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Secy forces capture Lalgarh police station, 4 Maoists killed
Saibal Gupta
Lalgarh/New Delhi (WB) Jun 20 (PTI) Security forces today moved into Lalgarh and took control of the police station here to snuff out the six-day old siege by Maoists who ambushed a convoy en route to the area in West Midnapore district injuring six policemen.
A landmine, hidden underneath a culvert, exploded as a convoy ferrying security forces passed over it on the West Midnapore-Bankura district border injuring four policemen, Superintendent of Police, Burdwan, Humayun Kabir, who was leading the men told PTI.
A group of around 60 Maoists then fired at the convoy injuring another two, he said.
Four Maoist were killed in the encounter, while four policemen were injured in the landmine blast and two others in firing by the Maoists.
In Delhi, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said the West Bengal government was considering banning the CPI(Maoists) following a suggestion by Home Minister P Chidambaram.
The first group of security men arrived at Lalgarh police station, which had been cut off by the tribals since November last year, with the police saying that it was a 'partial victory'. PTI
Maoist violence part of "wider gameplan", says CPI(M)
New Delhi, Jun 20 (PTI) Condemning the Maoist violence against the Left cadre, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) on Saturday said these attacks were part of a "wider gameplan by powerful vested interests" to destroy the party in its bastion of India's eastern state of West Bengal.
"There is no doubt that this attack against the CPI(M) and its workers and sympathisers is part of the wider game gameplan by powerful vested interests to weaken and destroy the party in its main base of Bengal," the party Central Committee said in a statement here.
The party was of the view that these "fascistic type" of attacks on the CPI(M) were also an attack on the minimum norms of democracy and must be a matter of concern to all democratic minded citizens.
"In Lalgarh, the Maoist gang with direct and indirect backing of the Trinamool Congress has created a zone of terror against CPI(M) members and supporters.
"It is noted that the Maoist leaders in the area have openly spoken about their contacts and help to the Trinamool- led alliance in all the developments in Nandigram," the party alleged.
The Central Committee said it supports the efforts made by West Bengal government to use both political and administrative measures to free the area from Maoist gangs while taking all steps to reestablish links with the poor tribals living in the area. PTI
Sensex snaps 14-week rally, drops by 716 pts
Mumbai, June 20 (PTI) Last day's gain in share prices following several measures announced by SEBI failed to maintain a 14-week rally as the benchmark Sensex dropped 4.70 per cent as profit-booking emerged at higher levels in view of capital outflow from foreign funds.
Anticipation of a strong push for economic reforms by the newly-elected United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, positive global cues and strong foreign funds inflows had triggered rally in recent weeks.
World stocks fell on Monday after finance ministers from the Group of Eight leading industrialised countries last Saturday, said they have begun discussing how to unwind the fiscal and monetary policy measures undertaken in response to the financial and economic crisis that spread last year.
Sectors such as Realty, Oil and Gas and Metal were the worst suffers due to heavy selling pressure.
The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share barometer ended the week under review lower at 14,521.89, by 716.05 points or 4.70 per cent over its last weekend's close.
The National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty also dropped sharply to end the week at 4,313.60, showing a loss of 269.80 points or 5.89 per cent from its previous weekend's close.
The market driver Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned the net sellers of Rs 1,667.60 crore in the last four days of the week as per SEBI's announcement. PTI
Paramount places orders for 10 aircraft
New Delhi, June 19 (PTI) Amid the current turbulent times when most airlines are forced to cut fleet sizes, Chennai- based airline Paramount Airways today placed confirmed orders for 10 Airbus A-321 aircraft, with the option of 10 more, for a total of USD 1.5 billion for overseas operations.
According to the terms agreed upon between Paramount and European aircraft major Airbus, the all-business-class carrier also has an option to place orders for 10 more airplanes in future.
The order has been placed at a list price of USD 90.3 million for each of the confirmed airplane delivery while the optional jets will cost only half of that, taking the total order value to about USD 1.5 billion.
Paramount signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Airbus on the sidelines of the ongoing Paris Airshow at Le Bourget in France.
"We signed an MoU with Paramount Airways for confirmed orders for ten A-321s and ten more on option," Airbus Vice President (Sales) Miranda Mills told PTI from France.
