Erstwhile constituents of Hurriyat form Pressure Group
Srinagar, Mar 30 (PTI) Six erstwhile constituents of undivided Hurriyat Conference today formed a Pressure Group to re-unite the separatist amalgam and also urged people to boycott the forthcoming Parliamentary polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Pressure Group has been formed by Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), People's League, Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), Kashmir Bar Association (KBA), Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) and Jamiat-e-Ahlihadees with a sole aim to unite all separatist organisations under one plateform, a statement issued after a joint meeting of the parties, said.
"Elections cannot be a substitute for our right of self determination and instead had been used to supress our right," the statement said.
The meeting appealed to people to boycott the elections and show their political maturity and inclination towards the ongoing "freedom struggle" in the state.
It was attended among others by JKLF Chairman Mohammad Yaseen Malik, JEI Chief Moulana Nazir Ahmad Kashani, DFP Chairman Shabir Ahmad Shah, People's League President Sheikh Abdul Aziz, Vice President of KBA advocate Mohammad Abdullah, President Jamiat-e-Ahlihadees Shoukat Ahmad Shah.
The six parties were the constituents of Hurriyat Conference prior to its division early this year. However, they had remained neutral and had not extended support to any of the two factions so far. PTI
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BJP moots autonomous councils in J & K in NDA manifesto
New Delhi, Mar 30 (PTI) Autonomous regional councils for Jammu and Ladakh, a second green revolution, population control with emphasis on two-child norm and restricting high offices to citizens of Indian origin are among the specific measures suggested by BJP for inclusion in the NDA manifesto, to be released here by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on April eight.
While the party, in its 'Vision Document', has directy avoided any reference to the contentious issue of abrogating Artice 370, in the backdrop of the ongoing talks between the Centre and the Hurriyat, it has called for balanced development of all the three regions of the state for which it has suggested among others the autonomous council with adequate financial and administrative powers.
The party, which had so far been harping on the state's total integration with the rest of the country, says, "while recognising that the Constitution provides for certain transient and temporary provisions for Jammu and Kashmir (Article 370), we believe that the immediate challenge before the Centre and the state is to involve all sections of society in eliminating terrorism, accelerating economic development an strengthening popular governance that can provide people-friendly administration." On the population front, the vision paper says "the time has come to introduce a set of incentives and non-coercive disincentives for the success of this campaign.
"We are in favour of providing incentives for the girl child within a two-child norm," it said. PTI
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Bush welcomes seven new NATO members
Washington, Mar 30 (PTI) US President George W Bush has welcomed the accession of seven former Soviet bloc countries -- Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia -- to NATO.
"When NATO was founded the people of these seven nations were captives of an empire. They endured bitter tyranny, they struggled for independence, they earned their freedom through courage and perseverance. And today they stand with us as full and equal partners in this great alliance," Bush said yesterday at a ceremony welcoming new NATO members.
Under NATO's banner, said Bush, the nations of Europe put aside rivalries that had divided the continent for centuries. NATO's core mission remains the same: the defence of its members against any aggression, he added.
"Today our alliance faces a new enemy, which has brought death and destruction to innocent people from New York to Madrid," said Bush, referring to terrorism.
"We will never bow to the violence of a few.
We will face the mortal danger of terrorism, and we will overcome it together." He said all seven of the new NATO members were helping to bring lasting freedom to Afghanistan and Iraq.
Welcoming the new members to the US State Department, Secretary of State Colin Powell said that NATO was determined, above all, to prevent aggression. "Now it is determined, above all, to promote freedom." The new members will take their seats at NATO next month. The membership then increases from 19 to 26. PTI
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27 Indian companies among Forbes' 2,000 top global firms
Twenty-seven Indian companies, including state-run Indian Oil Corporation and tech giant Infosys Technologies, have been included in Forbes' list of 2,000 leading global corporations. The rankings were measured by a composite of sales, profits, assets and market value, a report posted on the Forbes website Tuesday said.
Oil major Indian Oil Corporation topped the list of Indian companies in the survey at a rank of 243 and sales of a whopping $25.26 billion.
Public sector State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest commercial bank, followed at 251 with sales of $10.37 billion.
Besides SBI, eight other Indian banks were included in the Forbes list. They are ICICI Bank, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, United Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, and Oriental Bank of Commerce.
Reliance Industries, India's largest private sector diversified business conglomerate, has been placed at 303 rank with sales of $9.57 billion and assets of $13.49 billion.
Infosys Technologies, India's largest software exporter, and its business rival Wipro are ranked 1,320 and 1,343 respectively.
Sales of Infosys and Wipro have been pegged at $770 million and $900 million, respectively.
Other Indian companies in the list are Oil and Natural Gas Commission, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum, GAIL India, ITC, HDFC, Steel Authority of India, Tata Steel, IDBI, Ranbaxy, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam, Neyveli Lignite, and Hindalco.
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State to move apex court on Swiss couple
Almost all non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the country working with children have thrown their weight behind the state to ensure that a Swiss couple found guilty of paedophilia is not allowed to leave the country.
