west off Salalah in Oman.
INS Tabar encountered the pirates' mother ship with two speed boats in tow and there were about 20 pirates on board the ship, it is learned.
"This pirate vessel was similar in description to the 'Mother Vessel' mentioned in various piracy bulletins. INS Tabar closed in on the vessel and asked her to stop for investigation," a Navy spokesperson said here.
But the pirates threatened to blow up the warship if it sailed closer to their mother ship, despite repeated calls from INS Tabar to stop and let the Navy personnel to inspect the ship, he said.
The Navy noticed that pirates were roaming on the upper deck of the vessel with guns and rocket propelled grenade launchers in hand, and they continued the threats and subsequently fired upon INS Tabar.
In their retaliatory action in "self-defence," INS Tabar opened fire on the mother vessel of the pirates. "As a result of INS Tabar's guns booming, fire broke out on the pirate vessel and explosions were heard, possibly due to exploding ammunition that was stored on the vessel," he said. PTI
Chetan, Saina crash out, Arvind advances in China Open
New Delhi, Nov 19 (PTI) Ace Indian shuttlers Chetan Anand and Saina Nehwal crashed out of the China Open Super Series after losing their first round matches in the men's and women's singles respectively in Guangzhou today.
Saina, who won two Grand Prix titles this year besides making it to the quarterfinals of the Beijing Olympics, gave a tough fight to fifth seed Lin Zhu of China before going down 6-21, 21-12, 19-21 in 53 minutes.
Chetan was nowhere near his best as Malaysia's Choong Hann Wong took just 26 minutes to sent packing the Indian 10-21 14-21.
Arvind Bhatt kept India's flag flying in the tournament, moving into the second round of the men's singles with straight game victory.
He was at his ruthless best, demolishing Wee Chung Pei of Malaysia 21-9, 21-13 to set up a second round clash against Petr Koukal of Czech Republic.
There was some consolation for Saina as she and her Canadian partner Anna Rice sailed into the doubles second round after defeating Ying Long and Ka Lei Mak of Macau 21-15 21-17.
The Indo-Canadian combination will next take on fourth seed Korean pair of Jung Eun Ha and Min Jung Kim. PTI
Indian men well placed in Olympiad
From Our Chess Correspondent
Dresden (Germany), Nov 19 (PTI) Starting as underdogs in the absence of Viswanathan Anand, Indian men are doing well with former world junior champion P Harikrishna and Krishnan Sasikiran displaying brilliant forms in the 32nd edition of the chess Olympiad underway here.
With six rounds remaining after today's rest day in the 144-team tournament, the Indian team is placed joint seventh and are just one point behind the six leaders Russia, Armenia, Germany, Azerbaijan, England and Ukraine.
The Indian women apparently ran out of steam against Hungary in the fifth round that they lost narrowly and the rest would have come as a welcome relief for the eves who are also missing the services of top player Koneru Humpy here.
With the advantage of hindsight it can be easily said that dropping Harika against eight seed Hungary did not turn out to be a good strategy as out-of-sort Nisha Mohota lost yet another game which eventually led to a 1.5-2.5 loss for the Indians.
World Junior girls' champion Harika's form is probably a cause for concern for the Indian think-tank led by Elizber Ubilava who is training the women's team here. The top-rated Indian in the fray - Harika - is yet to win a game on the first board and if the team has to do well in the rounds to come, its high team that she gets in her rhythm. PTI
Pakistan tour hinges on govt clearance, insists BCCI
New Delhi, Nov 19 (PTI) Refuting PCB claims that India's cricket tour of Pakistan next year was confirmed, the BCCI has insisted that the fate of the series hinges on the mandatory security clearance from the government.
BCCI President Shashank Manohar said the Indian Board had not given any assurance to the PCB on going ahead with the tour.
"The tour will be finalised only when we get the clearance from the government. Nothing can be confirmed before that," said Manohar.
India will play three Tests, five one-dayers and a Twenty20 match during the tour from January 13 to February 19.