The airline is planning to launch international services from its key hubs and at present "assessing opportunities to fly into the Far East and Middle Eastern countries," airline officials said. PTI
Talks on 2011 WC breaks down, PCB to continue legal fight
Lahore, June 20 (PTI) Talks among the four co-hosts of the 2011 World Cup over Pakistan's right to stage the matches broke down today following which the PCB threatened to restart their legal fight over the issue against the International Cricket Council.
Pakistan Cricket Board issued a statement that its chairman Ejaz Butt met representatives of India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in London to sort out the issue but the talks remained "inconclusive".
"We sought support of our fellow Asian co-hosts for matches to be played under the aegis of PCB in a safe neutral venue. Despite the fact that these discussions had been brokered by ICC President David Morgan and ICC Vice President Sharad Pawar who is Chairman of World Cup Central Organizing Committee, no progress was made," PCB said in a statement.
"This will mean that organizational issues surrounding the 2011 World Cup remain unresolved and that the legal proceedings the PCB has brought against the ICC in Dubai and in Lahore will continue," it added.
Sources said India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh had asked Pakistan to accept the hosting fees for the 14 matches totaling USD 10.5 million but to forget about hosting the matches at home or at neutral venues.
"At one stage Pakistan was told they could host four or five matches at neutral venues but Butt declined insisting on Pakistan getting its full quota of 14 matches," one source privy to the meetings said. PTI
Saina sets up title clash with Lin Wang in Indonesian Open
New Delhi, June 20 (PTI) Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal survived a gruelling battle with Chinese Lan Lu to advance to the final of the Indonesian Open Super Series in Jakarta today.
Sixth-seed Saina beat seventh-seed Lu 25-23, 21-19 to set up a title clash against Chinese third-seed Lin Wang in tomorrow's final.
World number three Lin beat eighth-seed Xingfang Xie 21-19, 21-13 in another semi-final.
In an edge-of-the-seat match, which saw fortunes fluctuating between the two, it was Saina who held her nerves to emerge the winner.
In the first game, Saina and Lu battled tooth and nail and were on even keel, moving from 13-13 to 23-23 before the Hyderabadi sealed the game.
Not willing to take it lying low, Lu made a dramatic comeback in the next game and raced away to 0-5 but the world number 8 Indian clawed her way back into the game to first draw parity at 13-all and then after more see-saw battle, pocketed the match. PTI
BRIC must shape new economic order: Medvedev
Vinay Shukla
Moscow, Jun 20 (PTI) Describing the BRIC summit as "historical" and "significant", Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said the group countries must form the new global economic order as the existing one was created in the last century without them.
"I think this really was a historical and very significant event, because it marked the emergence of a new forum for resolving global problems," Medvedev said in a TV interview to be broadcast on Sunday night.
He said Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) are all very big countries. India and China are the world's biggest countries in terms of population, and Russia and Brazil are the biggest in terms of territory and have a sizable population.
"During our discussions in Yekaterinburg, I pointed out to my colleagues that none of us took part in establishing the international financial system back in the 1930s-40s. I mean, none of our countries took part.
"Everything was decided for us. We cannot accept this situation again. We need to ensure that our countries, which between them are home to billions of people, take part in setting the new rules of the game. It would be unforgivable of us to let things develop otherwise," Medvedev told Russia's main - Channel 1 TV.
The BRIC summit was held in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg on June 16 and was attended by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. PTI
Nepal, India to reactivate bilateral border mechanism
Shirish B Pradhan
Kathmandu, June 20 (PTI) Nepal and India today agreed to reactivate the existing local level bilateral mechanism to resolve the border dispute between the two countries and expedite implementation of past agreements and understandings.
The move to revive the bilateral mechanism was decided during the meeting between visiting Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshanker Menon and Nepalese Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, during which they also reflected on the current political situation in the country.
Menon, who arrived here on a two-day visit today, his second to Nepal in the last four months, held marathon meetings with top Nepalese officials, including President Ram Baran Yadav, Prime Minister Nepal and Maoist chief Prachanda.
To deal with the issue of border dispute both sides agreed to reactivate the local level border mechanism so that problems can be addressed as soon as they emerge.