In the latest setback, the Bombay High Court on Monday refused to grant a stay on its decision last week to release Wilheim and Mary Albin Marty. Advocate General Goolam Vahanvati on Monday appeared before Justice A S Aguiar for more time to appeal.
Vahanvati said that the state government will file an appeal on Wednesday in the Supreme Court.
Hearing the Martys’ plea on March 25, the high court slashed their seven-year sentence by half—they have already spent three-and-a-half years in jail—and asked them to pay a compensation of Rs 1 lakh each to six victims.
Following a report in The Indian Express on the acquittal, Vahanvati had a meeting with Chief Secretary Ajit Nimbalkar. It was decided that the state government should move the high court for a review of its earlier order and if there was no relief, then knock on the doors of the apex court, a senior official said.
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New pension scheme to be delayed
New Delhi, Mar 30 (PTI) The operationalisation of the new pension scheme for the government employees, scheduled to have started from April, is to be delayed as the appointment of fund managers is being deferred till July.
"The expectations are that the pension fund managers will be appointed within 3-4 months," Joint Secretary (Pension and Capital Markets), U K Sinha told PTI.
He said the mutual fund would have to compete with the pension sector.
Government had already put in place an interim Pension Regulatory and Development Authority and is woking on the nitty-gritty regarding the number of players, minimum capital required and the foreign direct investment limit in the segment, which would initially target the employees in the central sphere. "Nothing had been decided so far," he said.
Many financial entities like UTI Mutual Fund, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda and Prudential have evinced interest in foraying into the pension segment.
Concerned over mounting pension liabilities, the Union Cabinet had approved the opening up of the pension sector and the Government had broadly approved the schemes to be launched by the pension fund houses.
As a precursor to operationalisation of new pension, a Central Record-keeping and Accounting Agency (CRA) has to be set up, which would offer investors the portability among income, growth and balanced schemes.
UTI Investors Services, which is now handling Permanent Account Number allotment for the Income Tax Department, along with National Securities Depositories is keen on putting bid for the CRA. PTI
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To counter outsourcing, US workers should learn skills: analyst
Washington, Mar 30 (PTI) US workers should be helped to gain better knowledge of high skills in Information Technology "as rungs at the bottom are moved elsewhere or eliminated entirely" through outsourcing, an analyst with an influential economic think tank has said.
Catherine Mann, Senior Fellow of the Intitute for International Economics, said an even wider diffusion of IT throughout the U.S. economy and an upgrade of domestic IT skills will spur a second wave of productivity growth.
This can be achieved through globalisation of software and IT services and domestic adjustment policies aimed at helping U.S. workers climb up the IT skills ladder, "as rungs on the bottom are moved elsewhere or eliminated entirely." Her recommendation made during a discussion titled "White Collar Outsourcing" hosted by the Institute, is published in the latest IMF Survey, an official International Monetary Fund publication.
Over the course of the 1990s, she said, the demand for workers with the highest IT skills rose rapidly.
Over the 1999-2002 period, about 241,000 people in the sector--data entry operators, computer operators and computer programmers who earned between $23,000 and $64,000 a year, lost their jobs while the number of computer software engineers whose annual salary averged nearly $75,000 grew by more than 115,000.
However, the data do not differentiate between jobs lost because they moved abroad and jobs made obsolete by new technology and possibly replaced by higher-paid positions. PTI
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ING Vysya launches new Credit Card
Bangalore, Mar 30 (PTI) ING Vysya Bank limited has launched its new Credit Card, which is affiliated to Master Card International.
ING Vysya Bank's credit cardholders will now be able to use this card at all the Master Card accepted locations both in India and abroad, a Bank statement said.
The bank has also decided to align with Citibank to benefit from their expertise in areas including marketing and transaction processing, it said.
Commenting on the launch, the bank Managing Director, Bart Hellemans said, "We have consciously focused on offering the best value proposition to our Credit Card holders with additional features that are relevant to their daily lives." PTI
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Pak 364 for six at close of third day of first test
Multan, Mar 30 (PTI) Replying to India's first innings score of 675 for five declared, Pakistan reached 364 for 6 at close on the third day of the first cricket Test here today.
Pakistan trail India by 311 runs.
Brief Scores: India 1st innings - 675 for five decl. (V Sehwag 309, S Tendulkar 194 not out, Yuvraj Singh 59; Sami 2-110) Pakistan 1st innings - 364 for 6 in 106 overs (Yasir Hameed 91, Inzamam-ul Haq 77, Y Youhana 35, A Razzaq battin 47; Irfan Pathan 2-87). PTI
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Ganguly ruled out of second Test
Multan, Mar 30 (PTI) Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has been ruled out of the second cricket Test against Pakistan and will return home after no showing no signs of improvement on his back injury.
Ganguly, who hurt his back during fielding in the final one-day international, will return on April 1 to consult a specialist doctor back home in Kolkata.
The second Test begins in Lahore on April 5.
The Indian team management has requested the services of one-day middle order batsman Mohammad Kaif in place of Ganguly.
"Physio Andrew Leipus has been working with Ganguly for the past few days but he has shown no sign of improvment," team manager and BCCI Joint Secretary Prof R S Shetty said here today.