But there is growing uncertainty over the tour's fate as Pakistan's security situation remains far from ideal. Earlier this month, the Indian government had refused permission to a junior hockey team to travel to Pakistan for a tournament.
Pakistan has been reeling under a series of high-profile cancellations. The Australians postponed their Test tour in April before the ICC was forced to cancel the September Champions Trophy due to the security fears expressed by member boards.
The Pakistani cricket team has gone without a Test this year and if Indian backs out of the next year's series, it would be a huge blow to the country's cricket.
The PCB is making desperate attempts to save the series and last evening issued a statement, saying Butt and Manohar had a telephonic discussion about the tour.
The PCB claimed that Manohar told Butt that he has written to his government for the clearance of the tour and the BCCI is expected to get a reply in the next ten to 12 days and the PCB would be informed accordingly. PTI
Al-Qaeda militant among six killed in US missile strike
Islamabad, Nov 19 (PTI) A top al-Qaeda operative of Arab origin was among six militants killed in a suspected US missile strike in a remote village in Pakistan's northwest today, TV channels reported.
The operative identified as Abdullah Azam al-Saudi was killed when two missiles struck a house at Janikhel area, some 13 kilometres from Bannu city, Geo television reported.
A top police official in Bannu Javed Marwat confirmed the strike, but did not offer any comment about the nationality of those killed and injured.
Al-Saudi is the second top most al-Qaeda operative killed in recent US missile strikes in Pakistan. Egyptian Abu Jihad al-Masri, described by the US anti-terror network as propaganda chief of the Qaeda was killed in a similar missile strike on November one.
Besides the al-Qaeda operative, most of those killed in today's attack were said to be foreign terrorists of central Asian origin.
NWFP Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti condemned the attack.
The attack came at a time when Pakistan army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani is attending a conference of top NATO defence officials in Brussels to discuss security and the US missile strikes.
An army statement said that Kayani would inform the NATO senior military officials about the 'implications of drone strikes' in the country's tribal regions.
The targeted house belonged to a local tribesman identified as Dilbar in Indi Khel village in Bannu district and is outside the tribal areas, which US and its allies fear are "safe havens" for top al-Qaeda Taliban fighters. PTI
India seeks inter-governmental negotiations for UNSC membership
Dharam Shourie
United Nations, Nov 19 (PTI) Making a strong pitch for expansion of the powerful UN Security council in both permanent and non-permanent categories, India has called for immediate start of inter-governmental negotiations on the issue.
Addressing the UN General Assembly, its delegate Vijay Bahuguna, MP, firmly rejected the "minority" view that expansion only in the non-permanent category would suffice, saying this "unrealistic" argument has already been proved wrong by the history.
"We should not forget that we had expanded the Security Council in 1965 with addition of only non-permanent members, but problems with the Council have only exacerbated," he told the delegates.
Non-permanent members, he said, have not been able to implement their ideas or prevent encroachment of the Council in areas beyond its competence under the charter nor improve its decision-making process. Nor have they been able to enhance the participation of countries contributing troops to peacekeeping operations in the decision making, he added.
India along with Japan, Germany and Brazil, known as Group of four or G-4, is a strong contender for the permanent slot in the Security Council. "Uniting for Consensus (UFC)," a group led by Pakistan and Spain, opposes expansion in the permanent category, saying that they do not want to create more centers of power.
It is self-evident, Bahuguna said, that real change and improvement can come only through inducting new permanent members through the principles of election and subsequent accountability to the wider membership through an appropriate review mechanism. PTI
ILO chief vows to ensure social justice amid global crises
New York, Nov 19 (PTI) Juan Somavia, who has been elected for the third term as Director-General of the United Nations International Labour Organisation, has pledged to work to ensure social justice amid a series of challenges faced by the global economy.
Somavia ran unopposed to continue his stint as the ninth Director-General in the Geneva-based agency's 89-year history, and will formally begin his new five-year term in March 2009.