Prime Minister's Foreign Affairs Advisor Rajan Bhattarai told reporters that Menon extended an invitation to Kumar Madhav to visit India, dates for which are being worked out and conveyed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's "good wishes" to his Nepalese counterpart.
By setting up a bilateral mechanism on border issues, the two countries hope to take out the sting from a campaign being run by the former ruling Maoist party, which has alleged that India has encroached upon Nepalese territories in Dang district. PTI
Jolie ready to adopt more children
London, June 20 (PTI) Hollywood couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt plan to add more members to their rainbow family by adopting more children.
The 'Tomb Raider' actress has confirmed the speculations by saying that they would never say 'no' to adopting more children, Daily Mail reported.
"We love children, we want a big family, so we never, you know, never say no," Jolie said in an interview to CNN.
The 34-year-old actress, who is a Goodwill Ambassador for UN Refugee Agency, fought back tears as she spoke about her experience with the displaced children in war-torn Afghanistan and how it changed her life forever.
Jolie welled up as she recounted her meeting with an inspiring 15-year-old orphan paralysed by a gunshot wound in a refugee camp.
"He had this really remarkable, unbreakable spirit, a spirit beyond anything I can imagine. He had lost everything and he was just so full of laughter and kindness. He passed away a few months after I was there.
"I always wonder about him and young people that you meet and you just think, in any other situation, if this person had been given a chance, what an extraordinary adult he would have been," the star said.
Alba follows apology with donation
London, June 20 (PTI) Hollywood beauty Jessica Alba has donated money to a charity organisation in Oklahoma after defacing one of its billboards with posters.
The 'Fantastic Four' actress had earlier issued an apology for indiscriminately plastering posters drawing attention to the declining number of white sharks on a billboard for the charity United Way and has now donated an undisclosed amount of money to them, reported Mirror online.
A spokeswoman for the organisation deemed the amount "generous" while adding that Alba's lawyer asked the charity not to disclose the amount.
The 28-year-old-star had been in Oklahoma filming for the movie 'The Killer Inside Me', when the controversy began.
A video showing the actress pasting the huge posters on public property was made public online and Alba had also faced a police investigation for the same though the police later said that she will not face criminal charges. PTI
Indian art on a roll!
Zafri Mudasser Nofil
New Delhi, Jun 21 (PTI) Works by Indian artists arehaving a wonderful run at recent auctions including Christie'sand Sotheby’s by successfully appealing to buyers despite the downturn and sending a very positive and encouraging messageto the market.
According to Zara Porter-Hill, director and head ofIndian art at Sotheby's, "By choosing desirable works byleading artists at appropriate pricing levels, we assemble asale that we knew would appeal to buyers in the currentmarket, and the competitive and lively bidding that we witnessthroughout the sale, principally from private collectors,ratifies our strategy."
Says Yamini Mehta, Christie's senior specialist ofSouth Asian Modern Contemporary Art: "Our auction comes at aprecipitous time as increasingly, international institutionsare showcasing Indian and Pakistani art."
Sotheby's annual sale of Indian art in London on June16 achieved Rs 16.33 crore, much above the pre-saleexpectations of 1.2 million pounds (Rs 9.44 crore) whileChristie's South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art sale inLondon on June 10 saw a 1960 painting by M F Husain fetching a staggering Rs 3.1 crore. PTI
India has given me life changing moments: Steve Waugh
Romit Bhattacharya
New Delhi, Jun 21 (PTI) Steve Waugh's work for humanity has spread far and wide, but the former Australia captain traces its roots to India, a country which he says has changed his outlook towards life.
"India has given me some life changing moments right from 1986 when I played my first match on Indian soil," says Waugh.
"I have memories of some unforgettable matches in India and meeting Mother Teresa here was a mesmerising experience which changed my outlook about a lot of things," Waugh told PTI.
Waugh was in the capital recently to launch his global charity foundation in India, an initiative to take forward his long commitment to charity to countries outside Australia.
"Kolkata has been particularly special to me. There I got the initial opportunity to help patients suffering from leprosy," says the legendary cricketer who has been associated with 'Udayan', a centre for children of leprosy-affected patients in Kolkata for 11 years.
Waugh says he is shocked and saddened by the reports of Indians being attacked in Australia. PTI
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