"Therefore it has been decided that Ganguly will return home fo consult a specialist (doctor) in his hometown." But Shetty said Ganguly was not ruled out of the entire series and could play the third Test starting in Rawalpindi on April 13.
"Ganguly will be eligible to play in the third Test if he recovers completely." PTI
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SAF Games: India win volley tie against Afghanistan
Islamabad, Mar 30 (PTI) Defending champions India began their title campaign with a confident 3-0 win over lowly Afghanistan in the inaugural volleyball match of the ninth SAF Games here today.
India took just 55 minutes for their 25-14 25-10 25-10 win over Afghanistan in group A league match at the Liaquat Gymnasium.
G E Sridharan, the chief coach of the Indian team told a post-match press conference that he was happy with the win but still the team needed to improve in blocking.
"We played well. I am sure that it will be a final between India and Pakistan. But I feel that we should improve our blocking," Sreedharan said.
India fielded its regular six for the first set and made few changes in the second. Sreedharan gave chances to all the players in the third set.
The Indians had a little difficulty in settling down but improved their game as the match progressed.
Tall and lanky Subba Rao, Tom Joseph, Kapil Dev and Amir Khan clicked well in India's victory. PTI
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SAF Games: Indian eves enter badminton final
Islamabad, Mar 30 (PTI) Indian eves blanked Nepal 3-0 to enter the final of the badminton team event in the 9th SAF Games here today.
The Indians, considered to be favourites to complete a clean sweep in this discipline, faced no challenge from the minnows and now await the winners of the Pakistan-Sri Lanka match tomorrow.
B R Meenakshi gave India the lead with a facile 11-1 11-1 win over Sara Devi Tamang and then Trupti Murgunde made it 2-0 beating Rajni Maiya Joshi 11-0 11-2. The experienced Manjusha Kanwar settled the issue when she got past Sumina Shrestha 11-2 11-2.
In a men's preliminary match, Bangladesh got the better of Nepal 3-2 and will face India in their next league match tomorrow. The winner of this match will progress to the finals. PTI
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Mumbai retain Ranji trophy
Chennai, March 30. (UNI) Defending champions Mumbai lifted the prestigious Ranji Trophy for the 36th time by virtue of the 319-run first innings lead as their five-day encounter against Tamil Nadu in the Elite group petered out into a tame draw here today.
Tamil Nadu were 353 for four in the second innings when the match ended with S Badrinath on unbeaten 110 (338b, 410m, 17x4) and Hemang Badani on undefeated 77 (230b, 349 m, 7x4, 1x6).
The two added 173 runs for the unfinished fifth wicket in 85.1 overs.
At lunch Tamil Nadu had just managed to reach 229 for four, 90 runs short of an innings defeat.
Resuming with the overnight score of 163 for 3, the hosts lost Sadagopan Ramesh (35-92b, 4X4) for the addition of 17 runs to their total in the fifth over of the day to medium pacer Munaf Patel. S Badrinath (41) and Hemang Badani (26) offered stiff resistance, putting on 46 valuable runs for the unfinished fifth wicket at lunch, replying to Mumbai's massive 613 in the first innings.
Mumbai skipper Sairaj Bahutule, who opened the bowling this morning with Patel, made a flurry of changes and switched ends for himself and the other frontline spinner Nilesh Kulkarni in a bid to break the partnership, but the two Tamil Nadu batsmen stuck to their task to stay at the crease.
Ramesh, who was 31 overnight, perished when he was trapped leg before wicket by Patel in his third over.
Badani, who came next, survived two very confident shouts for caught behind off the bowling of Patel two overs later when he played through the line, but umpire M S Mahal was unmoved. Badani was then on two.
>>From then on the batsmen went on the defensive, using their pads against Bahutule and Kulkarni most often as runs became scarce to come.
Tamil Nadu reached their 200 in the 83rd over.
Bahutule then took the new ball in 88th over with just 15 minutes to go for lunch. But his gamble failed to pay, as both Badrinath and Badani went on the attack.
Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 294 and 353 for four drew with Mumbai 613.
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Panel to probe 'Miss India' controversy
The organisers of leading beauty pageant `Femina Miss India' has appointed a three-member committee, to investigate into allegations pertaining to the marital status of one of winners of the contest Lakshmi Pandit.
The committee was set up following a news report that the 22-year-old city-based classical dancer, who had bagged the runners up title at the contest, was married, sources at Femina said here today.
As per the beauty pageant rules the contestant should be a spinster.
"The committee will probe into the charges and would submit a report soon", they said.
"If the allegations were found to be true, the committee would probe the legal actions in the case and would decide the next course of action", sources said.
"Since such an incident has been unprecedented in the history of the beauty pageant, we do not really have any rules to decide the future course of action. However, the committee would deliberate and decide on the same", she said.
"In case Pandit loses her crown, the next runner up would be considered in the list of priority. However, nothing still has been decided so far", the sources said.
Pandit had been crowned the 'Miss India World', while Tanushree Dutta of Jamshedpur was conferred the Miss-India Universe title at the Ponds Femina Miss India 2004 contest, held on March 27.
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