He assumed office as ILO chief in early 1999. During the past decade, the Chilean has led the promotion of the ILO's Decent Work Agenda and overseen the implementation of the Organisation's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, which was adopted in 1998.
During his tenure, the ILO witnessed a huge increase in the number of ratifications in labour standards as well as its own adoption of a landmark Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalisation in June of this year.
"We stand today at a significant moment in this Organisation's history," Somavia said.
"Unemployment is rising. The crisis continues to batter economies and individuals across the world. The number of working poor is increasing. And there is a growing chorus of concern over the balance, fairness and sustainability of the current model of globalisation," he added. PTI
Silver bounces back on fresh demand, gold advances further
Mumbai, Nov 19 (PTI) Silver prices bounced back on the bullion market here today on renewed industrial demand.
Gold prices continued to rule firm for the fifth trading session on sustained safe-haven buying due to fall in equity prices.
Marketmen said sustained buying by jewellery makers and retailers in view of ongoing marriage season and weak equity market pushed up both the metal prices.
In the local market, silver ready (.999 fineness) recovered by Rs 105 per kilo to Rs 16,800 from Rs 16,695 previously.
Standard gold (99.5 purity) firmed up further by Rs 30 per ten grams to Rs 12,015 from Rs 11,985 yesterday.
Pure gold (99.9 purity) also moved up by Rs 40 per ten grams to Rs 12,080 from Rs 12,040.
Precious metals traded rangebound in London, keeping an eye on the currency markets, as the dollar inched up against a basket of currencies while falling oil prices capped possible gains of bullion.
Spot gold was trading at USD 736.05 an ounce versus USD 736.35 an ounce in New York on Tuesday. PTI
Raja debunks reports of differences with FM on spectrum
New Delhi, Nov 19 (PTI) Debunking charges that huge revenue had been lost because he ignored Finance Minister P Chidambaram's recommendations, Telecom Minister A Raja today said he had done no wrong and the government will rake in Rs 24,000 crore annually once new players start operations.
"We have absolutely no disagreement with the Finance Ministry over the spectrum and licence fee. We are working in consultation with each other and all decisions have been taken with prior permission of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh," he told PTI in an interview.
"We have gone by the practice followed in the tenure of my predecessor (Dayanidhi Maran) or even before. We have given the licence at the same rate (Rs 1658 crore) as was given to a player in 2001... It was done just 10 days before I took charge in May, 2007," he said.
Raja was responding to queries regarding political allegations that the licences along with spectrum were given at throw away prices causing a loss of over Rs 50,000 crore to the government.
"There was a cartel before I took charge... It existed till recently, now I have broken it... Otherwise how come that so much of spectrum was available and it was never distributed?" he retorted to a query on the reason for the campaign against him including demand for his resignation.
Pooh-poohing the allegations of loss to the exchequer, he said now the focus is on taking in higher revenue share. Under the present dispensation, the government would get about Rs 12,000 crore as revenue share and licence fees.
"This is going to double once the new telecom players start operation and our subscriber base doubles to 600 million by 2012," he said. PTI
CMIE revises down economic growth to 8.2 pc
New Delhi, Nov 19 (PTI) Economic think-tank CMIE today scaled down projections for the country's economic growth to 8.2 per cent from the earlier 8.7 per cent for this fiscal as global financial crisis would lead to slower than expected growth in industrial and services sectors.
"We have gone by a bottom-up approach that is industry by industry. The industrial production, services sector and power sector growth all have been revised down resulting in a revising down of the economy's growth," a CMIE analyst told PTI.
Despite scaling down, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE)'s projections are higher than various other estimates, including that of RBI.
Various economic think-tanks have predicted that the economy to grow between 7 and 8 per cent, some even expect the growth to budge down to below 7-per cent mark. RBI has projected the economy to grow between 7.5 and 8 per cent.
Indian economy grew by 9 per cent last fiscal and recorded 7.9 per cent growth rate in the first quarter of this fiscal. Data for the second quarter is slated to be out later this month.
"The third quarter would see the major impact of the slowdown. We expect the recovery in the last quarter of this year," it said.
CMIE revised down the industrial production growth to 6.3 per cent, compared with 8.3 per cent predicted earlier.
The industrial growth in September was at 4.8 per cent, against the 13-year low of 1.4 per cent in August 2008.
The government recently authorised CMIE to collect data to be used for compilation of the new series of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) which it can collect through its nationwide branch network. PTI
Veteran actor Nambiar passes away
Chennai, Nov 19 (PTI) Veteran Tamil film villain and stage artist M N Nambiar died here today after a brief illness.
Nambiar, 92, was suffering from age-related ailments for the past four months and breathed his last at his residence here, family sources said.
He is survived by wife, son Sukumaran Nambiar, a senior BJP leader, and a daughter.
Joining the famous Navabrajamanikam group as a stage artist at the age of 13, he made his film debut in 1935 in the 'Bhaktha Ramadosss' made in Tamil and Hindi. He went on to act in more than 1,000 films.
Nambiar had acted with almost all top heroes of Tamil cinema like M G Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan, Rajnikanth and Kamal Hasan. PTI
High EQ key to handle tough work conditions: Survey
New Delhi, Nov 19 (PTI) Employees with higher emotional intelligence are better equipped to handle internal changes in companies especially in the times of recession where various cost-cutting measures such as job slashes and layoffs are becoming the norm, according to a new survey.
Findings of the survey which analysed over 1,000 mid-senior level IT professionals in the age group 30-45 years said that women participants were found to fall in the 'High Alert' area with respect to self appraisal.
"Women in the IT area were found deficient in self awareness. They need to build better up their emotional quotient and develop self awareness so that they can be more confident and better about themselves and thus excel in whatever they do," says Neeta Mohla, Director, InspireOne a leading people and leadership development firm, which conducted the survey.
Emotional Intelligence (EI) describes an ability, capacity, skill or a self-perceived ability, to identify, assess, and manage the emotions of one's self, of others, and of groups.
The results indicate that Self Appraisal for Women in IT is a High Alert Area as 38 per cent of them fall in the 'Alarm' category. Another 38 per cent of women in IT fall in the category of 'Concern' which adds up to 76 per cent of them being in 'High Alert' area. While only 11 per cent and 13 per cent women in IT fall in the category of 'Acceptable' and 'Strength' respectively adding up to only 24 per cent of them being in 'Adequate' area. PTI
We lack spirit of adventure: Mandip Singh
New Delhi, Nov 13 (PTI) In India parents are too cautious to send their children for adventure tourism. In fact as a nation we lack spirit of adventure says Mandip Singh Soin, well known adventure sportsperson.
Soin, who got into Limca Book of Records in 1992 as 'India's Most Versatile Adventure Sportsperson' and honoured with the same this year, says, "Adventure tourism is popular in other countries. Spirit of adventure teach us to handle pressures of life better. But the irony is that we lack the spirit as a nation. Parents here are too cautious and apprehensive and do not take it as a sport."
However, the adventurer, who from the age of 16 has participated in adventure activities including Himalayan treks, ice-treks, cycling expeditions, camel and elephant expeditions and is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, UK, however says that adventure tourism as a sport is slowly growing in the country with more and more youngsters showing interest.
"Its been a long journey. But now people are showing interest in it. With the corporates using this sports as a team building measure and college and schools also promoting it on higher level, the percentage of people who have shown active interest in the last 4-5 years has grown tremendously", he says.
Soin, who has done it all from climbing expeditions and treks to jeep safaris and mountain biking, now wants to conquer Mount Everest but not through the beaten track.
"My next target is to climb the Everest. But I would not take the normal route as all other mountaineers had done in the past. I want to reach there through an unusual route. I want to go through challenges but it does not mean that the normal route is easy." PTI
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